I'm glad you added that. I was afraid it seemed I was "making funny" about a serious topic - I was just amazed I wasn't the only one to stuff Mad Dog down my pants out of desperation for a buzz at a young age. Your "rotgut theory" makes a lot of sense to me. I never really drank for taste; I was a beer drinker & I drank for alcohol content - more buzz for the buck. Malt liquor was a nasty alternative to low-alcohol content beer. That's the disease at work. I don't usually write/talk about my girlfriend's issues (anonymity & all), but she's in recovery, too. By the end of her drinking she was chugging vodka straight out of the bottle. You sure don't do that for taste, either! Even if you drank the "good stuff" but drank only to get drunk, that's a pretty clear danger sign of having an alcohol problem, too.