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What is the Quintessential 19th Century Spirit?

What is the Quintessential 19th century West European spirit?

When it comes to Great Britain, it seems to be ale, gin and Scotch whiskey. What are the best brands of ale, gin and scotch whiskey? I know Beefeater has actually been around since the 19th century, so that seems like a plus.

When it comes to The Netherlands, they have what is apparently a precursor to gin: Jenever. What are the best brands of jenever? What is the quintessential 19th century German drink? It's beer, no doubt, but what kind? What about the quintessential Belgian ale? I really don't care what the French or Spanish drank.
 
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You don’t ask easy questions, do you? [emoji16]

Best brands of Scotch whiskey? I have been drinking single malt scotches for more than 40 years and I only have a dozen or more favorites, all of which could be considered “best” in one way or another.


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You don’t ask easy questions, do you? [emoji16]

Best brands of Scotch whiskey? I have been drinking single malt scotches for more than 40 years and I only have a dozen or more favorites, all of which could be considered “best” in one way or another.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What was the mark of quality for a Scotch Whiskey in the 19th century?
 
Well, from Whisky or Whiskey ....

“In 1870, Scotch whisky was generally considered to be of very low quality, much of it being distilled poorly in Coffey stills. “

That seems to indicate that Scotch whisky as a premium beverage is a fairly recent phenomenon.


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Well, from Whisky or Whiskey ....

“In 1870, Scotch whisky was generally considered to be of very low quality, much of it being distilled poorly in Coffey stills. “

That seems to indicate that Scotch whisky as a premium beverage is a fairly recent phenomenon.


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That's a relief! That means I don't have to spend $37,000 dollars to have a 19th century experience! Thanks!
 
Liquor was awful until the mid 20th century. Liqueurs, wines and brandies were the high quality drinks. Most liquor was of the moonshine variety around here.
It was common to pour moonshine into a jar of home canned (mason jar) fruit. That was considered a quality drink.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
There is no simple answer at all, if for no other reason than there never is. Every time in history is no less complex that the present, and "Western Europe" encompasses a number of distinct cultures. Depending on where and when you were during the century, you are talking about gin, whisky, brandy, schnaps, grappa, absinthe, or some form of any of the above. However, as noted above, they weren't always the most enjoyable things to drink. Often, they were made from fruits or grains that weren't good enough for market or that were byproducts of producing something else.

There also were a number of strong temperance movements through Europe during those times, and that made things only more complex.
 
After doing some research, it seems like, with the exception of beer and ale which have been around forever, all the western European spirits that we live with today came to fruition in the 1700's. English gin, Scotch whisky, Italian vermouth, Swiss absinthe, Danish and German schnapps, Dutch jenever. It also seems, as TexLaw alluded to, it's deeply tied to regionalism.

If anyone's curious, I did buy some Scotch whisky and put it into a decanter and the smell alone was enough to kill a small dog. I also bought some gin from Plymouth and I bought what looks to be a Scandinavian mead mixed with hops based on a recipe "from around 1700." I also bought the usual corked Belgian ale and I snatched up some traditional beer from Samuel Smith. I never really liked beer or ale before, but I think the trick is knowing that it's going to taste bitter.
 
Along with gin (usually cheap and nasty), brandy was the spirit of choice in England for a long period, up to the time when various wars with France resulted in it becoming scarce and expensive. That's when rum really came into its own, especially in the Royal Navy, on board merchant ships and in coastal communities. One of my great uncles who lived in a port in northern England called Whitehaven had a good nip of rum every day and lived to be 104, so it's obviously good stuff.
I was never very keen on the commonly available varieties like Captain Morgan, but some of the single estate types are actually very nice.
 
Rum was the standard drink in the Royal Navy only for the regular sailors (and it was served only diluted with water as grog). For officers the standard RN drink was Plymouth gin.
 

Owen Bawn

Garden party cupcake scented
In was reading a book on the history of the Hudson's Bay Company last year, and I recall reading that HBC created what was known as "British Brandy," which was cheap gin coloured and sweetened by molasses. They issued it to their men in lieu of or more correctly in addition to cash pay, and of course they used it in trade with the First Nations people in western and northern Canada. Originally the HBC had a rule against trading alcohol to First Nations, but their upstart competitors the North West Company were more than happy to sell alcohol to anyone, and HBC soon changed their policy.
 
I really do not have a good idea as to the OP's question. I think I have read that in the States Irish whiskey was a much bigger seller than Scotch before the war--but I do not remember which war. I do not know if they drank a lot of whiskey in Britain whenever that was. I suspect that countries with big wine production, which means big grape production, drank a lot of brandy of one sort of other.
 

tankerjohn

A little poofier than I prefer
Fun conversation! If you’re interested in the history of liquor in the US, I highly recommend a visit to the distillery at Mount Vernon, VA that used to be run by George Washington. After he was president and put down the Whiskey Rebellion, he did a little whiskey rebelling of his own and operated the biggest distillery in the country at the time. The foundation that now owns Mount Vernon rebuilt the distillery with GW’s actual copper stills and went back into operation a few years ago using GW’s original rye whiskey mash recipe. You can even buy a bottle of the whiskey just the way GW served it - unaged. Straight white lightening. A little pricey and not exactly smooth, but a genuine taste of history nonetheless.
 
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