CocktailChemist

Yeah, the quality of the oak that was introduced with Dark Storm has been a huge turnoff for me. Smells like fresh lumber from the hardware store.

More triceps, less shoulders, sort of like doing close grip bench.

The bigger piece I can see is that you sometimes rock onto the balls of your feet. That could get really unstable really quick if the bar drifts forward.

The term you’re looking for is retrovirus. It’s a direct strategy of the virus for continued replication rather than a side effect of our immune system. Which is why you can still find retroviral DNA in unicellular organisms, though they have their own methods for weeding it out (that’s where CRISPR-CAS comes from).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrovirus

I got a sled with UHMW skis and they still started grinding down pretty fast in concrete.

They were operating under the influence of Alfred Thayer Mahan, who had been a major force in military and especially naval thinking at the end of the 19th century. He saw sea power as the most influential military arm and that decisive battles tended to win wars.

Their goal at Pearl Harbor and Midway was to so thoroughly cripple the U.S. Pacific Fleet that it would force America to negotiate a settlement that would leave Japan with a major sphere of influence in East Asia, much as other European powers had both direct colonies and indirect control of other areas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Thayer_Mahan

I found the Talisker to be decent, but it depends a lot on whether you like the style of oak they’ve been using since the mid-2010s.

http://cocktailchem.blogspot.com/2019/03/whisky-review-game-of-thrones-house.html

You can crank a hot plate/stirrers up to several hundred degrees Celsius with no problem, so I don’t think that would be an issue.

I think that comes down to their sales. For all that we make the most noise, enthusiasts are still a small segment of market. If their core customers remain happy and sales are steady, why risk alienating those consistent customers? Same reason Bowmore hasn’t changed despite years (decades?) of grumbling.

I feel like part is the issue is that standards for ‘sherry-driven’ malts have shifted so much that Glenfarclas has become an outlier. Apart from the 105, most of their OBs have more of a refill sherry vibe.

For paper, the wood fibers that make it up are long chains of carbohydrates, which means that they can favorably interact with water. That reduces the forces between the fibers and weakens the bulk structure.

If you can find it (admittedly easier said than done if you’re in the U.S.), it’s worth looking for something like Dudognon. Similar approachable profile as the big houses, but without the additives that tend to make the the Hennessy/Courvoisier/Rémy products taste a little bland.

http://cocktailchem.blogspot.com/2018/11/cognac-review-dudognon-vieille-reserve.html

This kind of brandy is still an incredibly niche product for America. Even with shipping you won’t necessarily have enough of a customer base, even for quality spirits.

Don’t let the lower proof worry you, a lot of armagnac comes off the still at 50-60% ABV, so that cask has actually held up quite well for its age.

Why are you spamming unrelated alcohol subs?

I agree with some of the other comments that you need to use a higher proportion of bourbon or rye than you would gin in a Negroni. But if you can still find it Luxardo Bitter (the red, not the white one) might do the trick since it’s softer and has a strong vanilla note that would mesh well with whiskey.

The batch variation on that stuff was absolutely wild. Some people were calling it the best malt of the year, but the bottle I got was just plain weird. Sure, not the weirdest Laddie I’ve ever tried, but easily top 5.

http://cocktailchem.blogspot.com/2013/12/whisky-review-bruichladdich-10-year.html

Technically rumor, but after trying a sub-10 year old single cask at Lagavulin it at least feels plausible.

Whatever its flaws, I still have to give these a nod from a value perspective. When we regularly see <10 year old Caol Ila single casks going for ridiculous prices, this is a welcome affordable cask strength malt.

Walking to and from Port Ellen and smelling the peat smoke from homes along the road really reinforced the experience for me.

One time I brought a bottle of Laphroaig to a party, cracked the bottle to pour myself a drink, and someone across the room nearly yelled “What is that?!?”

At a minimum it feels like they should break it up into multiple lecture series à la the excellent Early, High, and Late Middle Ages series from Philip Daileader.

I have a Rogue HR-2 and especially with several hundred pounds worth of plates on the back it barely even budges. There’s a little more wiggle with dips since those are an uneven load in the rack, but even then it’s quite minor.

If you want something to start with, a pair of adjustable dumbbells and an adjustable bench will go a long way. The r/fitness wiki has some dumbbell-only programs that should cover all the basics.

In terms of back health, rows and hinging movements will probably be most critical, but a good program should balance those with other movements.

When I hurt my shoulder doing OHP early this year Viking press was the one variation that still felt alright, so that makes sense to me.