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ISO: Good Liquor Stores in NYC


gethin

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Could anyone in New York recommend a store where one could buy a bottle of Sarticious Gin (and /or a bottle of No209) and bottles of Regan's Orange bitters and Fee Bros Old Fashioned bitters ?

My business partner will be in New York next week (staying in Chelsea) and I want to give him a small shopping list of stuff I can't get in London. He's unlikely to put as much effort into tracking stuff down as I would , so any suggestions as to places he could get these three items together would be much appreciated.

Gethin

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Liquor stores in Manhattan aren't allowed to sell bitters, but Audrey sells the orange bitters, and peychaud's, at Pegu Club:

The Pegu Club

77 West Houston Street

(between West Broadway & Wooster St)

(212) 473-7348

You can also get them shipped to UK by writing to Candy Charters: ccharters@buffalotrace.com

Not sure about the gins, I'm afraid. Sorry.

“The practice is to commence with a brandy or gin ‘cocktail’ before breakfast, by way of an appetizer. Subsequently, a ‘digester’ will be needed. Then, in due course and at certain intervals, a ‘refresher,’ a ‘reposer,’ a ‘settler,’ a ‘cooler,’ an ‘invigorator,’ a ‘sparkler,’ and a ‘rouser,’ pending the final ‘nightcap,’ or midnight dram.” Life and Society in America by Samuel Phillips Day. Published by Newman and Co., 1880.

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Liquor stores in Manhattan aren't allowed to sell bitters, but Audrey sells the orange bitters, and peychaud's, at Pegu Club:

While I've never seen bitters at liquor stores practically every super market in Manhattan seems to be carrying angostura bitters now.

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You're assuming there's a reason. But it's more like, "Because." The liquor laws in New York, and many other states, are absurd: a tortured mishmash of political, economic and religious concessions that make no sense. You can't get beer in a liquor store here either. You can't get wine in a supermarket but you can get beer in a supermarket. That way children will be sure to drink beer instead of wine.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
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I am not aware of any store in Manhattan that sells Fee Brothers bitters. So I think you're out of luck on that one.

As previously mentioned, the source for Gary's orange bitters in Manhattan is Pegu Club.

For the gins it's a little more complicated. The 209 can be found at Sherry Lehmann on the Upper East Side. You could try Astor Wines & Spirits and the nearby Warehouse Liquors, but I don't think they'll have those particular gins.

New York City is kind of a funny place with respect to liquor. You can get a zillion kinds of single malt scotch or grappa, but the availability of different bottlings of gin and rye and that kind of thing is not very good considering the size and nature of the city.

--

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Many thanks to everyone for these suggestions.

I was planning to direct him to Pegu Club anyway, mainly because its where I'd be heading as soon as I got there.

The other suggestions are really helpful too, theres a few items in the chiilies and peppers section on the Kalustyans website that I'll be trying to get him to bring back.

The Sherry Lehman site reminded me that if he can't find the 209 or the Sariticious, I can ask him to bring me Bombay Original instead (impossible to get here, unlike the ubiquitous Bombay Saphire).

Its not too difficult to get Fee Bros Orange Bitters or Peach Bitters here in London and I've found one source of Peychauds, but for some strange reason I cant get Fee Bros Old Fashiopned bitters anywhere. (I don't mind not being able to get the mint one !).

I've been badgering the three best liquor stores in London to get on to Buffalo Trace and get some of the Regan's bitters sorted out, now I have a name for them to contact I'll give it another go.

Thanks again to everyone.

Gethin

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  • 3 weeks later...

I was just over at LeNell's Ltd. - Wine and Spirit Boutique and they just took a "Best Liquor Store in NYC" award from New York Magazine. I would have to agree. While I was there they (LeNell and staff) were having a creme de banana taste-off just for the heck of it. I mean really, what store is going to taste creme de banana just so that they can recommend the best one?

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I'll chime in for LeNell's as well. I went last Saturday and stocked up on all the things I've been meaning to get but haven't come across elsewhere: Cherry Heering, Luxardo Maraschino, Regan's orange bitters, etc. I was planning to get Drambuie, but they didn't stock it because they had an alternative they liked better (I forgot the name already). I respect that, and besides, I could barely lug home the six bottles of other stuff I already had. The bourbon selection is especially impressive. Best of all, they were samples of a new cachaca and warm cheese puffs.

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  • 9 months later...

I imagine there's more than one thread on liquor stores in New York, so this one seems as good as any for my question, and better than starting a new one!

I'm going to be in New York this weekend, and I'm looking to pick up a couple of bottles that aren't available in Canada, specifically maraschino liqueur and some real rye whiskey (as opposed to "Canadian rye"). More specifically, I'd like to be able to get Maraschino Liqueur and Rittenhouse Bonded Rye, based on what I've read about both.

Can anyone help me out with a suggestion of where I could find them? I understand Lenell's probably has both, but I'd prefer to keep to Manhattan. My partner has already started rolling his eyes when I mention this topic, so I doubt I'll be able to drag him out to Brooklyn for that alone!

Thanks in advance.

Matthew Kayahara

Kayahara.ca

@mtkayahara

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Luxardo Maraschino is definitely available at Astor Wine & Spirits - I was just there yesterday and they had it.

They have the Rittenhouse 21 (I believe) under lock and key for around $150/bottle...no Saz or other Rittenhouse in the house, though.

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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Luxardo Maraschino is definitely available at Astor Wine & Spirits - I was just there yesterday and they had it.

They have the Rittenhouse 21 (I believe) under lock and key for around $150/bottle...no Saz or other Rittenhouse in the house, though.

Thanks for that! I've been keeping an eye on their website for a little while now, and it hasn't been listed (though it is now). They must have just gotten a new shipment in. Any idea how much they had?

Also, I'm not wedded to the Rittenhouse BIB; are there any other ryes they do have that you'd recommend?

Matthew Kayahara

Kayahara.ca

@mtkayahara

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Not too far from Astor Wines and Spirits is Crossroads, 14th St. just east of 6th Ave. -- tiny little shop, but they have a pretty solid collection. I've gotten the Rittenhouse there as well as Luxardo Maraschino. A few years back, I even scored a bottle of Carpano Antica vermouth, but that seems to have been a one-off. They do seem to stock Vya pretty consistently though (if you're in the market for an upscale vermouth).

Christopher

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The best place to go in Manhattan for selection and price is the Astor Place area. You can hit Astor Wines & Spirits at 399 Lafayette (at 4th Street). Then, cross 4th Street to Broadway and go uptown a block or two to Warehouse Wines & Spirits at 735 Broadway(between Waverly and 8th). These two are close enough together that you can actually do some comparison shopping on price. Warehouse, for example, has the best prices I've seen on Cointreau. After that, if you're still shopping, go up Broadway to 14th Street, take a left and go a few blocks West to Crossroads Wines & Liquors at 55 West 14th Street (between 5th and 6th).

--

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The best place to go in Manhattan for selection and price is the Astor Place area.  You can hit Astor Wines & Spirits at 399 Lafayette (at 4th Street).  Then, cross 4th Street to Broadway and go uptown a block or two to Warehouse Wines & Spirits at 735 Broadway(between Waverly and 8th).  These two are close enough together that you can actually do some comparison shopping on price.  Warehouse, for example, has the best prices I've seen on Cointreau.  After that, if you're still shopping, go up Broadway to 14th Street, take a left and go a few blocks West to Crossroads Wines & Liquors at 55 West 14th Street (between 5th and 6th).

Thanks! I'll be sure to check out those three.

Matthew Kayahara

Kayahara.ca

@mtkayahara

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They also have all three brands of Maraschino liqueur.
OK, now I'm officially scared. I named all 3 in an instant!. What am I turning into???

A knowledgeable consumer?

Oh, okay, I'll say it. You, my friend, are officially a cocktail geek.

Welcome to the club!

Kurt

“I like to keep a bottle of stimulant handy in case I see a snake--which I also keep handy.” ~W.C. Fields

The Handy Snake

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The best place to go for rye whiskey in New York is the incredibly inconvenient LeNell's, in Red Hook, Brooklyn.  But it's not only incovenient, but inconvenient with a bullet.

They also have all three brands of Maraschino liqueur.

"Gooble gobble, gooble gobble, one of us, one of us...." :shock:

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FYI, Dean & DeLuca (multiple branches, including but not limited to the store on Prince St. and Broadway) stocks the entire Fee Brothers line, as well as a bunch of other interesting drink-mixing ingredients.

LeNell's is not THAT inconvenient once you figure out where it is (!). Specifically, when coming from Manhattan, just take the Brooklyn Bridge (not the Battery Tunnel, even though that seems the more logical route), hang a right (toward the water) on Atlantic Avenue, turn left onto Columbia Street, right onto Degraw Street, and then left on Van Brunt. This is something you can certainly direct a taxi to do. LeNell's opening hours (till midnight most days) and proximity to some decent restaurants also offset its inconvenience.

It is, however, not cheap. Astor or Warehouse are definitely a couple bucks a bottle down in price.

As for rye obtainable at Astor: They've got the Sazerac 6-yr for $25, and a few other decent specimens (Michter's, etc.).

Mayur Subbarao, aka "Mayur"
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