jasonbstanding.com - Latest Comments

Re: Grading Whiskies Out Of 100: A Composte

jasc — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 16:28:12 -0000

Couple of thoughts on this now-years-old discussion:

1) why should the bottom half of a 100 point scale not be just as granular at the top half? If we're ok differentiating between "pretty great" and "really quite great" then why not "really bad" and "truly awful?" I that zone doesn't get much use - and that's a good thing - but does that necessarily mean it shouldn't be there?

2) Of course most reviewers' scores will cluster in the mid 80s on a 100 point scale. The overwhelming majority of bottles on store shelves are pretty decent... there's actually very little of the copper-bottomed shite on the market, especially if you're a reviewer who self-selects for "sipping spirits" to review.

3) Since you used Serge's graphic to illustrate your point about clustering, I'm compelled to point out that he mentions having indeed given a score of "1" in the article it was pulled from. Again, those spirits don't come up often... not enough to show up on the graph. But if he found even one that was 97 points worse than the best thing he's ever tasted, I feel like it justifies the whole scale. =P

4) The granularity issue really pops up when you're doing something like "let's have a flight of Lagavulin 12s from 2015 to present." "5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5" isn't really a helpful scoring breakdown from the 1-5* die-hards... but a wee spread from 89 to 91 from the 100-pointer at least tells us that, side by side, there is some distinction between them.

Anyway, always a fun debate. Yes, at the end of the day a Pass/Fail score would probably suffice if all we want is a drink. But we're trying to be whisky nerds here!

Re: I hate Bluetooth.

MadFerret9 — Fri, 25 Dec 2020 07:03:08 -0000

Amen brother. Truer words have never been spoken.

Re: Honestly… What sort of sociopath goes Fork, Knife, Spoon!? I've half a mind to correct this, even though it isn't my kitchen… #flatwareproblems #knifeforkspoon #getitright

Jason B. Standing — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 04:46:46 -0000

It certainly is an urgent issue that we'd be wise to heed. Don't want anarchy, or anything.

Re: Honestly… What sort of sociopath goes Fork, Knife, Spoon!? I've half a mind to correct this, even though it isn't my kitchen… #flatwareproblems #knifeforkspoon #getitright

patrickspenceley — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 09:11:50 -0000

THE HUMANITY!!! , just don't open the dishwasher, I bet they also mix cutlery in the holder as well.

Re: Anyone got any idea what game this is, so we can look up the rules?

patrickspenceley — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 04:13:22 -0000

Google Carrom ;)

Re: Grading Whiskies Out Of 100: A Composte

Catherine Sikora — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 13:48:34 -0000

I appreciate this article. Thanks Johannes for directing me here. I agree with many of your points. One thing you didn't mention was that grading at school trains us to look for certain things, which is why using a 100 point scale may be better just for people glancing at a score. Most likely we are used to a score where 90-100% right equals an A, 80-89 equals a B and so forth. So this is an argument for sticking with the 100 point scale, because we might then think we want to give this whisky an A or that whisky a B and go from there. That is why I also think highly of Ben Cops system as you do. It sits well within the scale we are used to for judging things. Just because we don't use many numbers that would get an F, I don't think we should reinvent the wheel. I do think we should just stick to whole numbers, because as you say, 100 points is enough to grade nuances. If we were to casually see that a whisky was scored 40 we would not understand this was perfection and would have to be educated about the new system. At this point, I feel like we are better off to stick with the 100 point scale as learned in school. It represents how much you got right out of the whole and then says you get a grade to represent your accomplishment. I know that is arbitrary, but scoring whisky is a fairly arbitrary exercise. Thanks again for this excellent discussion.

Re: 2004-04-14 : What the hell is a Nerdlick ?

Crinkled Region — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 00:43:55 -0000

Schmleric...what path have you set me on?

Re: Top Ten Tuesday: t-shirts

Jimmy — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 10:24:16 -0000

I picked up the same green Dangermouse T when I visited England back in 2005. Dangermouse played in the USA during the 80s on Nickelodeon, so a lot of 80s kids tend to recognize it when I wear it. I haven't had anyone incorrectly say Mighty Mouse, though. Mine is also looking the same, and I'm in fact wearing it right now. I found all the reproductions are finally available online, so I'll have to nab one sometime soon. Crikey.

Re: Like Jurassic Park, but with instruments

Angela Randall — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 05:02:16 -0000

What an unbelievably appropriate name for a death metal band!

Re: It all seems so obvious, until you ask someone.

Christopher Smith — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 18:19:02 -0000

Ah, the illusion of choice. I swear most of the time they're plumed up to perform the same flush. They could at least label them, then you might know what you were getting...

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Re: It all seems so obvious, until you ask someone.

Karen Czornohalan — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 05:20:39 -0000

Omg... You need a hobby! Lol

Re: The stuff I pointed my eyes at in 2014

neonwombat — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 13:44:42 -0000

Actual LOL at your House of Cards theme tune comparison. Relevant: http://songexploder.net/epi...

Re: Recipe Corner: Mmmm…. Chicken….

Jason B. Standing — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 19:11:05 -0000

I made this again tonight, using a slightly larger chicken and hotter oven temp. And used Aromat as half of the salt. There doesn't appear to be a way to avoid smoke billowing out of the oven when you open it, so it seems a necessary condition of this arrangement is having a very efficient extractor fan or the windows open. But golly, what a tasty, tasty way to roast a chicken. STILL haven't tasted anything else remotely approaching this nice.

Re: A great man

Caitlin — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 01:29:45 -0000

Lovely words Jason. Thinking of you and hoping you are OK.

Re: Your call is important to us. Please choose from the following options.

Ivan Melnychenko — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 12:41:17 -0000

Now you phone will listen to their merry music on your behalf!

The application waits for the operator's voice on the line and signals when this happens.

https://play.google.com/sto...

Re: Let’s raise a glass to The Gunmakers

Paul G. Ennis — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 20:00:03 -0000

Indeed a fine tribute to The Gunmakers. Although 4000 miles away, the few days we were in London each year, the magic of The Gunmakers along with its consummate landlord and host, Jeff, assured that we felt as if it was our local, too. Discovered through PapaStaunch’s blog, we were always assured not only some of the finest food, but also the best pint of real ale in London. It is truly a closing of a chapter when those across the Atlantic start reminiscing about the changing of the guard at The Gunmakers.

Re: 2005-07-11 : Not your average day in the park…

Jason B. Standing — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 07:29:11 -0000

Faaaaaaaaaark!

Re: 2005-07-11 : Not your average day in the park…

Spiro — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 08:48:50 -0000

Was thinking about this earlier today and coincidentally just found my way here via a more recent post.

Recalling being woken around 3am to those first notes of Breathe, thanks again for sharing :-)

Re: The final instalment of Owl Stretching Time

Emma Hillier — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 17:39:10 -0000

So glad something positive came out of Elmore!

Re: How old? Well, I’d prefer not to say…

Jason B. Standing — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 06:13:00 -0000

Hi Jim, thanks for the feedback! Just out of interest, which member of the club's started decrying the abandonment of age statements? I'll ensure they turn in their backscratcher immediately.

Can you show me where at any point the entire collection of individuals who post their opinions about whisky online (I'm assuming this is the "club" you're referring to?) agreed on any one viewpoint?

Where do you sit on the subject?

Re: How old? Well, I’d prefer not to say…

Jim Walters — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 05:35:00 -0000

Oh course, the mutual back-scratching club of irrelevant whisky nerds are the only ones who don't see the hypocrisy of spending years saying how an age statement is not necessarily a good indicator of quality, and then turning around and decrying the abandonment of age statements.

Re: The final instalment of Owl Stretching Time

Jason B. Standing — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 09:39:45 -0000

I also feel a lot more focussed now.

Re: The final instalment of Owl Stretching Time

Ryan Davidson — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 09:34:25 -0000

We really grew into our looks, didn't we?

Re: The final instalment of Owl Stretching Time

Jason B. Standing — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 08:47:43 -0000

Probably worth adding at this point that one of my favourite current comedians Robin Ince blogged about his trip to see the Pythons, and it's a more thoughtful less "then this happened, then this happened" style of piece, which was sort of what I was aiming at and gave up around 2600 words: http://robinince.wordpress....

Re: Well, it’s been ten years and maybe more since I first set eyes on you.

Jason B. Standing — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 10:20:52 -0000

It's only The Pirate Girl! Long time, no see!! Would love to see your blog and what you've been up to all this time. Wheeeeeeeee. Thanks for saying hello :)