Very few people really enjoy gin. It's only fashionable bevause every man and his dog has started adding flavours like rhubarb, cucumber or some shite to it to make it palatable
@anon_opin I like gin. Or rather I like the 10% gin to 90% tonic ratio that seems to be the norm. Nobody drinks neat gin for pleasure.

@goffik @anon_opin It was a kind of revelation for me when a bartender I knew put a glass of really good gin in front of me, with just an ice cube and slice of lemon in it. I loved it!

There is the crap for which you need tonic to hide the bad taste, and there is good gin that is a joy.

@jyrgenn @anon_opin That's a very fair point. By sheer coincidence, I tried a neat gin yesterday that was really nice! 😂 It pretty much applies to all spirits, doesn't it? When I was young, I thought I hated whiskey. Turns out I hate crap whiskey. 😂

@goffik @anon_opin I think it does. I was lucky with whisky — the first one I tried was Black & White, which isn't a great one, but really decent. Tried it again a few years ago, and it really held up to my memory.

Also whisky and coke, didn't like it in my youth. Many years later I learned it is quite nice if you use a decent single malt — or maybe Black & White? — instead of Johny Walker Red Label or Jim Beam.

@jyrgenn @goffik @anon_opin didn’t like Whisky until a mate showed up with Glenfiddich and then Ardbeg đŸ˜» but those american window cleaning fluids
 no.

We had a Tequila tasting at a work event (evening programme), which was also
 interesting. (The one I liked best in the end wasn’t the “best”, but it had a nice taste.)

@mirabilos @goffik @anon_opin My perception of whisky grew in steps. First was the Black & White that I found in my parents’ fridge(!) when I was 17. I thought, “oh, whisky!”, took a swig from the bottle — and I liked it! (Intermission: crappy whisky and coke here and there, and Ballantines on my brother’s engagement party. Unimpressive.) (1/5)
Then, when I was 25, my new girlfriend brought me to get to know her long-time friend since childhood. He had a bottle of Black Bush, to which we inflicted serious damage that night. I liked it a lot! (2/5)
@mirabilos @goffik @anon_opin
Then, maybe 20 years later, in a bar/pub/restaurant I tried this and that Scotch and liked it okay, but then the owner said, well, some like that smoky stuff... What do you mean, I asked, and he gave me a Talisker (10yo standard bottling) and a Lagavulin (16yo standard bottling) to try. That was a really wow experience, and I thought, oh, maybe that Scotch whisky isn't so overrated after all. (3/5)
@mirabilos @goffik @anon_opin
Soon later, I got a new colleague who was *really* into whisky, and he took me to his whisky club. There I met people with some serious love and knowledge of whisky. There was one who not only know the master distillers of this and that scottish distillery, but those master distillers also knew *him*. (4/5)
@mirabilos @goffik @anon_opin
Because reasons, I left that whisky club after a few years. But I still love that stuff, and I enjoy a glass of whisky now and then. Or two. Or so. Right now, it's an Ardbeg 10yo standard bottling. Good stuff! (5/5)
@mirabilos @goffik @anon_opin
@jyrgenn @anon_opin @goffik yes, Ardberg 10years was my second one, first smoky, and I like it