Booze Comments on SF Gate

For those of you who live in the Bay Area, you are likely aware of the Chronicle's online site (SFGate.com) and how its comment fields have become ground zero for public displays of opinion.  At the end of every article the readers have a chance to leave a few sentences expressing their opinion on the matter.  Sometimes they can be thought-provoking and insightful.  Sometimes they can be very clever and very funny.  Most of the time, however, they are vulgar, annoying, stupid, or just plain mean.  As a long time reader of the Chronicle, I have come to lose faith in the basic kindness of humanity by perusing these comments over the years.  If there's an article about democratic politicians, the right wingers come out in spades with vitrolic rantings about how the Bay Area is full of dumb liberals and how Obama is a foreign-born, socialist puppet, etc.  An editorial by openly gay Mark Morford can usually bring forth vomitous hatespeech by those who believe homosexuality is a sin.  I even remember, during the Giants' playoff run, a Philly fan commenting that he hoped the players would go out and have sex in our "AIDS-infested city" and contract HIV and die.  Crazy, right?  If you go to the New York Times online site, you'll usually find carefully thoughtout, interesting, and helpful responses from readership, mostly because the NY Times usually filters them.  At SFGate however the comments are live instantly and it seems that most commentors are posting just for the sake of being an asshole.

No articles make this phenomenon more apparent than the ones about wine or cocktails.  I find that whenever Gary Reagan or Camper English write about new drinks around the town, the response is always a defensive backlash by someone who doesn't know anything about booze and is self-conscious about that fact, hence the need to post their "real" expert opinion.  It's usually anger about the vast selection of booze available and annoyance that someone is actually trying to navigate it and enjoy it.  "Why should I try all these prissy $10 mixologist cocktails when I can make myself a stiff vodka martini at home?" It's like growing up in a small town and wanting to move to the big city, but then hearing nothing but negativity from your friends or family who in reality are either jealous or too scared to do it themselves. 

I woke up early this morning as usual, so I hit SFGate in bed on my laptop and read Jon Bonné's well-written article about Thanksgiving Day wine pairing.  As someone who spent the last few days helping customers pair their Thanksgiving meal, I always like to see what other professionals recommend and Jon is normally spot on with his choices.  Basically, Jon clarifies and explains the basic fundamentals of how bubbles, pinot noir, gamay, and chardonnay, when made in a certain style, can be outstanding holiday pairings.  Easy to understand, well thought out, and most of all helpful.  Bravo.  What did he get for his trouble?  17 comments (so far) from people who either posted what they would be drinking instead of his selections (as if to show him that they don't care about his advice) or flatout disregard for his advice in general.  My favorite being,

"Articles this are a waste of time. Just go out and buy, depending on your budget, a white and a red (whether it's Chardonnay or Sauvignon, Cab or Zin makes no difference.)" 

Wow, thanks for your advice commentor!  You're right!  Wine is all the same and Jon Bonné is just a big phony who is making all this stuff up!  Thank you so much for figuring this out!  Here, all this time, I thought I was tasting differences between wine varietals, but you're right, I don't!  It doesn't make a difference!  All that matters is that I buy something I can afford.  I will now go to a wine shop with the exact dollar amount that I can afford and buy the first bottle I see.  That is genius advice.  GENIUS.  Then there's this one:

"Drink whatever you feel like drinking. You don't need a lame newspaper to tell you."

Wow.  Thanks.  You're right commentor, Jon Bonné is always trying to tell ME what to do.  I hate that!  Stop telling me what to do Jon!  I went to your website, and read your column, and thought about what you would be drinking, and said, "Who does this guy think he is? He can't tell me what to do!  I can do whatever I want!  This is America, land of the free! No one can tell me what to drink!  NO ONE!"

Sigh.

-David Driscoll

So Much New Whisky, So Many Customers

We're getting swarmed right now with excited Thanksgiving shoppers, overflowing into our store and snatching up all the good booze.  In the midst of the madness, I've managed to get our two newest cask purchases into the store and on the shelf as well as a whole slew of other new stuff.  Here's what came in today:

1982 Mannochmore Chieftain's 28 Year Old K&L Single Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky $149.99 - The last time we did a 20+ year old single barrel of whisky, we sold every bottle on pre-order and the bottles never hit the shelf - the value was simply too good to pass up, even without tasting it!  This time around we've teamed up with Chieftain's and secured a barrel of Diageo-owned Mannochmore 28 year single malt whisky, bottled at cask strength and unchillfiltered.  Mannochmore is Highland distillery rarely ever bottled as a single malt, rather it goes into high-end Diageo blends like the Johnnie Walker Blue.  This ancient single-barrel expression is simply fantastic - a nose of fresh peaches and flower petals, a palate that oozes with sweet grains and natural oils, and a long, sweet finish that goes on forever.  The last time Diageo bottled Mannochmore as a single malt in their Manager's Choice series it wasn't nearly as old or expressive and it went for over $250 a bottle.  Our bottling will come in at far less and offer so much more maturity.  But don't wait too long, this old barrel only yielded 135 bottles, there for it is limited to two bottles per customer.

1999 Talisker Distiller's Edition $74.99 - Brand new release

1994 Lagavulin Distiller's Edition $99.99 - Brand new release

Lagavulin 12 Year Old Cask Strength - $105.99 - Brand new release

Amrut "Intermediate Sherry" Indian Single Malt Whiskey $124.99 - Aged in bourbon, then first fill sherry barrels, finally back into bourbon for one year.  Crazy! The sherry barrels are cured with Amrut Single Malt before transit to Bangalore to mitigate sulfur. Ultra smooth precious young whiskey.  A hit at Whisky Fest 2010.

We just opened the Mannochmore in the tasting bar and it is EVERY bit as good as I remember.  Sooooooo happy we bought this barrel.

Happy T-day.

-David Driscoll

Price Increases - Whose Fault Is It?

I've been hitting the message boards lately, reading rather than posting, and it's really fascinating to hear how other people in other states feel about the booze business.  I was informed by one of my customers that a thread had been started on another bourbon site about my earlier Van Winkle post and in reading that discussion I noticed some talk about retailers jacking up the price of this year's release.  While we didn't gouge our customers by taking the scarcity of the bottles into consideration, we did raise the price on the bourbons this year by a few bucks.  Was that because we were being greedy?  No, it's because we had to pay more for them this year than we did last year - the wholesale price went up.  And everyone got less than last year because there were fewer bottles produced, so if you're a tiny retailer and you only got two bottles at a higher cost, you're probably going to try and make whatever you can.  Not that I approve of such measures, but I get relatively more than just about any other small retailer so I'm not forced to make that decision.

Today the first drop of the 2010 Diageo Classic Malt collection comes in and the prices on some of these whiskies are going to surprise people.  I'm sure there's still a store somewhere in the U.S. that has a few bottles of last year's Lagavulin 12 and it's selling for around $75.  When someone Google searches that bottle now, we're going to pop up at the top with a price of around $100.  That person is going to look at that comparison and say, "K&L is jacking up their prices!" Not true.  The Lagavulin 12, for whatever reason, is far more expensive this year.  As I've said in previous posts, whisky prices change on a monthly, if not weekly, basis.  Maybe Diageo bottled less than before or maybe it has become rarer.  In any case, it's pricier than before and we didn't have anything to do with that.

-David Driscoll

In Stock While It Lasts....

In Redwood City as we speak.  SF tomorrow.  Grab it while we still have some.  125 sold in four hours today.

St. George 11 Year Old K&L Single Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whiskey $105.99 - The Bay Area's beloved Alameda distillery has teamed up with K&L to bring you one of the most delicious and unique whiskies ever created.  Made from 100% barley, this malt was aged seven years in bourbon cask and finished for an additional four years in apple brandy barrels.  Bottled at cask strength, the result is a brain-tickling combination of rich malty goodness and spicy barrel flavors intertwined with tart apple notes on the finish.  Sound crazy?  It is, and that's why it had the attention of the entire room at this year's WhiskyFest in San Francisco.  If we could have taken pre-orders that evening, it would have sold out on the spot.  We spent months twisting the arms of distillers Lance Winter and Dave Smith before they would agree to let us have this prized possession; a whiskey they had been nursing along since infancy.  This is an unheralded release from St. George and there is not much of it, so there is a one bottle limit per person.  The 11 year will easily go down as one of the tastiest, most sought-after, and unique whiskies we have ever carried.

-David Driscoll

Canadian Whiskey, Oregon Water, Bucking Bronco?

Pendleton Whiskey is somewhat of an enigma in the spirits world.  This is one of the fastest growing whiskey brands in the states, but honestly finding out information about the actual whiskey is difficult at best.  Pendleton is a woolen mill that sponsors many different Rodeos and has teamed up with Hood River Distillers in Oregon to celebrate these two historic Oregon institutions, the obvious next step: make a Canadian Whiskey!  I suppose this was less about logic and more about getting something out there that all the cowboys and cowgirls at the Rodeo would enjoy.  Now, we're not the biggest proponents of CanadianFancy Box Whiskey.  Generally, I find it to be mostly boring.  The Canadians keep most of the best stuff for themselves and what we see down here shows little signs of becomem more exciting in the near future.  Canadian whiskey is kind of like Cognac in that it's stuck in the old world, unwilling to adapt to a customer who has changed.  Given there are markets in this country where Canadian whiskey is very popular, just not ours. Canadian whiskey is mostly of passable quality, but bluntly uninspiring.  Young it has very little Pendleton Directors' Reserve 20 Year Oldcharacter, while the older stuff can't always stand up to the oak treatment.  There are several exceptions to the rule, including some of the bottlings recently rated on MA from Forty Creek (Kittling Ridge), to the top notch rye sourced by Dave Pickerell for Whistle Pig Farms. Pendleton 20 year is right up there with some of the best Canadian whiskey I've ever taste, but honestly I have no idea where it comes from. Most likely this comes from Alberta Distillery which is responsible for somePendleton Blended very highly rated bottlings that are not released in California.  I jump to this conclusion for no reason inparticular! The whiskey is imported to Oregon where it's brought to proof and bottled with distinctive bucking bronco label.  While I hardly ever get excited about whiskey bottled at 80 proof the Pendleton Directors' Reserve 20 year Canadian Whiskey 750ml ($144.99) is truly something special.  Created to commemorate the Pendleton Round-Up Rodoes' 100 year anniversary, the style is ultra rich and decadent.  Honey and vanilla are borderline overwhelming on the nose.  A soft oak spice backs up the intensity of fruit and sweet toffee.caramel on the palate.  Fully mature and not overly oak driven the Pendleton 20 year really shows an intriguing side of Canadian Whiskey.   I'm not the only one who likes it Spirit Journal gave it 4 stars and Patterson's scored it 95 points.  Of course you'll have to shell out some serious cashish for this highly limited bottling.  Last time we saw the Pendleton 20 year in this country (about 2 years ago) it was stupidly hard to keep in stock, so when people realize what they're missing the high price probably won't make a difference.  For those who want a glimpse of what the 20 year looks like, but don't want to shell out $150, you can always pick up the Pendleton Blended which is mighty fine for $25.

Pendleton Directors' Reserve 20 year Canadian Whiskey 750ml - $144.99

Pendleton Blended Canadian Whiskey 750ml - $24.99

-David Girard