The B12 (XII) Forum, home of the 'Front Porch, y'all' at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Some US Pinot noirs can come close to cabs. 

I'm not experienced and learned enough to know why they taste different.

I can't discern cabernet sauvignon wine from merlot blind.  

My wife likes Sweetwater 420 and other lighter tasting beers.  I like 420 myself, it's very suitable for a warmer day, and it has some flavor.  I'm sure Bud could make a lighter American ale with some flavor.

At baseball camp, in the locker room they have only Mic Ultra and Bud Light.  I tried the former and poured it out.  The Bud Light tasted like a stout in comparison.  Fortunately at their nightly events they have a better selection.

You can spend all your money and more on high end liquor these days.

Let your tongue be your guide, good tequila tastes good, and you don't have to spend a fortune on it.
But you probably have to spend more than $20.

I love Cognac.  I have a bottle of Hennessey XO for very special occasions, it's lasted a couple of years.  I also have a Remy Martin VSOP for more common drinking.

Lots of American whiskeys in my bar.  Bourbons include Bulleitt, Woodford, Knob Creek and Maker's Mark.  Ryes are Bulleitt and Old Overholt (which honestly I like as well as or better than any of the bourbons and ryes mentioned before).  

Scotches I currently have on-hand are  Oban, Lagavulin, and The Macallan.

Irish whiskey-- just Jamesons.

Gin-- Bombay Sapphire, Hendricks, and Aviator.  The Sapphire is my favorite by a pretty wide margin but my i s c & a aggie wife likes the others.

Only vodka I need is Tito's.

I have several tequilas-- Espolon Reposado, Patron Silver, Don Julio Anejo.  The Espolon is one of my favorites, tough to beat from a price/taste perspective.

Rarely drink rum but we add it to the egg nog every year so we always have some around, I think it's probably Bacardi.

We also have a bottle of the Brazilian version of rum called Cachaca, I like it quite a bit in the summer muddled with some sugar and lime and maybe a topochico topper.

And then we have all sorts of rando bottles of stuff my i s c & a aggie wife likes to get to make mixed drinks.  Elderflower liquer, mellon liquer, etc.

Man after listing it all, that sounds like a lot.  It's all tucked into our bar cabinet in our Parlor.  I guess we have so much because we end up drinking a lot more wine than liquor, but sometimes you just want a nice pour of the hard stuff.

Cachaca makes Caipirinhas. I cut a lime into 8ths and muddle with 1/2oz simple syrup. Add 2oz Cachaca and enough crushed ice to float it. Perfect for Samba. After about four of them, my repique skills really take off (or so I imagine).
I drink waaaay too much rum in the summer! Usually, I'll mix rum punch, but it takes a lot of stuff to make. The dark Pussar's (a corruption of the Royal Navy "Bursar's" - for the allotment they'd get on the ship) is a favorite. Hiddem wit da Soca riddem!

My wife (and I) prefer caipiroskas, made properly.

Caipiroska Cocktail Recipe (liquor.com)

I like them way too much.

When I was in Korea--1987-88--the local beer there was said to have formaldehyde. It did have a funny taste to it, and it seemed like it made you feel bad after drinking it.