Vecchia Romagna is absolutely fantastic but you can only get it in Italy. I always bring back a few bottles when I go Hardy’s XO is my go to cognac, it’s like drinking juice
Gran Duque de Alba is my go to on the few occasions I do brandy. It's a sherry brandy from Spain and it's delicious.
Spent the past month looking for a batch 12 and didn’t even realize I had one in my cabinet. Had my batches mixed up
Kindly get out. It is an excellent bourbon that gets you fucked up and is hard to find, but not impossible to find.
I think it is deserved. I had a few pours the other night at a bar that just hit the spot in the perfect way. It depends on my mood, but when it is right it is amazing.
I wanted to update this from a few months ago: Bottle really opened up after a few months. Tons of oak still, but time and a few drops of water have done wonders.
13yr Knob Creek? No sir. Pretty much every Moreno’s store pick is great though. Their “Stay Puft” Elijah Craig is fantastic. And they’ve got the only Old Scout SiB store pick I’ve tried that I really like.
It’s the only consistent place to find good bourbon in Chicago as far as I know. Sometimes Binnys is good...depending on which one you go to and which day of the week. Garfield’s can be very hit or miss. All of the better-known shops are either wildly overpriced (Warehouse) or rarely have anything interesting (In Fine Spirits).
Anison im actually going to be in Chicago this week. Was going to ask what liquor spots to hit up. I’m on the hunt for Stagg Jr and High West MWND
Last time I found MWND, I shit you not, was at Whole Foods in Lincoln Park. I’d run down to Moreno’s - they sometimes have MWND on the shelf and Stagg Jr in the case. I’ve found both at Binny’s in the South Loop a couple times as well - on Jefferson & Roosevelt. Binny’s in Lincoln Park has a decent selection usually - ask them to let you in the rare spirits room, the bourbons are to the left on the bottom two or three shelves. It’s (purposefully) difficult to see from outside the room what’s in there on the bourbon shelves. Just ask someone to open it for you and let you in. If they have Stagg Jr it’s in there. That’s all I got. visa may be able to add more suggestions.
I was going to ask the same thing abt Plymouth and Detroit, MI. Any suggestions on stores to check out while I’m there?
Go see the owner Chris here. He usually has some good store picks and might offer you allocated stuff if he likes you. https://m.yelp.com/biz/bottles-n-stuff-livonia
I’m still pretty new to bourbon and haven’t had anything close to some guys here but Pikesville is one of my favorite whiskeys to date.
"How come they're so little?" "They were picked before they were ripe!" Kidding. Good selection there. I'm jealous as hell of some of the collections in here. Clients bought me a bottle of Woodford as a tip last week. Pretty standard stuff, but hey, free bourbon. Bought Pops a Widow Jane for Xmas, and neither of us were really impressed. Not bad, just not knock your socks off good either.