| Holy cr@p, Free Rangers, Somebody … Somewhere … Sometime … So, this nice older Australian couple comes into the shop with their pregnant daughter. “You got any Australian wines,” the dad begins, and immediately I have to steel myself. I have some older ones, like d’Arenberg going back to the ‘90s, and some ’04 Glaetzer Shiraz on the shelf right in front of you, but I can’t help myself so I continue, And when I go to Australia, the last thing I’ll do is ask for wine from New York. He’s looking for a specific lower mid-price Penfolds bottle, and I suggest he tries one of the bigger warehouse shops. Missing the point entirely, he starts again, “I figure if I walk into every store and New York and ask for Australian wine, people will start thinking they should start carrying more of them.” Not this one, I tell him. “Just not Yellowtail,” his daughter adds, “I don’t get what’s up with that one.” No worries there, you couldn’t pay me to carry that garbage. At this point they begin to read my tone, and my face, and they politely thank me and head for the door. In all seriousness, what’s the point of traveling if you’re just going to spend your days looking for items from back home? Maybe try the local fare as part of the fun of going out into the world. Or just stay in your living room, and drink the same 3 bottles of wines you like from the local grocery until you fossilize. Either way, this is not the shop you’re looking for. The number of foreigners who come in only looking for what they drink at home has always been perplexing, in this deeply international borough of ours. On that recent Italy trip it never occurred to me to ask to see a list of American wine. Drank quite a bit of Chianti and Brunello, and of course Italian Chards of many stripes. Oh well, we all have our things. And now for something completely different. How about serious discounts on some of our rarest and most requested American Whiskeys?! Because, why not. Most of these names speak for themselves, but here’s the quick rundown: Henry McKenna 10yr Bourbon was very quietly our best selling Bourbon for years at $39. Then it won two major blind tastings in a year, demand skyrocketed and supply dwindled. It has been a highly allocated release ever since. I have always enjoyed the Rye and Bourbon from Willett, though the older (and/or one-off) releases have become too valuable to open. We currently have a number of different releases of Willett Rye 4yr here (all at slightly different proof), so if you specifically want single bottles from multiple releases please say so in the notes at checkout. EH Taylor Small Batch Bourbon, another great classic American Bourbon that has become a historical allocation release from the distributor, and numbers get shorter every few releases. We have three releases of the very limited Larceny Barrel Proof Bourbon, all classic high proof Heaven Hill Bourbon. What used to be regular old Blanton’s Bourbon is now highly allocated, and no retailer in NY gets more than 6 bottles, 4 times per year (through the proper channels), and only if you’re on the historical allocation list. Hence the runaway pricing. This is the lowest we’ve offered in quite some time. One of Orphan Barrel’s latest, Fable & Folly 14yr, is another sourced limited release, under a cartoonishly whimsical label, from these long time bottle chameleons; fairly certain this is the least we’ve asked for it (found we had a second case), but if you can prove otherwise, you’re welcome to that lower price. Last, but profoundly not least are two vintages of what remains my favorite American Whiskey, St. George Single Malt Whiskey. It is such a unique flavor profile from arguably the finest distillery on Earth, and is released once per year in tiny quantities. If my own bottles weren’t so precious and difficult to replace, I wouldn’t often drink anything else. (!) Click here for the HIDDEN SALE PAGE (!) sale: retail: Henry McKenna 10yr Bourbon $54 $79 – limit 3 per customer Willett Rye 4yr $59 $89 – limit 3 per customer EH Taylor Small Batch Bourbon $109 $129 – limit 2 per customer Larceny Barrel Proof (A122) $109 $159 – limit 2 per customer Larceny Barrel Proof (B521) $115 $169 – limit 2 per customer Larceny Barrel Proof (B522) $109 $159 – limit 2 per customer Blanton’s Bourbon $122 $149 – limit 2 per customer Orphan Barrel Fable & Folly 14yr $139 $249 – limit 2 per customer St George Single Malt 2019 $185 $239 – limit 1 per customer St George Single Malt 2021 $195 $249 – limit 1 per customer *** Online exclusive! *** *** This week only! *** Cheers, Jack Proprietor Free Range Wine & Spirits P.S. Free Range E-mail Archive |
