epic whisky missions

Ha! @thecyclingyogi, yes, Old Potrero Hotaling's Whiskey was worth my driving 206 miles each way to buy it. For three bottles of Hotaling's at $ 106 per, yes I would do it again, if I were short on stock of it, and that is what it took to get it.

when a discontinued bottle of balvenie 1991 portwood showed in stock on the lcbo website last year, i called the store that claimed to have it to confirm it was true. sure enough, the bottle was real. even better, they said they'd hold it at customer service for me until i could get there after work. the lcbo is happy to transfer items from one store to another the majority of times, just not with discontinued items. i don't drive, which usually isn't an issue, but this bottle was in a store about 40km away. i don't call myself thecyclingyogi for no reason, so game on!
the whole way there (through rush-hour traffic, mind you) i'm worried that they sold the bottle to someone else, that i'm just wasting my time. just imagine my relief, then, when i show up and, sure enough, the bottle is waiting where they said it would be. it was just sitting there with my name on it. i hand over my 74 dollars and change and hop back on my bike. the wind was at my back the whole way home..... when i did get home, about three and a half hours later than usual, i sat down at my kitchen table to admire my new addition. when i took the bottle out of the tube i was horrified to find that there was no seal on the bottle; it had been returned to the store in and put back on the shelf without anyone noticing (or caring) that the bottle had been opened. since it was waiting for me at customer service, i never got the chance to properly examine it before i bought it. there was no way i was drinking it, the only thing i could do was get my money back.... would i do it again? for a sealed bottle, any day of the week. for what i got? f*%k no.....

@Victor hopefully i'll get a chance to try some of that hotaling's. i'm sure it will taste even better knowing the effort you put in to obtain it....

My epic whisky mission was completed yesterday - big day for me as I finally got my hands on the beloved Lagavulin 21 which I tried to hunt down (at a "reasonable" price) since nearly four years. I found a guy in france which would eventually sell his bottle out of a large collection and tried to convince him since 6 months and finally he agreed - a friend of mine picked the bottle up in Paris and drove it to salzburg where I got it - so I travelled about 300 km and 300 km back but the epic dimension is the quest for a original bottle without paying ridiculous money which some online retailer charge. Happy day...

@thecyclingyogi That's a nice story. I was taking some whisky with me on the bike too. Ok, it was just a ride of some km, but my bottle was small and opened, therefore getting me some worrys about spilling something. I don't know, if I would return this bottle, because it was already opened. Especially after this quest.

@maltster 750 pound at whisky exchange. Was your travel really worth the savings, oil is getting expensive too ;)

@thecyclingyogi, as someone who regularly commutes 35km roundtrip to work by bike, 80km roundtrip is an impressive distance for a single bottle and then you had to return it, so 160km total. I hope you had a big meal after that.

It's pretty much got to the point that whenver I discover a new liquor store in Washington DC, the first thing I do is email Victor regarding Old Potrero availability.

@JeffC, luckily i was able to return the bottle at my local lcbo store. i walked, to be honest....
i would cycle twice as far, however, to get my hands on some old potrero 18 century style! man, that stuff is incredible.....

About twice a year I take trips to Florida to stock up on some whiskies that are extremely over-priced in Ontario, chiefly Ardbeg. I'm not a fan of beaches and hot weather, so my poor family thinks I'm always coming to visit them... It's not exactly as epic as a 40km bike trip, but it's quite the trek for 4-6 bottles of whisky.

@michaelschout, perhaps the merciful thing would be for you to put your Florida family out of their misery, tell them the truth, and pick up your Ardbeg in New York State. That way you wouldn't have to put up with all of those tiresome beaches!

@Victor Far too true; wise words.

I've finally got an epic whisky mission....sort of. It'll be posted with the reviews of the two whiskies undertaken to be aquired. Strahans Colorado Whisky and Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon. Mind you my mission wasn't so epic as I'm sure they will get later in my life :D Maltsters, Victors and Thecyclingyogi's were much more epic

I'm waaaay behind in reading discussion threads, but I came across this topic and wondered if @thecyclingyogi posted this thread just to see this story. :)

How to acquire a bottle of Old Potrero 18th Century Style Rye (via bottle trade):

1) Have 'Victor' kindly pick up a bottle in Maryland, via his eagle eye and liquor store contact network. 2) Purchase Alberta Premium 30 yo in Ontario, before this limited release is sold out. 3) Travel to Illinois from Ontario to visit family and to drop off the AP30 (and other considerations, so that the $$ cost of the two bottles is equalled out) with Victor's relative, who kindly has agreed to play host to whiskey bottles for potentially more than one year, if necessary, without knowing the stranger from Ontario who shows up on his front porch. 4) Have Victor and 'Dramlette' travel to Illinois for the wedding of the previously mentioned relative, with the previously mentioned OP 18th Century in tow. Victor now has his Alberta Premium 30. 5) After some back and forth, discover that Victor's Illinois relative has friends in eastern Michigan who he will be visiting (roughly a five hour drive from IL to MI). 6) Realize that a 2 1/2 hour drive from southwestern Ontario to eastern Michigan will get me to the brewpub where Victor's relative and friends will be, so I can pick up the OP 18th. 7) Also realize that 'aboutchoice' lives not to far from brewpub, and end up having a nice tasting session from his collection. In celebration of the epic mission being completed (and to thank 'aboutchoice' for his generosity), I crack open the OP 18th and pour him a sample for future consumption. 8) Drive back to Ontario from Michigan.

Total length of transaction = about 9 months from initial purchase to final acquisition. Number of US states involved = 4 (California - orgin of OP 18th - Maryland, Illinois, and Michigan) Number of Canadian Provinces = 2 (Alberta - orgin of AP30 - and Ontario) Number of people I met for the first time = 5 (Victor's relative, and his spouse, and their two friends, and 'aboutchoice') Distance travelled by the whiskey bottles after initial purchase, in order to allow this bottle trade to be completed = approximately 5,000 kilometers

@Pudge72 ...sorry yet again for the format fail (note to self: hit 'enter' twice when making a list!).

@Pudge72 Love that epic whisky mission!

I guess traveling to Kentucky twice a year to hand pick barrels would fall into the category of whiskey mission....no? Heading back down in April. Last April our little band of whiskey nuts purchased 13 barrels of bourbon.

@Bourbondork, yep 600 miles each way to buy 13 barrels of bourbon counts as an epic mission!

...and it's only 3 months until April again!

Jealous and so want to do that! If you don't mind me asking, how much does the average barrel of bourbon run you...?:D

@Victor I know....it's a never ending cycle...

@SquidgyAsh Answer is.....it depends. Age has much to do with it. A typical barrel of Old Weller Antique would run about $5K.

I don't know if 'epic' is the word that I would use to describe it but my most memorable whisky journey just happened to me a couple of months ago.

My son and I were walking around Nagoya when we came upon a bazaar being held at a relatively famous shrine in town. There were people selling everything from antique pottery, children's toys to spirits. I noticed a table with some obviously older bottles of spirits. I was particularly drawn to a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label Extra Special Old Scotch Whisky. The bottle seemed to be authentic, and in relatively good shape. I purchased it for the equivalent of 20$ Canadian. After getting it home and checking it out on the net, I discovered that the bottle is from the 70's.

It was a very nice day with my son which ended up with a great find! It was particularly unusual because my son doesn't usually walk such long distances without complaining (he's only 5 at the moment) but on that day he seemed to be really enjoying the walk around the city. I still haven't decided if I will open the bottle or pass it on to him in the future!

My epic adventure was about 6 1/2 years ago. It started out innocently enough when I read a posting on a popular bourbon forum that a small liquor store chain in Buffalo, NY still had some ORVW15 on the shelf. About 2 months later, I found out that I needed to travel to Cleveland OH for business. Now here is where the fun part starts.

The week before my Cleveland trip my daughter-in-law goes into the hospital to deliver our FIRST grandchild. I don't know why, but while waiting I remember the posting about the ORVW 15/107 and realize that Cleveland is in easy driving distance to Buffalo, so from the waiting room I start calling the different stores and have them put 2 cases on hold (after having them double check that it is ORVW 15 and not Pappy 15). So not only do I successfully become a grandfather, I lock up some excellent whiskey. But the story doesn't end there.

When I get home I call a friend who had been very helpful in getting me started in bourbon (after having been a lifelong scotch drinker) and told her what I had done and wanted to know if she wanted a couple of bottles. She said if she could get a case it would be great...so I called back and locked down what I thought to be their last case. As I prepared for my Cleveland trip later that week, I realized that my wife was freaking herself out worrying about the grandson (he was having some minor health issues, but nothing serious) and I needed to get her away so she didn't drive the parents nuts so I asked her to come to Cleveland with me. Realizing that I needed a reason to travel from Cleveland to Buffalo, I told her we needed a romantic weekend in Niagra Falls....having been married to me for over 30 years she immediately asked what was the REAL reason for the trip and I had to admit to needing to pick up 3 cases of bourbon. Slight snarl to the face, but after a nice visit with Cleveland friends and a romantic night at the falls she was ready for the bourbon pickup. Her mood soured a little as she found out we needed to find and stop at THREE different locations.....and then when I came out with an extra partial case (I couldn't turn it down when the store told me they had found some more and put it aside for me) she was definitely not pleased with the extra purchase.

This would have made the trip fine, but a couple of more things were still to occur, one great...one not so great. First of all, we drove back from Buffalo to spend the night with our friends again. When we arrived there in the evening our hostess was already under the influence from a bottle (or two) of wine. When my wife told her about our car being full of bourbon, the hostess wanted to drink some of this stuff that I had driven so far to get. I told her she really didn't want to mix wine with bourbon. She said she didn't care, so I opened a bottle. Later, I was loudly awakened around 2AM as she came into our room and started cursing me for giving her that bourbon which had made her sick....oh well, I had tried to warn her.

The good event was when I delivered the case of bourbon to my friend, she took her bottles out of the case (this was not a sealed case) and noticed on the neck label some of the bottles said "Barrel 6" and some said "Barrel 7" while others were the standard label. We realized that the store had done a private bottling of ORVW15. So not only did we have ORVW 15, but we had some SB ORVW 15 (which turned out to be outstanding).

So my adventure included becoming a grandpa, getting the wife to Niagra Falls and bourbon shopping with me, a sick drunk friend, and some of the best bourbon I have ever tasted. Don't know what can top that for me in the future....but I'll keep looking.

Well - sorta a "whisky mission", but didn't go as planned...

Was at a local chain grocery store (Woodman's Market); inside their liquor store they have a reasonable selection of single malts...Several months ago I noticed that they had the Dalmore 15 yr - however the space was empty, and when I went last week they pulled the tag (meaning they weren't going to sell the 15 yr any longer).

Just yesterday I decided to make a few calls to see if any of their "sister" stores carried the Dalmore 15 yr...I was in luck - a store 40 miles away had it for $48 (had the clerk even check to see how many bottles were left - 4 of them).

So after I picked up my oldest from school - my journey began; snacks/milk, and clean diapers for my 2 younger boys - all set!

After a 45 minute drive, and dealing with my fussy 1 yr old - I finally arrived at the store.....Once inside - I couldn't locate the 15 yr expression - only the 12 yr Dalmore was available (wtf!!??)

After a few minutes with the sales clerk - it became apparent that the 15 yr was never available - the 12 yr Dalmore was placed in the 15 yr slot (good grief).....So - I went ahead, and purchased a 12 yr Dalmore (at leats it was a good price $38).

{sighs}

@FMichael Talk about an anticlimax... Stuff like that'll ruin your day.

I'm currently in the middle of a mission for the ever-challenging-to-find Pappy Van Winkle. I work in a condo building and was talking Whisk(e)y with one of the residents, who happens to be quite wealthy (must be nice.) He challenged me, saying that if I found a bottle of Pappy anywhere, he would buy it for me.

So, the hunt goes on....

WTF guys your stories are just amazingly epic! While reading I get an idea how it has to be such a badass run for good bottles in the US. Sounds just great to be on the hunt and sometimes succeed. But I don't know if my purse would go with this. If you find a store you just have to buy everything because you might never find that bottle again. Well that's why you have whisky friends to help you out huh? :)

This sounds really great and it is completely different for Europe. Or at least for me, because I am (yet) not on the hunt for such rare bottles.

@Jonhelmkamp Sounds like from a movie! This thread is indeed fun to read. I wish you all the luck to get it.

235 miles one way to be shutout from acquiring Eagle Rare 17 and/or George T Stagg Bourbons.

Plan "A" went down in flames. Plan "B" rose up like a fiery phoenix - I came home with a full basket of treats for Easter including Ardbeg Corryvreckan and Longrow CV. Not bad for a failed attempt and nearly eight hours of driving.

@thecyclingyogi Not sure of the distance from Grand Rapids Mi, to Chicago but my admiral (wife) and I traveled that far for any Octomore that we get a line on. And yes as @Victor states it's worth every bit of the traveling / purchasing of God's nectar. :)

I consider this a pretty awesome story I fell in love with Ardbeg Airgh Nam Beist. Living in Ontario we obviously don't have the opportunity to order things like many other people in the world can. I start looking at where I could possibly find one, I settled on Binny's being the best spot. Chicago is a great city so I told my girlfriend we would be going there for a Christmas vacation. I got a little worried though as I scouted out the bottles in September and wouldn't be going for a few months. Paranoia got the better of me and I emailed Binny's to see if I could prepay for the bottles then pick them up in a few months. Got the green light and my friends all got into the act. In total we bought 7 bottles. We got stopped at the border and between the the four of us had 10 bottles. The officer was like you guys are idiots for buying so much and my girlfriend spoke up and said we bought so much for our scotch club because it was discontinued. Luckily the officer thought that was amusing and let us go. Not a dry eye in the car after that lol.

I think it's time to reactivate this thread. the pursuit of something special often makes for great storytelling. I often like to say that the story behind the bottle is often as important as the contents in the bottle. That's what makes whisky more than just a drink.

Many of you are familiar with what I believe is my most fun whisky adventure in Calgary so I'll just leave a link:

connosr.com/wall/discussion/…

The road to Mac CS was essentially driven by someone else, but probably represents the best steal of a deal mission ever for me.

The road not taken was when Amrut single bourbon casks were discounted to about $40 (from $127) but there were only 4 listed in all of Ontario, they kept moving around on the website and I was never able to lock any down (I was prepared to drive to Pickering).

One of the most fortuitous missions was serendipitous. In August my "boss" suggested I take an ultrasound course being offered in Vancouver in November. I booked the 1/2 day course, and my flight and hotel. I mentioned to a fellow Connosr that I was going and invited him to look at BCLiquor website to see if there was anything he wanted because there had been a lot of discussion around Nikka and Cutty Sark Prohibition. He promptly came up with a wish list and I was all set.

My hotel was a 5 minute walk from the course, but I rented a car in lieu of cabs (all reimbursed) so that I could go to the 39th and Cambie liquor store. It was like I was was a kid in a Candy Store!

I ended up coming back with 6 bottles totalling about 4 litres of whisky, in a carry-on sized suitcase that I had to obviously check on the way home.

Would I do it again? No. The course was not very useful. But I would definitely spend a longer time in BC and bring back another load of things I can't get here.