🥃 A Simple Rule That Saved Me From a Very Bad Whiskey Buy

💥 Opening Pour

Sometimes the best whiskey choice is no whiskey at all.
That sounds wrong coming from me.
But not long ago, a bottle taught me restraint tastes better than regret. 👀🥃

📖 The Story

I was sitting in a quiet, candle-warm room where the lights stayed low on purpose and the leather chairs seemed designed to slow your breathing, the kind of place that invites reflection whether you’re ready for it or not.

At the center of the table sat the bottle, heavy and confident in crystal and glass, hand-numbered and famous enough that people leaned toward it instinctively and spoke in softer tones, as if it might hear what they were saying.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime Scotch, the kind collectors chase for decades, the kind auction houses spotlight, the kind priced so high it made my first truck feel like pocket change and my bank app feel uneasy.

The host slid it across the table with a smile that said he already knew the answer and spoke the sentence every whiskey lover waits to hear at least once: You should buy it.

I lifted the glass slowly, took my time with the nose, and found old oak, dried fruit, and a gentle curl of smoke that felt carefully composed, then I took a sip and realized something unsettling—it was flawless.

Not exciting-flawless.
Not joyful-flawless.
Museum-flawless.

In that moment, it became clear I wasn’t tasting whiskey at all; I was tasting pressure—the pressure to own it, to tell the story later, to be the guy who didn’t walk away—and the longer I sat with it, the more I understood that this bottle didn’t want to be opened or shared.

It wanted to be admired.

So I set the glass down, thanked the host, smiled honestly, and walked away, discovering as I left that choosing not to buy it tasted better than swallowing it ever could.

🥇 The Weekly Pour

Bottle: Redbreast 15 Year Old (Irish Whiskey)
Price: ~$180
Proof: 92
Age: 15 years

Nose: Orchard fruit, toasted oak, honey
Palate: Creamy malt, baking spice, dried fruit
Finish: Long, warm, gently spiced

This is a sit-and-think pour.
Not a flex.
A friend.

You open it.
You drink it.
You don’t apologize.

✅ Deep and thoughtful
✅ Rewarding without shouting
✅ Built for quiet nights and good talk

🛒 Buy it now → Craft Spirit Shop (~$159.99)

🍹The Art of Mixing

Optional tonight. This one prefers to be neat.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Redbreast 15

• Quiet room

• One good friend

Instructions

• Pour slowly

• Sit back

• Say nothing at first

Tip: Some whiskeys don’t want ice or sugar. They want time.

🍖 Flavor Pairing Picks

Pair it with:

🍗 Ribeye, salt only — Big flavor meets calm smoke
🍑 Aged cheddar — Sharp cheese lifts the sweetness
💨 Medium-bodied cigar — Smoke shakes hands, not fists

🧠 Big Lesson of the Week

The best bottle isn’t the rarest.
It’s the one you’ll open.

Don’t buy for applause.
Buy for moments.

A whiskey unused is just glass and ego.
A whiskey shared becomes memory.

📌 10 Fast Facts (FAX) for Your Back Pocket

• Expensive whiskey often gains value by not being opened
• Most collectors never taste their rarest bottle
• Aroma carries more memory than flavor
• Sharing whiskey increases enjoyment
• Storage fear ruins good bottles
• Great whiskey doesn’t rush you
• Price does not equal preference
• Open bottles get remembered
• Closed bottles get forgotten
• Regret tastes worse than oak

🥂 Final Toast

Here’s to the bottles we open,
and the ones we wisely leave behind.

🥃 Repeatable Proverb

“The best pour is the one that leaves the bottle empty.”

✨ Step Inside The Lounge — Where Whiskey Stories Live

You’ve been writing your whiskey journey.
Now share it with others who pour with the same passion.

When you join The Lounge, you’ll get:

• 📖 Exclusive Report — Top 10 Whiskeys Under $50 (yours free the moment you join).

• 🏆 Real Rewards for Real Participation — earn whiskey swag gifts just by showing up and sharing.

• 💬 Civilized Conversation with Pour-Curious People — no snobbery, just good pours and good company.

• 🌍 Connect with Like-Minded Whiskey Enthusiasts from All Over the World — your tribe is waiting.

🕰️ Free Lounge Entry — Secure Your Spot at the Bar

Now Its Your Turn

Tell me about the bottle you didn’t buy.
Save this for your next buying itch.
Share it with a friend who needs restraint.

Cheers to the whiskey we drink, the ego we leave behind, and the memories that follow,

Ethan “Neat” Whitmore

P.S. On Friday, I’ll show you a simple way to spot when price is adding value—and when it’s just adding pressure.