BS”D
Cholent, that elderly Yid was a real person, Reb Meir Itkin AH, who lived to be – 96. He passed away 2 summers ago in Crown Heights and had been known to drink 96 even during the war years in the Soviet Union.
I once had quite a few shots of it at a simcha and for some reason my face turned red. I went out to get some air and surprisingly returned, looking and feeling much better. My explanation – that 4% of water is not filtered and my skin is very sensitive :).
Here in Ukraine it is sold only at the pharmacy, to make sure proper tax is collected. The amounts that the pharmacies keep on hand make it so obvious that it is being sold for drinking purposes. Due to its small red bottle cap, ‘Pharmasept’ is known as ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. Sadly because of the economic situation here I see more and more bottles of it discarded as litter.