Just in time for Mardi Gras, we bring you a review of 1800 Silver Select Tequila.  As we all know, nothing makes topless happen faster than tequila.  Tequila also tends to facilitate dancing to loud music, dancing on tables, dancing on poles,  yelling, vomiting, blackouts, memory loss (if you are lucky), loss of clothing, and an all-over dirty feeling in the morning.  You receive all of these little gifts from drinking the regular 60 to 80-proof tequilas, but I’m not here today to write about regular tequila.  I’m here to discuss the “not only did I lose my clothes, but I set them on fire,” 100-proof tequila.  So if I’m lucky, I’ll be able to piece together enough of my fragmented memory of last night to tell you about my new 100-proof friend and why I am no longer allowed within 500 yards of elementary schools.

    The 1800 Select Silver is a blend of 1800’s finest tequilas made from 100% agave and then cut to 100-proof.  If it wasn’t printed on the bottle, I would have never known this tequila is 100-proof.  It doesn’t taste or smell like what I would expect from such a high-proof of tequila.  When opening the bottle, you are immediately greeted by an oaky-sweet agave scent.  It’s really quite inviting.  The real magic of 1800 Select Silver is in its sweet agave taste.  This tequila is almost flavorless as it fills the mouth.  When in the mouth, 1800 Silver Select gives a bit of a tequila burn and tingle on the tongue and the sides of the mouth, but it’s not harsh at all.  It feels friendlier than drinking most weaker tequilas.  Maybe I’m just an alcoholic, well I am, but 1800 Select Silver can easily be sipped over ice.

    Mixed, the Select Silver is as sneaky as a ninja.  100-proof tequila that can be hidden this well is a silent assasin…a very dangerous thing!  When mixed, there’s zero burn and zero tingle.  The only taste that remains is just that sweet agave flavor.  Since you can make a “margarita” out of any fruit juice, sour, and tequila, the possibilities for mixing are endless.  I guarantee everyone can find a drink concoction he or she will enjoy.  Depending on the drinker and his or her tolerance, this can be a really good thing or the longest sick night of your life.

    Remember when I said the only way you can tell this stuff is 100-proof is from the label?  If not, then it’s second sentence in the second paragraph, and your reading rentention sucks.  Anyway, I lied.  I know I’m flawed; get over it.  The other way you can tell 1800 Silver Select is 100-proof is from that slow-motion, room-spinning, damn-its-getting-hot-in-here-and-I-need-to-take-off-all-my-clothes, drunk-as-hell feeling.  I got really drunk, really fast.  Mostly because I drank a lot of drinks really fast, but that is beside the point.  It’s hard to keep track of how much you are actually drinking and how wasted you are getting when sharing an evening with this tequila.  Before you know it, your friends are trying to talk you off that picnic table in front of the elementary school at 3 o’clock in the afternoon.  It wasn’t my fault!  Those kids looked like they were ready to party!

    I remember when I was a kid (another lie), there was nothing I wanted more than to unwind after class with a tequila sunrise in one hand and a new Berenstain Bears book in the other (oddly enough, not a lie).  1800 Silver Select gave me a good drunk.  I didn’t feel like I needed to pass out like I do when consuming large amounts of most other high-proof liquors.  I wanted to move, be out in the public, and to make friends only to immediately lose them.

    The hangover from such a day isn’t as sneaky or innocent.  Lucky for me, I know nothing of moderation.  I kept drinking until the hangover vanished and later reappeared that next night.  In my “professional” opinion, the best thing to do is to go ahead and puke while you are wasted.  If you try to hold it until the next day or until the room stops spinning, you are just asking for trouble.*  So after a night of drinking until I couldn’t hold the booze down and then drinking more, my head felt like it had a 2-hour drum solo going on in there the next morning.  That drumming mixed with a bit of cotton mouth and some memory loss was all I suffered in the morning.  It may sound bad, but considering the fact that I was drinking loads of 100-proof tequila, it’s nothing.  Luckily, most of the drinking I did with the 1800 Select Sliver was in mixed drinks, so my symptoms weren’t too terrible.

    The only major drawback to 1800 Silver Select is that a 750ml bottle of this magical party fluid comes to you for around $39.  In my opinion, the extra cash is definitely worth the product.  If you are looking for a little or even a lot of fun, then this is a must-buy.  It’s a good party tequila for the price range; plus, you can mix it with damn near anything.  The only hard part is keeping in mind that you are partying with a 100-proof beast.  If you don’t watch out, you may find yourself draped over a toilet in a spinning room with someone holding your hair back.

*Editorial Note: Drinking in moderation is always best.  Drinking until you puke is stupid and no one should ever do it.  

Shootability – 6.0

Mixability – 7.0

Drunkability – 9.0

Hangover-ability – 5.0

Bang for the Buck – 5.0

Overall – 7.0

              Check out our review of the 1800 Repsado.

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     Well, it’s the time of year again that most of us dread.  No, I’m not taking about trying to figure out who gave you that rash or whatever the hell it is.  I’m talking about back to school time.  I don’t have kids nor do I have to deal with the daily expenses of having to pay for books, classes, and such, but back when I was in school, I do remember it being very pricey.  I also remember that nothing is harder than having to choose between the importance of a Physics book compared to that of a bottle of sweet, sweet booze, so I’m here to give you a resource I never had.  I made up a list a list of inexpensive liquors that doesn’t taste like the green stuff growing on the floor inside your dorm room closet (no not that stuff, the other stuff…you know, the stuff that’s growing on your socks). 

     I went to my local place of spirit sales and gathered some prices and a bottle or six to see what choices would be good in exchange for that book used for your Organic Gardening class.  You will notice that some liquors, such as Scotch, are missing from the list.  That’s because the base starting price for a Scotch that I consider to be drinkable starts around the $35-$40 range.  When you are on a budget, you have to go without some things.  Unfortunately, that means you will have to do without a few types of liquor.  Life is hard, sorry.  Now on to the list:

Vodka:

Svedka         Overall – 7.0    

                            – $13.00 for a 750 ml bottle

                            - $19.00 for a 1.75 ml bottle*

Smirnoff        (Soon to be rated)                           

                             - $12.00 for a 750 ml bottle

                            – $18.00 for a 1.75 ml bottle

 UV                  (Soon to be rated)

                            – $13.00 for a 750 ml bottle

Rum:

Bacardi (Flavored)   Overall – 6.0 (average)   

                                        – $15.00 for a 750 ml bottle

Bacardi (Gold & Silver)      (Soon to be rated)

                                         – $13.50 for a 750 ml bottle

Flor de Cana Gold   Overall – 8.0  

                                        - $13.50 for a 750 ml bottle*

Captain Morgan        (Soon to be rated)

                                         -$12.00 for a 750 ml bottle*

                                         -$25.00 for a 1.75 ml bottle

Sailor Jerry’s Rum     Overall - 8.5    

                                           – 20.00 for a 750 ml bottle *

                                           – 26.00 for a 1.75 ml bottle ( sale price)*

Tequlia:

Jose Cuervo Especial    Overall – 5.5  

                                               – $16.00 for a 750 ml bottle*

                                               – $30.50 for a 1.75 ml bottle

Whiskey:

Jim Beam (white)    Overall – 6.5    

                    -$17.00 for a 750 ml bottle*

                    -$25.00 for a 1.75 ml bottle

Gin:

Seagram’s                 (Soon to be rated)

                              -12.47 for 750ml bottle

Grain:

Everclear             Overall – 5.0  

                                   -13.50 for a 750 ml bottle*

Fad booze:

Jagermeister   Overall – 6.5 

                               – 23.00 for a 750ml bottle

* must for every low price dorm bar

    
     Remember this list is purely a bang for the buck list.   I suggest getting one bottle of something you really love and then filling in the blanks with liquors from my little list.  These liquors were what I thought to be the bargains at MY local spirit store.  I know different places have different laws, so prices may be different.  Hell, you may not be able to buy a few of the bottles in your area.  I don’t know the sales and laws everywhere in the world.  Leave a comment to help out the other drinkers in your area.  Remember we are a drinking community, so we have to stick together and assist our fellow brothers of the shot glass.  Now as for finding someone to help some of you buy liquor, I suggest talking to that weird older girl that sits in the front of the class.  She has no friends and nothing but time on her hands.  Sure you might have to invite her to your next party, but that’s a low price to pay for an open booze connection.  Good luck and happy drinking!

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    Greetings, loyal readers.  It has been many moons since I have imparted a review to our great little website, but I certainly haven’t been slacking on my tasting and exploring the liquor world during this time of women, binging, and assorted acts of debauchery.  One of the latest libations to reach my parched lips comes from our good friends at Flor de Caña in their Centenario Gold 18-year rum.  Since most Flor de Caña products we have tasted have fared very well in our tests (especially the Gold 4-year), we were quite excited to try a more age-refined offering. 
  
    Unlike many party rums such as Bacardi Limon or Flor de Caña Gold, I have not allowed the Flor de Caña Centenario Gold 18 to escort me to any parties or gatherings in fear that it may be consumed in mass quantities by people who lack discerning palates and cannot appreciate its delicious depth of flavor.  It would be a shame to waste such yummy booze on 20-somethings who would muck up my Centenario Gold with soda for their sloppy, drunken pleasure.  Centenario Gold is a true sipping rum and should be enjoyed as such.

    When taking that first sip of Centenario over ice, your tastebuds are greeted with a thick and smooth treat.  The trademarked slow-aging process Flor de Caña uses for its rums is fully realized with Centenario Gold.  The 18 years of aging in small oak barrels gives Centenario Gold a deep amber color and a complex yet smooth flavor.  Flor de Caña claims this rum is hand crafted and allowed to age at its own pace.  I’m not exaclty sure what that means, but whatever they are doing to this spirit before sending it my way definitely gets a BoozeBasher stamp of approval.  This rum goes down very smoothly, and you can really feel the almost thick texture of the spirit as it makes its way down your throat.  You can taste a large amount of oakiness paired with the rich sweetness of sugar cane from Flor de Caña’s San Antonio Sugar Mill in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua.  The flavors pair nicely and give the spirit a caramel-like taste.  The finish is dry, almost like a Scotch, but the caramel-like aftertaste really stays on your tongue and keeps you thirsty for more.  There is absolutely no metalic taste or alcohol burn that you may associate with a cheap, unrefined rum.  Flor de Caña really hit one out of the park with Centenario Gold 18.

    Since I have stated that rum of this calibur should be enjoyed without a mixer, you might think that Centenario Gold doesn’t mix well with cola.  Well, you would be wrong!  I swear the taste that comes from Flor de Caña Centenario Gold and Coke is a taste of heaven.  The rum mixes so well with Coke that it accentuates it perfectly.  It gives the cola a little boost in thickness and a wonderfully-delicious aftertaste that leaves a hint of sugarcane and caramel on the tongue.  The finish isn’t as dry as before, and you could easily keep these drinks coming all night.  Although I personally see it as a grave sin to mix this rum, I have to admit that it tastes even better with a splash of soda.  If you do decide to bring Centenario Gold to a party full of young people, they will love the drinks you make them, even if they really don’t understand the true beauty of the spirit they imbibe.

    The drunk produced from Centenario Gold was an intense yet mellow buzz.  I lost all care and worry, and I was in fantastically-good spirits for the night.  I felt immune to all the nasty things happening in my life and around me in my home, and let’s be honest here, that’s what drinking is all about, right?  I’m not so sure this would be the best juice in the world to start off a long night of debauchery, as it mellowed me and evened away any stress and excitement both, but I would highly reccommed it for a relaxing evening at home or as a finisher when coming home from a long night of excitement.  As a matter of fact, I would even go so far as to call Flor de Caña Centenario Gold the PERFECT drink for a nightcap.  I never thought I would use that term, but there it is, and Centenario Gold fits that bill exactly.

    Though I admittedly didn’t have much more than four shots worth of Centenario Gold to test the hangover, the lack of any kind of discomfort in the morning was very welcome.  There was no hangover or dry mouth.  I was a little groggy and tired the next day, but it’s hard to tell if the rum was actually the culprit there since I didn’t get much sleep.  Still, Centenario will make a nifty mid-week treat for all you hard-working types out there.  The punishment the next day shouldn’t be anything you can’t power through.  

    Most rum drinkers begin their journey into the rum world with the likes of Bacardi Silver or other sub-par spirits.  We here at BoozeBasher are here to save you from that medocrity of the masses and promote the less-advertised and perhaps less-known yet superior spirits.  Flor de Caña is definitely a less-known brand that you should check out, and the Centenario Gold 18 is the most delicious of any product of theirs that I have consumed (though I have yet to try the Centenario 21).  Even though the Centenario Gold will hurt you in the wallet at nearly $40 a bottle, do yourself a favor, and give it a try.  If it isn’t good enough to make you slap your momma, it will certainly at least bring a big smile to your face after a hard day.  Cheers. 

Sipability – 7.5

Mixability – 8.5

Drunkability – 7.5

Hangover-ability - 8.5

Bang for the Buck - 4.0

Overall - 8.0  

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