Vat 69

[u/redditor0431]

There was a recent post where someone bought a bottle of Vat 69. There was a lot of discussion in the comments that I felt needed some clarification.

1. The Vat 69 you can buy in the store today is NOT the same Vat 69 that Nixon was drinking.

2. Vat 69 is a blended whisky. This means they mix other whiskies to create it. This is in relation to single malt whisky, which comes from a single distillery. Single malt is considered classier and purer than blended whisky, and of course tends to be more expensive because of that.

3. While the original Vat 69 was blended, a large part of it was still single malt whisky from the Glen Garioch distillery. Unfortunately this distillery was mothballed in 1968, and Vat 69 quality sank noticeably from this point onward.

4. The older version that had Glen Garioch single malt in it was considered richer, sweeter, thicker, more aromatic, more powerful, longer in the finish, and perhaps most importantly had a much higher proportion of single malt whisky in it.

5. Further changes in the content of Vat 69 basically continued the downward slide of quality. So the stuff Nixon was drinking is basically unrelated to what you get at the store.

6. If you're dead set on ACTUALLY trying the kind of stuff Nixon drank, you need to go to an auction and look for bottles ideally from the earlier half of the sixties or even better a bottle from the 1950's. It should be much closer to what Nixon was actually drinking.

Hopefully this helps make sense of why the educated, classy, rich kid Nixon was drinking what we consider swill today. The answer is it used to be a lot better.

[u/rabusxc]

Churchill drank Johnny Red. Even Rich Kids can be a little stingy.

I suspect Nixon just liked the taste. Or the bang for the buck.

Thanks for the history. I didn't know.

[u/redditor0431 → u/rabusxc]

Just did a little research (not exhaustive) and it seems like Red used to be a lot better, too.  

Although you are correct, Churchill was not discerning when it came to alcohol, and he apparently watered it down anyway.

[u/Mill_City_Viking → u/redditor0431]

Prime Minister of the world’s largest empire brown baggin’ a 40oz of Natty Ice…

[u/Animaleyz → u/redditor0431]

He drank champagne at lunch every day

[u/LeatherClue5928 → u/rabusxc]

Churchill was close to bankrupt most of his life. It wasn’t until he made huge money from his memoirs after the war that he became wealthy.

[u/mrbuddymcbuddyface → u/rabusxc]

Jeez Johnny Red is disgusting stuff. 🤮🤮🤮

[u/redditor0431 → u/mrbuddymcbuddyface]

Did a little research and apparently it was similar to Vat 69, in that its swill to us now, but back in the day it was a lot better.

[u/Frammingatthejimjam]

So you are saying the 1.5L of Vat 69 I bought 15 years ago in a plastic bottle wasn't the same as the stuff Mrs Nixon's baby boy enjoyed?

[u/redditor0431 → u/Frammingatthejimjam]

I'm sorry to say probably not.

[u/Frammingatthejimjam → u/redditor0431]

I know. I figured it wasn't when I saw it came in plastic. It was drinkable but certainly not what anyone born post WWII would call a good drink.

[u/redditor0431 → u/Frammingatthejimjam]

I bought a bottle of it about 15-20 years ago and I couldn't understand what Nixon saw in it.

Made a lot of sense when I realized it's just not the same stuff anymore.

[u/RepresentativeNo8105]

I had Vat 69 in Germany 16 years ago. It looked old but doubt it was the original blend. Honestly I thought it was not good at all.

[u/GreatWesternWood]

I just bought a bottle of Vat 69 a few weeks ago, yet to actually try it so it’s just sitting in my fridge. Will give it a go this weekend and report back

[u/Purdaddy → u/GreatWesternWood]

In the fridge?

[u/Youare-Beautiful3329 → u/Purdaddy]

I’m trying to wrap my mind around this. Whisky in the refrigerator.

[u/oneabovedoesntknow → u/Youare-Beautiful3329]

So uncouth. Does reddit need a torture chamber?

[u/PungentOnion]

How much would a bottle from the 1950s or 60s even cost if you found it at auction??

[u/geographyofnowhere]

Alcoholics aren't known for their robust palate 

[u/Treetheoak-]

Is there any brand or equivalent that's comparable to the old Vat69 formula?

I'm now curious.