What did you buy at the liquor store today? (2014 – 2015)

[scubadoo97]

Gin Barrel aged orange bitters. That is an interesting combination! Where did you find that?

I like the RR SB rye so far based on the one bottle I have so far but I wonder if there will be some consistency from barrel to barrel. Can't recall if they have a barrel number annotated on the label.

You know I didn't note the gin barreled part of that label. Will have to taste first. Haven't cracked it yet. All were found at Buckhead liqueurs across from the OK Cafe where we had breakfast. They had a decent selection of whiskey. They also had the new Jack Daniels single barrel selection. One was picked up and was quite good. Their wine selection was also surprisingly good and prices reasonable

Okay, just cracked open the bitters. Smells like baby aspirin will have to use sparingly and not in Manhattans [emoji16]

[ChrisTaylor]

[J_Ozzy]

 

I'm on a bit of a mission to replicate and improve Quebec's equivalent of Pimm's Cup, Caribou.

Notes so far:

• The commercial bottling tastes like fruity red wine sangria.

• The official recipe calls for port, sherry, vodka and brandy, (roughly 2:2:1:1) batched to ~36oz.

• Many of the house recipe I've seen are simply for "St-Georges" (a local value-priced fortified wine) and alcohol in ratios ranging from 3:1 to 2:1

• There's also various call for accents of cinnamon, clove and anise, citrus, or cider

 

I'm looking to scale it down to a decent single serving recipe;

thinking of playing with the brandy and the fortified wines (if necessary, sub down to a fruity red), with a dash or two of ango and peychauds for the spice notes.

[Yojimbo]

Heights Chateau on Atlantic. They also had some NY distilled rum but otherwise had nothing of interest. Also tried a shot of the Clement Homere at Mainson Premiere. It was just in an tumbler, not a glencairn, but it did nothing for me.

Tried to get to Astor Wines as they seem to be restocking their upper end rums but time didn't allow.

Where's your go to in DC lately?

Yeah, HC is better known for wine than for spirits, but they have a decent general stock, and better prices than some of the newer, more hipster-inflected liquor stores in the area.

[tanstaafl2]

Interesting. Never mind the bitters, where is the barrel aged gin?

 

That I have!

[tanstaafl2]

You know I didn't note the gin barreled part of that label. Will have to taste first. Haven't cracked it yet. All were found at Buckhead liqueurs across from the OK Cafe where we had breakfast. They had a decent selection of whiskey. They also had the new Jack Daniels single barrel selection. One was picked up and was quite good. Their wine selection was also surprisingly good and prices reasonable

Okay, just cracked open the bitters. Smells like baby aspirin will have to use sparingly and not in Manhattans [emoji16]

 

Yes, the JD single barrel barrel proof is surprisingly decent. Not sure the price is quite as decent but such are the times.

 

Aspirin is not what I would have expected but I suppose it needs trying before drawing any final conclusions. If I make it into that part of town (something I don't do often thanks to the usually miserable traffic) and remember to stop in (also a bit questionable given my "sometimers" disease!) I will have to check it out.

[FrogPrincesse]

I was so happy to find this at Bristol Farms the other day as my first bottle is now gone.

 

 

The label and wax color are different but I don't know if that means anything.

Here is the previous one bought at Heathrow.

 

[blue_dolphin]

I was so happy to find this at Bristol Farms the other day as my first bottle is now gone.

 

 

The label and wax color are different but I don't know if that means anything.

Here is the previous one bought at Heathrow.

 

 

I picked up a bottle of Sipsmith gin earlier this year at Total Wine, just after you recommended it in a White Negroni.  The bottle had the green wax and label as in your recent purchase and I've certainly enjoyed it in those White Negronis and other cocktails as well so merci beaucoup for your recommendation.

[FrogPrincesse]

I picked up a bottle of Sipsmith gin earlier this year at Total Wine, just after you recommended it in a White Negroni.  The bottle had the green wax and label as in your recent purchase and I've certainly enjoyed it in those White Negronis and other cocktails as well so merci beaucoup for your recommendation.

You are very welcome. I am so glad you enjoyed it. This is a wonderful gin.

[GarethLangston]

I've also had yellow chartreuse delivered today. I also ordered green, which is inexplicably priced at £18 for 700ml on amazon. I'm not holding up much hope that they will send those.

 

Amazon actually sent these two bottles for the ludicrous price of £36, which is only £10 more than I would usually pay for a 500ml.  I think I got very lucky with this order.

[jameswilliam]

That's a great price for the UK, was that showing as out of stock? I can see they have Rittenhouse at the moment for £23.50 out of stock, might be worth a try!

[Craig E]

 

Left half are restocks. Excited about my first overproof rum.

[sbumgarner]

 

From last week, still haven't cracked in to the La Favorite Ambre yet, been wanting to try that for a long time.

[Hassouni]

 

Left half are restocks. Excited about my first overproof rum.

 

Maison Rouge is great value cognac, glad to see someone else using it!

[Craig E]

Maison Rouge is great value cognac, glad to see someone else using it!

 

Glad to hear you second this, I bought it solely on the recommendation of the liquor store guy who said the same thing. Haven't cracked it open yet.

[tanstaafl2]

I do love the holidays. Gives me extra incentive to buy stuff online to try that I might not otherwise get. Plus if I don't have enough for a full box I get to experiment!

 

Merry Christmas to me, part 1.

 

 

Haven't seen the Nardini locally so decided to order one out of curiosity based on recent discussions here.

 

Got the mezcals made with a couple of different wild agave species I have not had before (barril and tepeztate) on the recommendation of a friend whose palate is usually pretty reliable. Don't know if they are barrel proof but at least they are not a typical 40 ABV. The Barril is 48.2 and the Tepeztate is 45.8.

 

 

Also haven't seen the new Hochstadter vatted rye locally yet so I got impatient and included a bottle.

 

Finally i added the Barrell bourbon or "Tennessee whiskey" if you prefer. This particular Batch 5 is reported to be straight bourbon made in Tennessee but aged in Kentucky with no clear indication whether it went through the "Lincoln County" process. Aging in Kentucky also means it is not quite true Tennessee whiskey according to a recent new law in Tennessee. It was another curiosity I would not typically order but there have been some good reports about this batch recently, unlike some earlier batches. It is an NDP of course and best guess is Diageo/Dickel since they are known to have made whiskey in Tennessee but moved the barrels to be aged in Kentucky at the old Stitzel-Weller warehouses they own. But I thought a barrel proof Tennessee made whiskey might make an interesting comparison to the new BP Jack Daniels.

 

More to come! Soon I hope...

 

Edited December 10, 2015 by tanstaafl2 (log)

[tanstaafl2]

More fun with computers at the holidays as my second shipment arrived today!

 

Merry Christmas to me, part 2.

 

 

Like the Nardini in the last order the Elisir Novasalus was inspired by discussion here. Besides, you can"t have too much amaro can you???

 

 

I also figured it is hard to do a side by side of an unusual wild agave species mezcal. So this solution was simple, get more! With two more brands giving me three different brands made from tepeztate/tepextate I figure I now have this covered.

 

 

With Smooth Ambler announcing that their rye barrel program had largely run out of whiskey I was surprised to see this was still available. Seemed only appropriate to add one to the cart. Indeed, given it was bottled in January 2015 I was surprised they even had any left.

 

 

Finally, the follow up to the powerhouse barrel proof "Chad" cognac from earlier this year is out. This time it is a 10yo cognac that had part of the distillate aged in a regular Limousin cognac cask for 5 years while the other part was aged in a presumably fresh high quality Sauterne cask for 5 years. After 5 years they were switched and aged for an additional 5 years before being married together and bottled I wish that I had gotten 2 of the BP Chad last year so this year I took a chance and got 2 bottles. Hope that proves to be a good move!
 

 

Edited December 10, 2015 by tanstaafl2 (log)

[Adam George]

I was so happy to find this at Bristol Farms the other day as my first bottle is now gone.

 

 

The label and wax color are different but I don't know if that means anything.

Here is the previous one bought at Heathrow.

 

Your earlier bottle is a travel retail exclusive. Something to help it stand out as being unique to our fair isle, amongst rows of Gordon's et al.

Either that or Heathrow haven't shifted last year's stock, as I saw it on the way to Belgium recently.

[tanstaafl2]

Might as well finish this little triptych off. The third and final Christmas present to me arrived yesterday!

 

Once again it is a bit of a potpourri of spirits. The Longrow Red is the fourth in the annual series from Springbank and this years is a 12yo finished for a year in French Pinot Noir. Color me intrigued! It will join its three older siblings in a blind side by side probably sometime in the new year.

 

 

Thanks to a friend who knew I was looking and found and offered it to me  I have finally been able to locate one of the Hamilton St Lucia cask strength (122.6 proof) rums that were released last year. This is the 9yo. Hope it lives up to my expectations! Although that may be too much for any spirit to endure...

 

 

Next up was yet another mezcal, this time a special Los Nahaules imported by K&L. This is a blend of sierrudo agave and an odd looking wild species of agave called cuishe (similar to the Barril in a prior panel of this triptych. Speaking of which the Mezcal Vago Tepeztate noted above is quite good and the Del Maguey wasn't far behind. But I did not have quite the same affection for the two from El Jolgorio. A very prevalent rubber note that I could not come to love. No doubt more romance is necessary!

 

 

Finally a selection of small house Bas-Armagnac's to include a 2004, 1987 and a 1973

 

 

Edited December 12, 2015 by tanstaafl2 (log)

[rotuts]

this came from a different thread

 

re :  local prices for Wine and Spirits

 

re Total Wine :

 

 

99 cents one one  and 1.49 for the other

 

in the freezer waiting for the Call Up

 

is there a Total Wine near you ?

 

 

[blue_dolphin]

7 hours ago, tanstaafl2 said:

Might as well finish this little triptych off. The third and final Christmas present to me arrived yesterday!

 

All I can say is that you must have been very, very good this year to deserve all those lovely presents!

[sbumgarner]

My wife and I got a bottle of Del Maguey Arroqueno for our annual "Christmas fancy bottle of booze". Holy crap this is good, for a 98 proof spirit it's borderline refreshing to drink as the bright melon flavor is so forward. It's all balanced out by a hint of smoke and some chocolate in the background. A great deal of restraint will be needed to make this bottle last (apparently they only made 300).

[tanstaafl2]

12 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

All I can say is that you must have been very, very good this year to deserve all those lovely presents!

 

I was! I am!

[tanstaafl2]

2 hours ago, sbumgarner said:

My wife and I got a bottle of Del Maguey Arroqueno for our annual "Christmas fancy bottle of booze". Holy crap this is good, for a 98 proof spirit it's borderline refreshing to drink as the bright melon flavor is so forward. It's all balanced out by a hint of smoke and some chocolate in the background. A great deal of restraint will be needed to make this bottle last (apparently they only made 300).

 

Dang, wish I had known this a few weeks ago! I might have to add a fourth panel...

[sbumgarner]

19 hours ago, tanstaafl2 said:

 

Dang, wish I had known this a few weeks ago! I might have to add a fourth panel...

This is the first of the "Vino de Mezcal" series I've tried so I have no reference for comparison to something like the wild tepeztate you picked up, but if you ever see the Arroqueno I highly recommend picking it up.