Our fourth entry in the Whiskey 100 series is about knowing what to pay and how to find what you want. Previous entries:
Here's my experience. I initially took an interest in whiskey, specifically Scotch, back in Minnesota before we moved. A good friend had tried unsuccessfully to get me to like Scotch on a number of occasions. Another friend gave me a bottle of Macallan 12 year at our wedding. At the time it wasn't something I enjoyed. The Macallan was put away awhile. When I pulled it out again something clicked and I liked it! Deciding to try more, I found the first bottle I really loved, the Balvenie 12 year Doublewood. The hobby was off the ground.
This started an obsession with Scotch research. I still sometimes can't believe how much whiskey prices vary from store to store. Selection too, but liquor stores vary in availability of everything and knowing where to shop is important for anything in particular: wine, beer, spirits, whatever. So for a while, nearly every day after work, I stopped at a different liquor store on the way home. I wanted to know what places had good selection, and I wanted to know which places had good prices. Often I went into a store and looked around before walking out with nothing, which always feels weird. As a result though, I found good stores and was able to get lots of bottles priced in my head. Somehow I can remember quite a bit without looking it up or writing it down. That's kind of what it takes, lots of checking, or else you'll likely overpay due to the variance. That may be okay, but it's something I try to avoid.
If you want to know, here were my favorite places in the Minneapolis suburbs:
Liquor Boy (St. Louis Park) - good not great selection, great prices, favorite in MN
Haskell's (giant location in Maple Grove) - great selection, okay prices
Total Wine (various) - also great selection, okay prices
After we moved to Maryland, I had to start over. Somewhat luckily, the liquor laws are pretty similar between Minnesota and Maryland. The result is that liquor stores have the same setup, offering beer, wine and spirits all in one place. Some states (like Virginia) only sell spirits in state run stores and I'm glad we don't have to deal with that. I was pretty disappointed with the stores in Frederick. There are a couple okay places, but none all that great for whiskey. Eventually I found some great spots, though can only make it when I have time or reason since they're farther away (~30 minutes).
These are:
Petite Cellars (Ellicott City) - great selection and prices, huge wall of whiskey, favorite in MD
Pine Orchard Liquors (Ellicott City) - old crappy building that's filled to the brim, great prices
MoCo Liquor & Wine (various) - county run, somewhat limited selection at retail prices
The very best liquor stores will have an owner that's passionate for whiskey, and you can tell by what's on the shelves or on sale. One of my favorites early on (back in MN) was a smaller store with great rotating sales. It no longer exists, bought out by Hy-Vee. The owner of Petite Cellars clearly knows whiskey and loves it, I've talked to him a few times. These are the types of places you want to find.
Stores with websites are also extremely helpful. The MoCo website (link) can give a good estimation of retail (generally the lowest you'll see anywhere) for items they carry. I don't know when it went up, but Petite Cellars has a website (link) with prices now too. Total Wine (link) has for quite a while. Together these sites give a pretty good idea of prices from home, especially nice while quarantined. Currently we also belong to an online subscription service that delivers, called Flaviar. For me it's just another place to check, but when the price is reasonable it's sure convenient to have it brought to your door. Definitely remember that prices vary from state to state too so always check the stores close to you.
In the end, the 'hunt' is a big part of the fun. The hunt refers not only to prices, but to actually finding bottles you want to purchase. There's a lot of information out there, so if you want to get into whiskey, you could read articles online and use social media. Look and see what's available on the shelves when out. Or ask for recommendations if you have friends who like whiskey (like me!) or feel comfortable talking to people at bars or liquor stores. Draw on your own experience and add to it. When finding something you like, look up what else that distillery makes or find similar ones from others. From time to time, try something completely different. There'll be some whiskies you'll want over and over too. While I keep a lot of info in my head, I do keep a running list that's usually up to date.
So, figure out what you'd want to buy if you find it. Figure out where you may find it and what you should pay. Then go out and look. If you find something you want and the price is right, take it home and enjoy it. The time involved is all part of a hobby in whiskey.
Something to add I've learned along the way. A lot of liquor stores keep the special stuff behind the counter somewhere. You'd think this would just be for the extremely high end and expensive bottles, but this isn't always the case. Quite a few Bourbons are highly sought after but not necessarily all that expensive. (The craziness of the whiskey market, especially Bourbon, is a topic deserving of its own post another day.) The MoCo stores, for example, have most items and their availability listed right on their site. They don't do this for certain bottles, forcing you to actually look in stores. This is a pretty major difference between Bourbon and Scotch. The bottles of Scotch I'm interested in usually just sit on the shelves.
That'll do for today. Happy hunting!
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