A west coast roadtrip with a touch of bourbon

[Daneroo]

Hi there,

I´ll stay in the shallow end of the pool until I feel comfortable posting in other sections of this forum.

As I wrote in my initial post I´m currently on a 5 week roadtrip on the US west coast, including a week in NYC. This trip is not centered around bourbon in any way but it will be an important part of it. And I promised to keep those who might be slightly interested in my journey updated. So here I am. How often I´ll update remains to be seen. Internet access, motivation and a brief pause from my travel partner are key parameters.

I´m writing this from the Marqueen hotel in Seattle after a day of typical tourist activities: going up and down the space needle (lovely view), visiting the EMP and the Pike Place Market. The market was charming in a way but the enormous amount of people there kind of killed it for me. My bourbon encounter had so far been the standard duty free selection at the airport: JD, JB, WR etc. Not something to go nuts over in other words. Dropped in on the local supermarket to browse their goodies but of course that area was closed.

Anyways, as I tried to elbow my way through the Pike Place Market crowd, I suddenly felt my stomach reminding me that it is way past midnight at home. Or was it the fish I ate earlier? Can´t say for sure. My sightseeing route took a u-turn back to the hotel not exactly knowing where I was going. Luckily, Seattle has the Space Needle. Thank god for that. Despite my lunch trying to find its nearest exit, I suddenly stopped outside a liqour stor I had passed earlier which was closed at the time. Now it was open. My current state forced me to quickly browse the bourbon selection. For a guy from Sweden who is used with a variety close to the duty free shops at the airport, this place was close to heaven.

My stomach and I agreed to quickly grab a bottle of KC SB (Knob Creek Single Barrel, if I did it wrong). So that is my first pick on this trip. Now standing on the table waiting for me to head for the supermarket and pick up a suitable glass to pour it in. I´ve heard good things about this one so I can´t wait until my digestive system stops repelling anything I put in my mouth.

[ChainWhip]

Canon has an incredible selection of bourbon & scotch if you get a chance to visit:

http://www.canonseattle.com/CaptainsList/captain.pdf

Edit: Welcome to Seattle!

[ChainWhip]

And given your current condition, Canon even has the best bathroom in Seattle (according to eater.com):

http://m.eater.com/archives/2012/07/...throom-bet.php

http://m.seattle.eater.com/archives/...t-bathroom.php

;-)

[Daneroo]

ChainWhip: Haha! Two birds with one stone I guess

Canon sure did have a respectable bourbon selection. I'll try to make it there. Thanks for the tip!

[Daneroo]

Okidoo, it took a whole state to get my stomach back on tracks and yet another state before my second bottle of bourbon was purchased. In California I stumbled across All star liqour just a few minutes drive from the Oregon border. After a good 20 minutes browsing I decided on a Bookers small batch (130 proof) for 59 something USD. The same price I'd pay for a MM back home. Going to open it when I turn 30 in 2 months. The journey continues.

Edit: also bought a bottle of Eagle rare 10 year old to keep me company during the trip. It costs more than 100 USD in Sweden so I thought that 25 USD + tax was alright. For 25-ish USD it was a really nice pour!

[dantodd]

Not sure how far down the coast you are coming but I've always liked K&L and Beltramos in the San Francisco Bay area. The Redwood City stores are only a couple blocks from each other. In Southern California Wally's in Los Angeles and Hi-Time in Costa Mesa are worth a visit.

If beer and wine are on your list then on your way through Sonoma County wine country you must stop at Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa for some of the best sour beers in the world. They also make a good variety of pub food and pizza.

Also right near K&L and Beltramos is Old World Spirits which is a small distillery available to visit on Friday afternoons. Across the bay on Alameda (an old Navy base) is St. George Spirits which is open daily and best known for Hanger One vodka and one of the first true Absinthes made in the US. They do make some whiskey though it is out of my price range.

Enjoy.