What did you buy at the liquor store today? (2013–)

[devillighter]

Nothing fancy, just a 1.75 L of Weller 12 year...neck & neck (with the Weller 107) for best value in bourbon, imo.

Wish they sold this in my state. The 107 is awesome and I always have a bottle open on my bar.

I picked up some Russell Henry London Dry Gin (from the Germain Robin people), but haven't cracked it open yet.

[FrogPrincesse]

Bought the two bottles on the left (Picon, Clement canne bleue 2011) during a recent trip to France. The one on the right (terroir gin) after an epic tasting of St. George spirits.

Edited March 19, 2013 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[Brown Hornet]

Frogprincesse -- what do you think of St. George's Terroir Gin? Their gins sound a bit busy with botanicals but I haven't had a chance to try them yet and was curious, especially the rye gin.

[FrogPrincesse]

Frogprincesse -- what do you think of St. George's Terroir Gin? Their gins sound a bit busy with botanicals but I haven't had a chance to try them yet and was curious, especially the rye gin.

Brown Hornet - I only have good things to say about it. It delicious, even neat. Lots of botanicals (sage, fir) but they are not overpowering. Lance Winters, their master distiller, said that he was inspired by the smells he experienced during his hikes in Northern California. The Botanivore is more floral and has more citrus. The Dry Rye gin resembles a genever with more spice. I tried their three gins (there is a fourth, the Faultline, a limited release) and the Terroir was my pick.There is not a bad one in the bunch though.

[Yojimbo]

Re-upped on the Doulin dry and splurged for Gran Classico bitters while buying a mixed case of wine (partly mixed, half of it was the vinho verde to which my wife is addicted, God help me).

I'm finding the GC eminently mixable, not just with the obvious (gin, rye), but with blanco tequila as well.

[eatrustic]

Thought I'd give blended Scotch a try and picked up a bottle of Compass Box Great King Street and a friend has just brought me back a bottle of the famous Yamazaki 18 yr from Japan....

[EvergreenDan]

@frogprincess: No Lillet on hand, but I happen to have Cocchi Americano open.

Cocchi Americano: Light straw color, apricot, pear, white wine, moderately sweet, not bitter initially, building bitterness after the swallow. Pleasant. Too sweet to drink neat without acid, but very pleasant and accessible for the bitter-minded.

Tempus Fugit Kina L'Avion d'Or: Rusty tan/brown color, citrus and berry, not much wine, modestly sweet, more immediately bitter which lingers and evolves. I could drink it straight, but I'd probably rather it with a squeeze of lemon. More challenging / less accessible than Cocchi. Interesting and worth seeking out. Not very similar to Lillet (from memory -- haven't had a bottle in a while). Expensive ($33 in Boston).

And thanks for the St George gin reviews. I've been eyeing them. I'll try Terrior next I think.

[Tri2Cook]

I didn't actually buy anything, just thought I'd give a heads-up. I haven't seen it locally yet but Lemon Hart (80) is now stocked by the LCBO. I hope that eventually leads to them getting the 151. If Alberta can get it, Ontario should be able to as well.

[Moto]

Just received a case of Malacca that I special ordered from my local state owned liquor store.

[ChrisTaylor]

It's delicious. It's also very expensive. When I sampled it first I right away wanted to buy some. Could get it at a couple of plays but it was about $220 per bottle. Nice, yeah, but not $220 worth of nice.

[Moto]

$220!!! In the States it is $33 per bottle So the whole case was about $190. Does that $220 reflect the impact of taxes in your neck of the wood or is something else going on. If it was easy to ship alcohol I would say we have a classic business opportunity.

[Hassouni]

Ran out of gin, running out of rye, and the rest were on sale and I couldn't say no:

Yeah, 4 bottle of Rittenhouse for $18 a pop. Score!!!

[Hassouni]

And after a visit to Ace Beverage:

Vermouth galore (to test out on negronis, per the Ideal Negroni thread), Chartreuse after months of hesitating over the price, and real Curaçao, for when I feel Cointreau isn't appropriate.

[EvergreenDan]

That little bottle of CAF is cute. It looks like a puppy with big paws.

[Hassouni]

Funny, I adopted a puppy with big paws almost 3 weeks ago!

Yeah, it was either a full litre at over $30, or that at a bit over 10....I figured I'd try it out before committing

[Hassouni]

Hm, is it supposed to be so bitter?

[ChrisTaylor]

$220!!! In the States it is $33 per bottle So the whole case was about $190. Does that $220 reflect the impact of taxes in your neck of the wood or is something else going on. If it was easy to ship alcohol I would say we have a classic business opportunity.

Tax. Stuff is just expensive here. Rittenhouse 100? Yeah, that's $80-90. Seen it a little cheaper elsewhere but, put it this way, if the price tag starts with a 7 you've found yourself a bargain. Go you. Wild Turkey's rye is more reasonably priced at $50something. Still yet to see the lower proof version of WT that eGulleteers have been moaning about, tho'. I guess it doesn't sell enough for us to have exhausted our supply of 101 yet.

As for shipping alcohol to/from Australia, the cost of postage for a bottle of, er, wine is obscene. I think US postage is only slightly cheaper than Australian Post. SeaMail is 'cheap' at about $40-50AUD/USD per bottle (once packed/padded/etc) and it's not like you're going to be sending anything made of glass by SeaMail, is it? To send a bottle of wine to the US it cost me something like $60 or $70. Small chance of a small quantity of alcohol being noticed, tho'. I mean, you can post wine--actual wine, I mean--wherever you like and no one cares. Well, below certain quantities, anyway. Friends and I have ordered from Whisky Exchange a number of times and only got picked up (and hit with duty by Customs) once. Parcels send privately have not been uncovered. Roll the dice, if you like.

Edited April 4, 2013 by ChrisTaylor (log)

[Adam George]

Hm, is it supposed to be so bitter?

Yeah, not so much as Punt, though.

[KD1191]

I didn't buy anything, but I did pick up a dozen empty boxes from the liquor store yesterday...the logistics of moving a ~200 bottle bar across the country are daunting.

[tanstaafl2]

I didn't buy anything, but I did pick up a dozen empty boxes from the liquor store yesterday...the logistics of moving a ~200 bottle bar across the country are daunting.

Time for a party! A really, really big party...

I don't plan to be moving for a few years yet but that time is likely coming and I don't look forward to it.

[FrogPrincesse]

I didn't buy anything, but I did pick up a dozen empty boxes from the liquor store yesterday...the logistics of moving a ~200 bottle bar across the country are daunting.

Time for a party! A really, really big party...

I don't plan to be moving for a few years yet but that time is likely coming and I don't look forward to it.

Regarding moving your liquor library, see Matt Rowley's (mbrowley) handy little tip involving Teflon/plumber tape.

[weinoo]

Funny, I adopted a puppy with big paws almost 3 weeks ago!

Yeah, it was either a full litre at over $30, or that at a bit over 10....I figured I'd try it out before committing

A bit over $10? It was $15 (I bought a few bottles there last week)!

Which, btw, is still way cheaper than here in NY at Astor where it is around $18.

[Hassouni]

By a bit I mean a couple bucks, three at max. I'm pretty sure it was around $12. Of course that doesn't include the obnoxious 10% DC sales tax

[tanstaafl2]

Regarding moving your liquor library, see Matt Rowley's (mbrowley) handy little tip involving Teflon/plumber tape.

That is indeed a great tip and one I will try to remember.

[haresfur]

Regarding moving your liquor library, see Matt Rowley's (mbrowley) handy little tip involving Teflon/plumber tape.

That is indeed a great tip and one I will try to remember.

I wonder if you could use this idea to help keep liqueur bottle caps from freezing up with sugar.