Hopefully in your parents’ or grandparent’s basement! If you aren’t that lucky, there are some truly excellent restaurants and bars nationwide that curate their collections and spend the extra time and attention to give their guests a great experience. I’ve included a link and a list below.

I found some older whiskey in my local liquor store for sale. How do I know if I’m getting a good deal?

Research tasting notes. There are a lot of great bourbon blogs out there with tasting notes. Use the Google! If your desired whiskey is a malt, look for reviews. There are a lot more standardized options available because the structure of the single malt market is far more rigid than the American Whiskey market.

I found some old whiskey in a run down liquor store. How do I know if it’s any good?

Start by reading the labels. You generally want to stay away from anything that says blended or Canadian on the label unless you know you like that kind of whiskey. Next you’ll want to assess the quality of the remaining bottles by using this link to our entry on whiskey aging in the bottle as a starting point. If you pass this hurdle, you’ll want to research the brands. Google is a VERY powerful tool! Depending on when you’re reading this, you may find some more information about particular brands on our site.

Here are a couple regional locations to try older whiskey and some links to top whiskey bar lists:

San Francisco: Hard Water
Chicago: Delilah’s
Washington DC: Jack Rose Dining Saloon

Bourbon Review: Top 75 Bourbon Bars in America
Travel and Leisure: Best Whiskey Bars in America