Howdy Free Rangers,
Strange days, friends and family. The energy out there at street level is volatile as a powder keg beneath a mercury switch. Between the January 6th hearings and the unprecedented and unaccountable Supreme Court rulings, our political system(s) seem at a crossroad of crossroads, while we collectively slide into a fascist theocracy. Business is weird, totally unpredictable ebbs and flows. Theft is at an all time high. And our friends next door at The Atlantic were just forced to close, and we’ve heard that long time neighborhood beer gurus, St Gambrinus, also recently shuttered permanently. I don’t really know what to make of anything going on out there, and I’m not generally a guy who is at a loss for words. But we’re still here, we’re glad that you are too, and getting by is still the new kicking ass. So we’re just going to keep our heads down, press forward, and the super sale days will roll on! If you don’t care to hear me bitch about our most difficult customer of the week/month, scroll down to the bottom for a whole pile of whiskeys, each at only $2 above wholesale cost!
Thank dog for a handful of loyal local regulars placing larger orders, and just generally being grateful for and respectful of what we do here. Otherwise, it’s been a pretty rough go of things lately and there have been some profoundly trying moments, often in unrelenting succession. On a day when I was cataloguing and preparing for refrigerated truck pick-up of one of our most cumbersome collections of all time, involving 30+ cases and dozens of receipts going back three years, we also had a number of people asking dozens of questions, and taking long slow loops around the increasingly limited floors space, only to leave with nothing (or virtually nothing). Then, while I was in the cellar retrieving more cases for said monster collection removal, Derek had to stop a guy from stealing, and forcibly pulled expensive bottles from his bag, to protestations of, “Come on, man!” as if a theft wasn’t in progress. Then a customer wanted to ask about every whiskey in the world besides the 100+ that we actually carry, while standing directly between a case I was cataloguing and my stack of receipts. And then she walked in. A skinny blond who thrice refused help, while making a 20 minute “quick decision” directly in front of the fridge which is covered in signs asking her not to stand there and do exactly that. We also verbally did the same. She questioned and insulted us while also playing the victim. It was special.
The third time I returned from the cellar, she was still standing there- blocking the front door- in front of the fridge with the signs on it that include: Ask For Assistance, Employees Only, and Shop From Wall. So, I calmly asked what it is about staring into a dark refrigerator that she finds beneficial over the wall with all of the same products where the lights are on and prices are displayed, to which she replied with a question, “Why does it bother you that I’m looking here?” So, I explained that she was blocking the front door, and was likely then to ask how much things were, and that we ask the same small favors of everyone who comes in here. “Well, I thought this was going to be a quick decision,” she barked continuing to make a point of taking her sweet time, “I’m not sure why you’re treating me so rudely.” I think we’re being fairly calm considering that you’re ignoring our signage, and our verbal requests, while also refusing help. Sigh… All of this so that our little shop could eventually make $4 dollars on her single bottle of cold Chardonnay. She just wanted to do what she wanted, when she wanted, with no regard for anybody else, or a slew of signage that she had to look though to peer into the dark steel box, while insisting that she was being singled out and treated poorly. This level of entitlement is enraging, I’ll never understand it, and I’m ashamed that I didn’t throw her out on the spot. Service industry isn’t alway a blast, and on days like this, it’s difficult to understand why I am still doing this with my life. #MidlifeCrisis
So, anyway…. It’s no secret that I’m (more than) a bit of a hoarder, and that we buy far more whiskey than we need, just to keep ourselves high enough up the list to get our beloved exclusive single barrels and to keep us in line for now historically allocated bottles which were regularly available a few short (long) years ago. We’ve also been in the midst of an inventory project and cellar re-org, trying to create some space in the back, and get a handle on the floor to ceiling stacks in the basement. It is with all these things in mind that we (briefly) re-launch our ever popular Two Dollar Sale! Every bottle below is only $2 above wholesale cost. It’s a great time to pick-up some new bottles you haven’t yet tasted, and/or stock up while the stocking is good.
No kidding. Two Dollars!
Have at it!
(!) Click here for hidden sale page (!)
sale: retail:
All Points West Grain & Malt Pot Still Whiskey $43 $53
American Highway Reserve Bourbon $88 $99
Bardstown Bourbon Discovery $115 $159
Bardstown Bourbon Collab Founders $131 $159
Buffalo Trace Bourbon Cream $20 $29
The Clover Bourbon 4yr $40 $49
The Clover Bourbon 10yr $55 $69
Glyph Molecular Whiskey $27 $36
Heaven’s Door Tennessee Bourbon $43 $53
Heaven’s Door Double Barrel Whiskey $43 $53
Hibiki Harmony $70 $99
Hudson Back Room Deal $46 $59
Ironsmoke Bourbon $36 $46
Jack Daniels Single Barrel Select Gift Set $49 $66
Jesse James Single Barrel Tennessee Whiskey $39 $43
Penelope Bourbon Rosé Cask $49 $65
Penelope Bourbon Toasted Barrel Strength $55 $69
Southern Tier Bottled in Bond Bourbon $46 $59
Three Chord Tennessee Whiskey $38 $49
Taconic Maple Bourbon Cream $28 $32
Tin Cup Rye $39 $45
Tin Cup 10yr $46 $59
Uncle Nearest Bourbon 1884 $33 $42
Whiskey Row Bourbon $56 $62
Kentucky Owl Wiseman Rye $39 $49
Woodinville Bourbon Port Cask $40 $49
Wyoming OutRyder $55 $76
*** Online exclusive! ***
*** This week only! ***
Cheers,
Jack
Proprietor
Free Range Wine & Spirits
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