"Could you please explain 'rancio'?" (Different Spirits Q&A 2025)

Описание: Back in August my Patrons asked me a bunch of questions for the channel's second Questions And Answers session! And I headed out to the porch (and ran my laptop's battery dry) to answer them...

0:58 - "In most hobbies there is usually a prevailing sense of a past golden age, where stuff when better, cheaper and more readily available, especially among the somewhat older hobbyists ("Back in my day...!"). As true as that might be, what, if anything, has actually become better regarding spirits, that is better NOW?"

5:57 - "Hangovers. How do you deal with/prevent them? Is it something you actively prepare for? If so, what’s your method? While sipping spirits neat in a Glencairn is WAY less dangerous than cocktailing, we love our high ABV..."

9:05 - "Can you recommend some online retailers? Perhaps the ones you use most often and/or for specific spirit categories. I am also seeing sharply higher shipping costs from across the pond to the U.S."

14:48 - "Considering your enthusiasm for clear/unaged spirits, what do you think of 'white dog'? Have you had a lot? If it where more commercially available do you think you'd be a regular buyer and how do you think it compares to white rum, tequila etc.?"

17:18 - "In addition to drinking various spirits neat (or with a little water), I am also a huge fan of cocktails. Regarding rum specifically, there are of course loads of fantastic choices when it comes to unaged rums for cocktails, but I am yet to find a go-to reasonably priced 100-proof (or so) age-stated rum. Scott, I know you aren’t into cocktails much, but got any ideas? Ideally, I want something like Doorly’s 8 at a higher strength."

19:44 - "When talking about rum from jamaica and esters there is a legal limit. What more specifically is it that's dangerous about too much esters?"

23:28 - "With $150 or less what five bottles of wine (ideally currently at Binny’s!!) would you buy that are drinkable now to at least two years without repeating styles?... If you had $250 to spend would you get a significant uptick in quality (again for wines that are drinkable now to two years). In other words what are the general price points where a relative wine newbie can expect noticeable improvements in quality that might justify the extra expenditure?"
"Great! and a folllow up like '5 best wines for scotch drinkers'!"
"Perhaps, if at all possible, you could make a video in the format of “Building a ___ Palate in X bottles.” Condensing wine in such a narrow scope may be reductive, but it is a such daunting undertaking for the uninitiated spirits nerd."

38:00 - "Could you please explain 'rancio'? I find the term rather confusing and I've heard somewhat different definitions of it."

43:06 - "You've said in videos that you think of yourself as a capitalist but you're also very critical of the current economic/political situation. I guess I don't see how the situation isn't just capitalism run amok. Could you explain your thinking? Or another question if you want to stay more on topic: what do you think about collectivization/worker ownership in the spirits/wine industry?"

49:43 - "Do you have any particular strategies with the long term storage of your spirits stash? Any tips to ensure the longevity of open bottles?
"When considering making a spirit purchase, what factors influence your determination? Value, quality, scarcity, overall enjoyment, curiosity, etc."

53:55 - "Keep up the good work Scott! Here’s a grab bag of questions:
"You have the knack of being able to pull from a large catalog of flavour notes. Do you have any tips for developing one’s nose/palate (together or separately)?
"Are there any rules you stick to before doing a tasting? For example, I hear eating eggs beforehand can really impact the palate.
"Not sure how much you can reveal about how you source your sample bottles, but if there’s any tips on how to start trading samples that would be awesome.
"How do you get through/store the volumes of full bottles you’ve obtained over the years.
"Are there any plans on doing a livestream of any kind in future? Not particularly sure what such a livestream would entail, but a shopping bag flight could be a good example."

61:29 - "Have you thought of making your own spirits at home. It would be great to see what you could make."

Many thanks to all of my supporters, and especially to my Different Spirits on Patreon (  / differentspirits  ) -

Extra special thanks to my Different Spirits on Patreon (  / differentspirits  ) -

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