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I figure with that much flavoring added, I probably could tell the difference anyway, especially after 12...

Brandy has a very strong and distinct flavor.  I could easily tell if a cocktail had brandy rather than whiskey.  I can tell when eggnog includes brandy, and I don't actually like the flavor as much as I do with just whiskey and rum.

By itself, I actually do like brandy.  Mostly Cognac.  But I don't like it much in mixed drinks or cocktails.

crazy yankee winters addle your brains

I mostly enjoy whatever straight up, maybe with an ice cube.  I am competent at mixing gin and tonic however.  I get frisky at times and add some lime when I'm feeling celebratory.  These complex "cocktails" look like some a PhD chemist would contrive in his spare time, to me.  I see them as a way to hide the fact someone is using, um, less potable alcohol.  Of course, I only recognize two basic kind of distilled alcohol, aged, and white.

I still really do not understand azeotropes, and I've tried.

I mostly enjoy whatever straight up, maybe with an ice cube.  I am competent at mixing gin and tonic however.  I get frisky at times and add some lime when I'm feeling celebratory.  These complex "cocktails" look like some a PhD chemist would contrive in his spare time, to me.  I see them as a way to hide the fact someone is using, um, less potable alcohol.  Of course, I only recognize two basic kind of distilled alcohol, aged, and white.

I still really do not understand azeotropes, and I've tried.

Same.  My FIL makes a decent Manhatthan, so I'll do that on holidays.  But otherwise, it's just things I can sip neat, unless I'm at a tailgate, doing shots.

I will say the worst night of mixed drinks was going out for the NCAA tournament, with one of my co-workers (who was a San Diego State alum) and his law school friends (who all hated Pitt) for the NCAA tournament.  I think it was the 2nd round.  Pitt lost to Butler on a crazy game, and SDSU won.  I didn't care, but most of the bar except for us, was angry and cleared out.  They were in a celebratory mood, so I said I'd get a round of shots.  We were at least 8 beers deep at that point, so I figured I'd order a round of "Aztecs" in honor of SDSU.  The bartender didn't blink.  Made the drinks, I carried them over.  They went down easy, again already 8+ beers deep.  So the rest of the night we kept ordering Aztecs.  I asked the bartender after the 4th or 5th round, what was in them, and she said, she was just making up drinks, and doing something different every time.  I did not get out of bed the next day