Dusty Morning

While we all know that Steve Ury is the dusty hunting king of California, K&L customer Matt Prinz has been making some headway in the Bay Area.  Foraging deep into the some of the less-traveled neighborhoods of the North, he's been able to amass quite an interesting collection of old Bourbons.  For those of you unfamiliar with the term "dusty hunting," it refers to rummaging through old liquor stores in search of forgotton or "dusty" bottles that they never got around to selling.  You'd be amazed at what's still sitting in the warehouse of your local corner supplier.  Matt brought me a few to sample this morning and we had a blast tasting through them.  I admit complete ignorance to the history of American whiskey, the brands, the producers, who made what, etc.  One of the best ways to fill in the educational gap is to get your hands on some of these old dusties.  Even if the Bourbon isn't great, each bottle is still a window into what America was drinking over thirty years ago.  Most of the whiskies pictured above were light, lean, mellow, and made for drinkin', much different than the Bourbons we currently have on the shelf.  Personally, I've never been much of a scavenger, so I really appreciate Matt's time and effort.  What a great way to start the day!

Speaking of Bourbon, our newest barrel just arrived in Redwood City today - a fresh batch of 1792 Ridgemont Reserve $26.99 bottled exclusively for us!  The bummer about this whiskey for you non-local customers is that the bottle, due to the wide shape and size, costs more to ship so it may be something more for those living nearby.  However, this is the ultimate summer Bourbon just in time for the summer!  Light, soft, fruity, mellow, easy to drink.  Maybe a bit too easy to drink.  I can already picture my friends and I putting one of these away in a half hour.  I can already picture not remembering what happened.  I love that we have a single cask that isn't big, woody, spicy, and rich.  It's nice to switch things up every once and a while.  200 bottles available!

-David Driscoll