Those of us who grew up in the 20th century knew what a fifth of whiskey was. One fifth of a US gallon. A US gallon holds 128 ounces, so a fifth was 28.6 ounces. Nowadays we buy our hooch on the metric system, and a 750 ml bottle, we still call a fifth, but that holds only 25.36 ounces.
A jigger of whiskey was commonly known to be 1.5 ounces. One of the legends ascribed to the game of golf was that the course standard of 18 holes was based on the fifth of whiskey. If a gentleman limited himself to one jigger per hole, he could finish the course with fifth, retaining a wee bit to toast the course after the game.
Lately I have seen some of the online whiskey gurus saying that they didn't know why a 750 ml bottle is sometimes called a fifth. Now, the education is complete.
You are welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment