Fun fact: Former socialist countries like East Germany used to use some kind of phenolic smelling cleaning fluid. I smelled that shit every time I crossed the border to East Berlin at Friedrichstraße. A decade later, I had my first Islay malt which had a really similar smell… it was super weird.
To this day, I cannot drink a Laphroaig without being reminded of those times.
Interesting. I never knew what they actually used. I had never encountered that smell in West Berlin at the time. And certainly not since the wall came down. Thanks for solving this mystery. 🙂
If you’re not going to drink it, could you at least clean with it?
Is The 21st Century Whiskey Crash Here?
Fun fact: Former socialist countries like East Germany used to use some kind of phenolic smelling cleaning fluid. I smelled that shit every time I crossed the border to East Berlin at Friedrichstraße. A decade later, I had my first Islay malt which had a really similar smell… it was super weird.
To this day, I cannot drink a Laphroaig without being reminded of those times.
It was 0.5% phenol, also sold as Dettol. The most potent surface antibacterial.
Interesting. I never knew what they actually used. I had never encountered that smell in West Berlin at the time. And certainly not since the wall came down. Thanks for solving this mystery. 🙂
Maybe just a tiny crash, let the hype die down so I can finally get a bottle of pappy