Mansion caretaker charged with drinking $102K whiskey

[Earth_First]

The mystery of the missing whiskey has all the elements of a page-turner: a beautiful estate, a century in time, a thirsty thief and a bit of DNA on the lip of a bottle.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-mct-scottdale-mansions-caretaker-accused-of-drinking-20130322,0,4025535.story

[jmowreader]

1. We can put the drinkability question to rest now

Dude drank a bottle of whiskey per week for a year. If it wasn't drinkable he probably would have stopped at one.

[Wounded Bear]

2. You don't know much about alcoholics, do you?

[cliffordu]

3. No shit.

[nomorenomore08]

5. True. People who are desperate enough will drink mouthwash, antifreeze, God knows what.

It would be hilarious if it weren't so sad.

[csziggy]

6. Remember the days when they'd drink Sterno?

I remember one Christmas when a group of desperate alcoholics in a small town drink several cans of Sterno each.

If you don't know what Sterno is:

Invented around 1900, Sterno is made from ethanol, methanol, water and an amphoteric oxide gelling agent, plus a dye that gives it a characteristic pink color. Designed to be odorless, a 7 oz (198 g) can will burn for up to two hours. The methanol is added to denature the product, which essentially is intended to make it too toxic to be drinkable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterno

[nomorenomore08]

7. Oh yeah. There's even an old song about it.

Tommy Johnson - "Canned Heat Blues"

[graywarrior]

4. I useta coulda done that on a weekend