News & Notes
Just a few things to keep you all up to speed with for the upcoming week. Let's go down the list:
- It turns out that even with the allocations put on both the Bomberger and Shenk's releases from Michter's, it wasn't enough to ration out the rush. Both whiskies are already sold out in CA and there are no reinforcements scheduled for the time being, so ignore what I said previously about ongoing allocations. There's nothing left to allocate, so be happy if you managed to snag a bottle!
- There will be a few more bottles of Whistlepig's "Black Prince" landing up north this week. At $500 a pop you might not expect these babies to move all that quickly (at least I didn't), but that shows you what I know. We blew through the SoCal allocation in minutes.
- We'll have a special Tuesday night spirits tasting in the San Francisco store next week, in addition to our usual Wednesday night affair. Luxco's Steve Beam will be in the house to taste you on the Rebel Yell wheated Bourbons and talk all things whiskey. That's a freebie, of course, as we cannot charge for spirits tastings, so if you want to taste delicious Bourbon on the house make sure you stop by on August 8th from 5 PM to 6:30.
- The email for the Fettercairn 21 year from Old Particular went out this morning. We tore through about 100 bottles in the first few hours, so don't sleep on that deal if you were eyeballing that whisky. I don't think it will last the week.
- The Leopold brothers are stepping up their game with a new series of seasonal gins, the first of which is called "Summer." This should be popping up on the website mid-week and it's a steal of a deal at $27.99. As you may or may not know, Todd Leopold distills each botanical individually, then blends the spirits together to make the final product. There's a heavy proportion of blood orange in this new concoction and it lit my taste buds up. Totally yummy.
- I'm still in Vegas until tomorrow, but I'm working remotely today. I spent the whole weekend shopping in the casinos and analyzing the retail trends of fashion first growths like Gucci, Prada, and Ferragamo, doing some comparative analytics. Gucci in particular has seriously stepped up its game, as has Kate Spade, and both designers are doing limited edition garmets, shoes, and clothing selections based on location. The Caesar's Gucci location was spectacular—like an art distillation. It was awe inspiring, and I'm not normally a Gucci fan. There were loads of foreign tourists hoarding in to get the exclusive merchandise, which made me think back to a time when customers would email me angrily about how difficult shopping for whiskey had become.
"I have to work, dammit! I can't just spend all day online shopping for hard-to-find bottles!" people would write.
Women, however, have always known how competitive shopping can be and many consider it a sport as a result. It's only now that the men are beginning to understand the concept, with Bourbon, and retro Nintendos, and various other manly must-haves becoming difficult to source.
Welcome to the show, guys! Shopping is most definitely a competition. That's what makes it so much fun when you win! But you have to spend time doing it to get better at it. In Vegas, for example, the best things are never available online. You can still dig for treasure here.
-David Driscoll