…Setting aside all the trivia about whisky, one can easily summarize the characteristics of this undeniably important fluid…
Definition: A spirit distilled from malted barley or other grain- Oxford dictionary. Note that it is not described as “good to drink” or even “fit for human consumption.” In this, as in other ways, it resembles sulphuric acid.
Etymology: The name “whisky” is derived from the Gaelic “uisge beatha,” meaning “water of life,” a designation which can hardly be anything but ironic.
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Dylan Thomas wanted to mould himself into a typical troubled and trouble-making poet. At 17, he found that drink was the appropriate complement to his bardic life. He felt it allowed him to wash away his middle-class background and taste the gutter.
… It was with his wife, Caitlin, that he found his true drinking partner, which she attests to in her memoirs, claiming: ‘Ours was not a love story, it was a drink story.’ Thomas was amusing or enraging when drunk, depending on who you talk to.
He died suddenly at the age of 39. He was taking advantage of the long drinking hours in New York before starting a lecture tour (they were well paid, and he always needed money). But on 9 November 1953 it is said that Thomas swayed out of a bar after drinking 18 measures of whisky and later fell into a fatal coma. Caitlin visited him and was said to look perturbed: ‘Is the bloody man dead yet?’
Read More:http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2002/jun/16/foodanddrink.dylanthomas
Color: More or less yellow, the color associated with bile, jaundice, anxiety, envy, jealousy, cowardice, treachery, and decay.
Taste and Smell: Nauseating; offensive to the mucous membranes
Other Properties: Inflammable; can be used as fuel for spirit lamps. A good solvent for varnish and shellac. Germicide. Occasionally used for maturing tobacco pipes and cleaning windows.
—Whiskey is the official drink of the old west, so it would be easy to populate this list with most every western character in the history of film. Instead, I tried to find one embodiment of the whole sloshed, surly cowboys sensibility. Even though the film is but a year old, Jeff Bridge’ true grit hero encapsulates all of it: the reluctant hero, the curmudgeon, the drunk. As such, he’s our official western-genre representative, with apologies to Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, and every other really old actor in Hollywood.—Read More:http://www.screenjunkies.com/movies/movie-lists/7-memorable-movie-whiskey-drinkers/2/
Effects on Human Body: Taken internally, whisky separates the nerve endings and produces a short-lived exhilaration. This is quickly succeeded by dizziness, partial to total loss of balance, nausea, wretching, vomiting, complete loss of muscular control, and coma. On recovering consciousness the normal symptoms are violent headaches, biliousness, liverishness, intense thirst, lassitude, and bad breath. Prolonged dosing over many years gradually mortifies the tissues and the mind, brings madness and premature death.
Methods of Introduction: Many people like to take whiskey neat to get the ordeal over as quickly as possible. Others, less sensitive, prefer it diluted. The most common vehicles for dilution are water and soda water, but ginger ale and sweet vermouth are also used from time to time. There are cases on record of whiskey having been drunk with such diluents as tonic water- in mistake for soda- port, coffee, milk,honey, and lemon juice. Oddly enough, it it is seldom injected directly into the blood stream.
—“The advantages of whiskey over dogs are legion. Whiskey does not need
be periodically wormed, it does not need to be fed, it never requires a special kennel, it has no toenails to be clipped or coat to be stripped. Whiskey sits quietly in its special nook until you want it. True, whiskey has a nasty habit of running out, but then so does a dog.”—Read More:http://nomeatballs.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/w-c-fields-1880-1946/
ADDENDUM:
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“I love the sing, and I love to drink scotch. Most people would rather hear me drink Scotch.” – George Burns, American comedian
“Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite, and furthermore always carry a small snake.” – W.C. Fields, American comedian and actor
“Set up another case bartender! The best thing for a case of nerves is a case of Scotch!” – W.C. Fields, American comedian and actor
“Whenever someone asks me if I want water with my Scotch, I say I’m thirsty, not dirty.” – Joe E. Lewis, American comedian
“I like my whiskey old and my women young.” – Errol Flynn, Australian actor
“Whiskey is liquid sunshine.” – George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright
“I should never have switched from Scotch to martini’s.” – actor Humphrey Bogart’s last words
“There are two things a Highlander likes naked, and one of them is malt whisky.” – Scottish proverb
“Champagne’s funny stuff. I’m used to whiskey. Whiskey is a slap on the back, and champagne’s a heavy mist before my eyes.” – actor Jimmy Stewart in the movie The Philadelphia Story Read More:http://frazzledatforty.blogspot.ca/2011/08/scotch-and-whiskey-quotes.html
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