Celebrate St. Paddy's Day on the Cheap!

If you're not on the insider email list then you probably didn't know that we had to postpone this weekend's Salon tasting in San Mateo. There were a number of problems on the horizon, so we decided to shut it down for the good of K&L, the Vault restaurant, and the consumers who were paying us their money for a good time out. We wanted to get it right and make sure we were in the clear legally, so that this could be an ongoing event. However, now that I've abandoned you and left you with an empty Sunday.......

.....I've been doing my best to find something fun and inexpensive for you to do instead. Like drink an entire bottle of really delicious Irish whiskey all by yourself!

Since working at K&L I've been subjected to certain questions repeatedly, even while not maintaining the spirits department. Sometimes you just get so used to saying the same thing that you forget certain circumstances may have changed.

"Do you have any Sazerac?"

Sigh. "No sir, unfortunately it's all sold.....

KYLE: "David, we actually got some back in stock in LA, so we can order from there!

OH! Well apparently I am mistaken!

A similar thing happened just the other day. I had a customer email me about the John Powers 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey $29.99, which I thought was still only available in Ireland. The John Powers 12 Year was one of those bottles that was super popular overseas and would find its way back in the suitcase of many a traveler. It was like getting a bottle of Havana Club or Royal Lochnagar. Apparently, Pernod Ricard brought it over to the states in 2010, but somehow I was totally in the dark. I don't know how I missed it (especially since John Hansell wrote it up almost three years ago), but I did. So when a customer asked me the other day if I could get him a bottle, I wrote: "I'm sorry, but I don't think it's imported to the U.S."

Wrong.

Not only is it imported to the states, but David OG had it on the shelf in Los Angeles. I immediately called my sales rep and asked for a sample. When it came yesterday I took a swig (literally from the bottle as there were no glasses at my desk) and smiled. This is the bargain whiskey I had been missing on our shelves! We've got some drinkers, like Kilbeggan at $16.99, if you want something inexpensive in the Irish realm, but most of the selections fall into the $40 and over range (with the exception of Tyrconnell). The John Powers 12 Year is a triple-distilled whiskey from Midleton distillery that, to me, drinks as well as Redbreast 12, but for significantly less money.

For $30 this is a hot deal. The profile is supple and round, the barley notes are pronounced, the whiskey is simply soft and delicious. I bought a lot of it for the store (lots more coming today). I bought one for myself as well. I know what I'm doing on Sunday now. I'll be finishing this bottle.

-David Driscoll