Bourbon Room Las Vegas

[z327]

Spent last weekend in Las Vegas and discovered a new club in the Palazzo called the Bourbon Room

Bottle prices were insane, but shot prices were typical for a high end bar. The selection included all the usual suspects plus some harder to find like multiple Pappy's, 25 year old Michters Rye, Woodford Rye, etc.

Connected with one of the bartenders and he gave me 3 tastes (1/2 shots) for free including the 25 year old Rye. Met the manager on night 3 and showed him a picture of my new home bar. He spotted my flask collection on the wall and gave me a Bourbon Room flask.

http://www.palazzo.com/Las-Vegas-Nightlife/Lounges/The-Bourbon-Room/

[Kalessin]

Ahh, the value of making friends with the bar staff.. :grin:

If I'm in Vegas, I might give it a visit, though the website making a point of having Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers on offer is a bit... weird. :skep:

Edited June 20, 2012 by Kalessin

[z327]

Ahh, the value of making friends with the bar staff.. :grin:

If I'm in Vegas, I might give it a visit, though the website making a point of having Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers on offer is a bit... weird. :skep:

I think they are trying to figure out the Whiskey Crowd that they have targeted, while bringing in the 80's music lovers.

[SDpappy]

When I went first week of June, they were still setting up. I was trying to find some good bourbon at 12am and failed but I ended up at the palazzo champagne bar and drank some Krug. One of the bars at the Bellagio had Hirsch 16 and I was tempted until they told me it was $65 a pour. The Van Winkle Rye ran out but in November, it was $13 at the bar...is the Hirsch that good???

[z327]

When I went first week of June, they were still setting up. I was trying to find some good bourbon at 12am and failed but I ended up at the palazzo champagne bar and drank some Krug. One of the bars at the Bellagio had Hirsch 16 and I was tempted until they told me it was $65 a pour. The Van Winkle Rye ran out but in November, it was $13 at the bar...is the Hirsch that good???

[ISU_grad]

When I went first week of June, they were still setting up. I was trying to find some good bourbon at 12am and failed but I ended up at the palazzo champagne bar and drank some Krug. One of the bars at the Bellagio had Hirsch 16 and I was tempted until they told me it was $65 a pour. The Van Winkle Rye ran out but in November, it was $13 at the bar...is the Hirsch that good???

[z327]

Having just opened my bottle of Hirsch, it is good, but I don't know if it is that good. You can certainly purchase a lot of quality bottles for $65.

At the Boutbon Room the 25 year old Michters was the best but not worth the $80 they wanted for a shot. I've tried a 21 year old Rittenhouse and would love to find a bottle ( at retail ) its the best I've had , but I'm pretty green at this so not sure others would agree with me. All this Rye talk makes me think I will open the new bottle of High West Double Rye tonight.

[tigerlam92]

When I went first week of June, they were still setting up. I was trying to find some good bourbon at 12am and failed but I ended up at the palazzo champagne bar and drank some Krug. One of the bars at the Bellagio had Hirsch 16 and I was tempted until they told me it was $65 a pour. The Van Winkle Rye ran out but in November, it was $13 at the bar...is the Hirsch that good???

Just walk around in Bellagio to a $5 video poker bar. Put $20 in and you can ask for the Hirsch 16. For me when I was there a number of years, I just gave the bartender $20 and he gave me a very generous pour. It was a gold foil and I would say it is definitely not worth $65, IMO.

Cheers

--Hugh

[petrel800]

I just returned from Vegas, out there with my wife on the honeymoon. We stopped by the bourbon room to see what it was all about and didn't even enter. Loud and obnoxious were the first things that came to mind. Their selection was that of the typical suspects and the pricing was very high. I only recall seeing the VW lot B and Rye on the menu, not much of a high end selection. The "Bourbon Room" is a themed room that is attached to the Venetian's promotion of their show "Rock of Ages." While I was not impressed with this lounge, bourbon selection was pretty impressive in some of the higher end bars/lounges and restaurants. Here is my run down . . .

Wynn and Encore seemed to have Van Winkle products at most of their casino lounges, mainly the ones near the high limit rooms. On a side note, they have a wine room now where you can try "the worlds greatest wines." Lafite, Screaming Eagle, Mouton Rothchild, . . . by the oz. I saw a few of these on wine lists in the $10K range, lord knows what an oz would set you back.

Venetian and Palazzo had the bourbon room, but a good number of the higher end restaurants had very interesting bourbon selections. My wife and I went to Table 10 (Emeril Lagasse's restaurant) for a mid lunch dessert, they had most of the BTAC, PVW 15 - 23 & Rye, they had a 7 yr old Willet selection. There were some others, prices were what I typically see for a pour of BTAC or PVW 15 $16-20 a pour (20 and 23 were higher). Wife tried the 7 yr old Willet, it was pretty outstanding, I want to say it was a $12 pour. We also ate at or had cocktail at Bouchon's every day we were there. They had a decent selection, EHT Rye and Single Barrel, Willet Rye jump out at me. Very fair prices, but I must say, while the selection wasn't the best of the weekend, the bartender's cocktails were fantastic. Had a Manhattan and a Sazerac with the Willet 4 yr old rye, they were absolutely outstanding. I was very impressed with Bouchon's.

Bellagio, didn't spend too much time eating or drinking in the Bellagio, but I did see some BTAC and VW stuff at the high end bars. Not sure of the pricing. Had a cocktail at Michael Mina's restaurant, they have a cucumber french 75 that my wife absolutely loves, but in looking at their selection, they did have the Hirsch 16 year. I can confirm it was $65 per pour and they measured out everything, so if you are going to shell out, you're going to get a standard 2oz pour. I passed, it was too early and I can get a bottle of Handy or something else at home for $65, but cool none the less that it is available to try. At the end of the day, it is history in a bottle.

Caesars, spent some time in the casino and restaurants here. I was really impressed with Spago, Wolfgang Puck's restaurant in the forum. We had a mid afternoon bourbon here, I thought I saw the Parker's wheated a day earlier walking by, but got inside and it was the Golden Aniversary. That being said, great selection at the bar and typical bourbon prices. All the BTAC, Parkers Golden Aniversary, Parkers 2012, and Parkers 27 yr release. Had some Van Winkle. Had a bottle of Rittenhouse 25 year Rye. This is where I splurged, wanted to try it as it is not one I have ever seen. Pour cost $35, which I found to be very fair. Wife had a Saz 18, I think the pour was $17. Good selection at the bar. We also ate at Mesa Grille (Bobby Flay) for lunch. The entire Van Winkle line was on the bar, I was going to have an after lunch bourbon, but the food there is very rich, and I needed to walk around or I would have gone into a food coma. Overall, Caesars has a pretty nice bourbon selection, but it is mostly in the higher end restaurants, but the pricing was typical of what I see.

Cosmopolitan, the bartender at Bouchon's suggested we try Comme Ca or STK in the Cosmopolitan as we asked her our opinion of where we should eat on our last night. STK was full, so we went with Comme Ca. Cosmopolitan is the essence of "trendy" in my opinion, it's funny, but the whiskey bubble was in full effect at Comme Ca. The cocktails were very good, I had a variation of a whiskey sour with fresh lemon, an egg white and finished with some Pinot Nior. It was a very good cocktail. However, looking at their wine / spirits list, Pappy 23 was available for $150 a pour. GTS, don't remember the price, but it was down right laughable. Especially since you could walk down a block and get a pour of the GTS for $18 at Caesars. This was the essence of name dropping for the trendy crowd. Dinner was good and Comme Ca's selection was nice, but their prices for spirits were predatory. While their welcome to charge what ever they want for their stuff, it was clear to me they weren't looking for an informed consumer. Meal was good, but again, in my opinion, it was aimed at a lesser informed consumer, there are better options on the strip in my opinion.

Beyond all of that, most places had the standard fare for restaurants and bars, Knob Creek, Bookers, Blantons, Beam, Woodford, . . . the usual suspects.

Sorry for the long post, but wanted to give my Vegas experience . . .

Edited December 17, 2012 by petrel800

[smokinjoe]

Thanks for the recon, Mark. I have an LV trip planned in a couple of months. I'll print this out and take with.

:toast:

[petrel800]

Cool, I think you'll enjoy, you don't have to look high and low to find good bourbon or properly poured cocktails.

I will say, I didn't put this above, but be aware, a lot of these places don't have "bourbon lists or menus." Some do, but some don't. For instance, Spago in Caesars did not. I got a funny look from the bartender when I asked the price of the 25 yr Ritt, but I'm not going to be surprised when the bill comes. I recognize that some of these bottles are rare and expensive at the retail level and that normally transforms into higher by the glass cost. I played the guys look off by saying, "that's a rare bottle, as much as I'd like to try it, I'd hate to be surprised." He respected that and to his credit, his pour was generous. He certainly measured, but he added a little extra to both mine and my wifes pour. I would just say be aware and don't be afraid to ask. It is Vegas, and nothing surprises me when it comes to cost out there. I think that is shown by the difference between say the Cosmo vs Caesars. They are separated by the Bellagio, so less than a mile apart and pricing of bourbon was miles apart.

[fancypants]

Look into The Whiskey Attic. It's about a 15 minute cab ride from the strip. Huge selection. None of the BS.

[tanstaafl2]

Given there is a lot of high end bourbon (and probably everything else) in Vegas is there a liquor store or two that is worth trying to find? Or is Nevada a control state? Which would be somewhat ironic considering the many other legitimate businesses you can find in the state!

[petrel800]

Given there is a lot of high end bourbon (and probably everything else) in Vegas is there a liquor store or two that is worth trying to find? Or is Nevada a control state? Which would be somewhat ironic considering the many other legitimate businesses you can find in the state!

Honestly, outside of the strip, the Dam and a trip to Laughlin years ago, I haven't ventured very far in the area. I would assume it is like any other, there are high end liquor stores and low end ones. The ones on and around the strip seem to be more "party stores." Low end, high volume stuff at ridiculous prices. To some extent, I would wonder with all the high end restaurants in the area, I would guess finding BTAC, Pappy, or other high end releases may be rough (or at least tougher than what we are exposed to in Atlanta for the most part we're not competing with too many restaurants/bars here), but I am only speculating.

[tanstaafl2]

Honestly, outside of the strip, the Dam and a trip to Laughlin years ago, I haven't ventured very far in the area. I would assume it is like any other, there are high end liquor stores and low end ones. The ones on and around the strip seem to be more "party stores." Low end, high volume stuff at ridiculous prices. To some extent, I would wonder with all the high end restaurants in the area, I would guess finding BTAC, Pappy, or other high end releases may be rough (or at least tougher than what we are exposed to in Atlanta for the most part we're not competing with too many restaurants/bars here), but I am only speculating.

Good point. Seems likely that it would be a hotel/restaurant focused market and they would have the pull to get much of the higher end stuff.

[sku]

It's not a control state, but I've spent a fair amount of time in Vegas and environs and never found any decent dusties. I think it's pretty cleaned out. The retail liquor market is dominated by two big chains, Total Wine and Discount Liquors, both of which have decent selections but as usual with chain stores, not much in the way of dusties. There are lots of smaller stores, and there could well be treasures, but I've hiked all over that town and haven't found anything decent.

[tigerlam92]

Bellagio, didn't spend too much time eating or drinking in the Bellagio, but I did see some BTAC and VW stuff at the high end bars. Not sure of the pricing. Had a cocktail at Michael Mina's restaurant, they have a cucumber french 75 that my wife absolutely loves, but in looking at their selection, they did have the Hirsch 16 year. I can confirm it was $65 per pour and they measured out everything, so if you are going to shell out, you're going to get a standard 2oz pour. I passed, it was too early and I can get a bottle of Handy or something else at home for $65, but cool none the less that it is available to try. At the end of the day, it is history in a bottle.

. . .

Better option at the Bellagio is to go to the $5 video poker bars. They have the AH Hirsch 16 as well. I gave the bartender $20 instead of playing and he gave me a good size pour.

Cheers

Hugh

[jburlowski]

Thanks for the recon, Mark. I have an LV trip planned in a couple of months. I'll print this out and take with.

:toast:

Joe, be sure to check out the bar at Craftsteak (MGM)... great whiskey selection and knowledgeable bartenders.

[smokinjoe]

Joe, be sure to check out the bar at Craftsteak (MGM)... great whiskey selection and knowledgeable bartenders.

[doubleblank]

Delmonico's is one of my favorite places to eat in Vegas and is at the Venetian/Palazzo (bone in ribeye and truffled potato chips). The bar has a good whiskey selection too. Rather than get reservations, my routine is to go sit at the bar, order a Van Winkle and have a steak right there. A couple of TV's with sports on too.

Randy

[jburlowski]

Thanks JB, I'll put that on my list. I was thinking, haven't you written about the Whiskey Attic, too, some time ago?

yeah, I did a couple years back, when I "discovered" it. They seem to gravitate back and forth from a members-only to a (last time I checked) reservations in advance setup. When I was there, it was an impressive selection and worth a visit --- but check in advance to see what the "rules" are. Also, the "Freakin' Frog" downstairs has an awesome beer selection.