Bourbon
Purchase Price: $8 (375ml)
Place of Purchase: ABC Store - Asheville, NC
Rating: 8.5
I’m not sure what to read into it, but one of the small joys in my life is visiting liquor stores whenever I’m on the road, always on the lookout for a.) some obscure and never before seen brand or b.) a known and loved brand being sold at some ridiculously low price. Yes, it’s sad but true--I have basically memorized the price of almost every scotch, bourbon, vodka, gin and rum sold by Warehouse Spirits in NYC. Warehouse doesn’t have the lowest price in town on everything but it’s close enough to serve as a benchmark of sorts. In any case, this example has more to do with a.) than b.) , anyway.
The place was a state-run Asheville, NC ABC store. Time was pressing--I had a plane to catch and only about 5 minutes to scan the shelves for anything out of the ordinary. And there it was, a 375 ml bottle of Ancient Ancient Age Ten Star priced at 8 dollars. I’d heard of Ancient Age but hadn’t seen a bottle of it in almost 20 years. I remembered it being a “low-end” whiskey, but I figured 8 dollars wasn’t much of a gamble, so I grabbed it and headed for the airport. And like the money I placed on Greece to win the Euro ’04 back in the day, it was a casual, almost flippant bet that paid off handsomely. AAA 10 Star is quite simply one of my favorite bourbons ever. Sweet without being cloying, fiery without being molten, it’s almost like a dessert wine, robust and complex beyond anything else in its price range. Highly recommended!
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