My brother accidentally broke (more like destroyed but oh well) my nose as a kid when playing baseball and as a result I lost a lot of ability to discern smell and taste. I've tried so many wine, liquor, beer, and many more food tastings but it never really registers beyond what you'd expect when you lose that ability: salt, fat, the cool sting of liquor, fizzy, etc (if that makes sense).

I've bought some high priced liquors before and while my friends have been able to denote special things about them I just can't seem to; so, since I usually drink for a buzz anyway I've just settled on buying a 1.75L of 190 proof Everclear and water it down to 3L since it's essentially a more economic exchange anyway.

Silver linings...I guess.

I find this very hard to believe if they are drunk at a sipping strength. A lot of bourbon comes at cask strength, which is good for mixers but is too strong to be drunk straight. The recommendation is to add a little water to get it to the proper alcohol percentage. I don't doubt that people will struggle to tell the difference if they are given cask-strength whisky, as the alcohol concentration can be overwhelming when consumed neat.

As for me, the highest I will go neat is 46%, and that's only for certain scotches.

Very true. Around where I live the worst is Weller (all variations) and Blantons. Nice bottles, but nothing out of this world. You could easily find them on the shelf years ago. Nowadays it is unheard of to see them for sale.