OK, so talking about whiskey is almost never going to be as fun as actually drinking whiskey, but it can still be an enjoyable time. Take a moment to think about it. You’re sitting around a fire with your best friends, a few fingers of a fine single malt whisky (and a few more already in your stomach), so why wouldn’t you want to wax poetic about the source of your current joy?
Maybe you’re not sitting around a campfire with friends holding your favorite camping flask, or maybe you’re feeling morbid and want to plan your gravestone prematurely. You want the world to know that, even in death, you really freaking love whiskey. Perhaps you need a new quote for your dating app profile. We’ve got you covered. Below, you’ll find whiskey quotes from a variety of celebrities across time, from writers to actors to professional athletes, that all discuss this amazing spirit. We love these quotes, and frankly, we think you will, too.
Need some whiskey on hand for drinking while reading about whiskey? Here are some great cheap bottles to get you started.
The best whiskey quotes
As one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in the world, it should come as no surprise that there are a ton of celebrity quotes discussing their love for whiskey. Here are some of our favorites.
Hunter S. Thompson
“Sleep late, have fun, get wild, drink whiskey, and drive fast on empty streets with nothing in mind but falling in love and not getting arrested.”
Ernest Hemingway
“Never delay kissing a pretty girl or opening a bottle of whiskey.”
Mark Twain
“Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough.”
Winston Churchill
“The water was not fit to drink. To make it palatable, we had to add whisky. By diligent effort, I learned to like it.”
Tug McGraw
“Ninety percent I’ll spend on good times, women, and Irish Whiskey. The other 10 percent I’ll probably waste.”
Errol Flynn
“I like my whisky old and my women young.”
George Bernard Shaw
“Whisky is liquid sunshine.”
William Faulkner
“My own experience has been that the tools I need for my trade are paper, tobacco, food, and a little whisky.”
Ava Gardner
“I wish to live to 150 years old, but the day I die, I wish it to be with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other.”
Classic toasts for whiskey drinkers
Now that we’ve covered some of the best celebrity quotes about whiskey, we thought we’d give you some ideas for classic whiskey toasts that are fancier than just “cheers” for the next time you’re enjoying a glass with friends.
Starting in Ireland, when you raise a glass of Irish whiskey, the classic toast is “slàinte,” pronounced “slawn-cha,” a Celtic word that translates to “good health.” The good news is that you can use the same toast while sharing a single malt scotch, since the toast is the same in Scotland as well.
While Italy isn’t known for its whiskey; if you’re having a whiskey before a fine Italian meal, you could go with the Italian toast “salute” (you heard it a lot on the Sopranos), which is the Italian word for “health.”
But don’t get us wrong; if you want to keep things simple, “cheers” is always a good option. After all, it’s really the whiskey that matters, not the words.
