Non-Spec's liquor stores with good bourbon selections in Houston area

[weller_tex]

For a variety of reasons I am getting a little fed up with Spec's. There are a few small stores near me but selection isn't that great. Can one of me fellow Texans recommend a store that has a good to great bourbon selection that is in the Pearland-Friendswood-Clear Lake-League City area..maybe even up into downtown?

Thanks guys.

[smknjoe]

I've never been, but I hear that NASA Liquor has a good selection and they are close to you. Goody Goody has a good selection and good prices. Most of the small stores that have anything "good" will charge close to secondary prices.

[weller_tex]

I've never been, but I hear that NASA Liquor has a good selection and they are close to you. Goody Goody has a good selection and good prices. Most of the small stores that have anything "good" will charge close to secondary prices.

Thanks a bunch smknjoe! I will check out NASA liquor this weekend

[weller_tex]

Thanks a bunch smknjoe! I will check out NASA liquor this weekend

I HIGHLY recommend NASA Liquors (it in shopping center near corner of NASA Parkway and El Camino Real)! Very, very nice lady who ran the place knows 20 times more about bourbon than anyone I ever encountered at any Spec's store. Plus she didn't try to sell me a bottle of fake "Texas" bourbon the way Spec's does. They Smooth Ambler 8 and 10 year store bottlings, plus 4R OESF store bottlings. Had MMCS as well. Prices were very reasonable..either same as Spec's or maybe just a couple of bucks more.

Best part of my trip is she had WT 101 Rye in the liter bottles! First time I have had WT 101 Rye since they stopped makeing the 750 ml. I never saw it anywhere else in Houston area.

[dcbt]

Welcome to the anti-Specs crowd! We all get there eventually, it's only a matter of when...

[weller_tex]

Welcome to the anti-Specs crowd! We all get there eventually, it's only a matter of when...

It was that f(*&ing 1835 Texas Bourbon they push that was the last straw for me. I know non-Texans (and maybe even non-native Texans) may not understand it the outrage..but parts of my family have bene here since the 1850's. It is an affront to any true Texan (native or not) to push that stuff at Texas bourbon. Not that it is horrible (I got some as a gift and it was young but drinkable), it is just the whole farce that is ludicrous.

[dcbt]

It was that f(*&ing 1835 Texas Bourbon they push that was the last straw for me. I know non-Texans (and maybe even non-native Texans) may not understand it the outrage..but parts of my family have bene here since the 1850's. It is an affront to any true Texan (native or not) to push that stuff at Texas bourbon. Not that it is horrible (I got some as a gift and it was young but drinkable), it is just the whole farce that is ludicrous.

Hah. Yea, good riddance. The irony is that Spec's is a Texas store and I know several people who shop there specifically because of this. Some Texans are too loyal for their own good I guess.

[weller_tex]

Hah. Yea, good riddance. The irony is that Spec's is a Texas store and I know several people who shop there specifically because of this. Some Texans are too loyal for their own good I guess.

Well a true Texas store would not try to pull off that farce..New York City? Get a rope! Haha...

[CaskStrength77]

I'll second Goody Goody. Never been to NASA Liquors, but now I want to check it out.

Personally I don't really have s problem with spec's, but I'm also not a native Texan. Spec's typically has the best prices, and a pretty decent selection. I've found some great bourbons at midtown spec's on the shelf; most recently EHT Barrel Proof.

[TunnelTiger]

I've just gotten so grouchy in my old age that I won't trade at any "big box" stores. I haven't been inside a Walmat or a Costco's or a Sam's in many years.

Visited a Total Wine about 60 miles away once, what a wasted trip.

Learned the hard way not to purchase appliances at the big blue or big orange store.

yep I've just become that gouchy old man down the street that we hated as kids.

[flahute]

And among other reasons, that's why we love you so much TT.

[weller_tex]

I'll second Goody Goody. Never been to NASA Liquors, but now I want to check it out.

Personally I don't really have s problem with spec's, but I'm also not a native Texan. Spec's typically has the best prices, and a pretty decent selection. I've found some great bourbons at midtown spec's on the shelf; most recently EHT Barrel Proof.

I still love going to the Downtown Spec's on Smith Street..awesome burgers at the deli...just a lot of good stuff. Over the past 3 or 4 years though, as they really started expanding outside of Houston things started going downhill for me. The pushing of the 1835 was just the final straw..

[CaskStrength77]

The only thing I dislike about Spec's is how they handle Pappy and the BTAC. I'm sure they get the largest allocation in Houston (and Texas in general), but they really only sell to bars and restaurants. Kinda shitty, IMO.

[dcbt]

The only thing I dislike about Spec's is how they handle Pappy and the BTAC. I'm sure they get the largest allocation in Houston (and Texas in general), but they really only sell to bars and restaurants. Kinda shitty, IMO.

I thought it was illegal here for bars and restaurants to buy from retail stores?...

[Travis D]

Spec's has a wholesale arm in addition to retail. Same with Goody Goody.

[dcbt]

Spec's has a wholesale arm in addition to retail. Same with Goody Goody.

Ah. I've seen the Goody Goody trucks around but never Specs. Makes sense.

[Xevious]

While looking around Specs yesterday, I had an employee approach me and give me an unsolicited, glowing recommendation for Willett Pot Still. This is probably the fourth time somebody at Specs has tried to sell me a bottle (different locations). When asked if he has actually tried it, he responded with "No, but I hear that it's even better than Rebecca Creek Whiskey, and that's supposed to be outstanding as well."

I didn't have much to say at that point.

[Travis D]

Sounds about right, lol

[weller_tex]

While looking around Specs yesterday, I had an employee approach me and give me an unsolicited, glowing recommendation for Willett Pot Still. This is probably the fourth time somebody at Specs has tried to sell me a bottle (different locations). When asked if he has actually tried it, he responded with "No, but I hear that it's even better than Rebecca Creek Whiskey, and that's supposed to be outstanding as well."

I didn't have much to say at that point.

Yeah I have gotten the Willett Pot Still shtick several times as well. Hell if anyone that approached me ever ACTUALLY could have an intelligent conversation about bourbon they might even convince me..there are a few exceptions but most just seem to know enough to make it SEEM like they know something.

[Xevious]

I found it amusing after a couple times, but it's gotten old. They might have actually sold me on something the first time had it been a little cheaper, or if they had some knowledge about what they're trying to sell. But they make obvious tht they're pushing what they're instructed to sell.

And like you and the 1835, I found the Rebecca Creek plug to be pretty embarrassing. Their "distillery" is only a few miles from my house so I've made a point to them up. It's out-of-state sourced whiskey modeled after Crown which they mix with some of their own white dog, bottle it at 80 proof, slap a Texas flag on the label, and sell for 30+ bucks a bottle. No f-ing thank you.

Edited March 27, 2015 by Xevious

[The Black Tot]

You can't blame the employees, although they do end up unfairly embodying our frustrations with the chain.

Who among us hasn't been told by an employer to do something they didn't believe in at some point in their life?

It isn't their call.

The last Willett Pot Still I bought was completely boring. I bought it because a friend had given me the end of an older bottle that was awesome. That's the way Willett is. Probably later when the market pressure is off it and supply catches up the other Willett brands will recover in taste, but I'm sitting it out until someone else I trust discovers that.