JeffC started a discussion
13 years ago
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Where to buy whisky in Washington DC area?
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Victor replied
To my new buddy and neighbor @JeffC, there is good news and bad news locally. The good news is that Maryland has the lowest spirits taxes in the US and DC's rates are about the same. DC has individual high and low points. I highly recommend Joe Reilly at Ace Beverage on New Mexico Ave as one of the best sources in DC. He can get things and has many contacts. Prices there? Variable. Calvert Woodley is good, though I don't know the specialists personally. Schneider's on Capitol Hill has to the best of my knowledge good selection, but not very low prices. As to Maryland, only Montgomery County has a County-wide system. All 24 stores have the same supply and inventory system but are individually stocked and run. All liquor store clerks here are county employees. The bad news here is that this is a large bureaucracy with some of the issues associated with that. The excellent news is that with the bargaining power of nearly 1 million population in the county, what is available is very frequently at the best prices which you will see ANYWHERE. Selection is large, but specialty items are often off the radar. What you can find in Montgomery County is usually but not always at excellent prices. Some things may not show up. For example, Pappy Van Winkle 15, 20 and new batch 23 yr olds never made it to the shelves this fall. Why? Short-stopped somewhere upstream in the system? Perhaps. There is no easy way to penetrate the bureaucracy and find out. I got my Pappy this year in Baltimore at The Wine Source. Prices on most whiskies are 10-20% higher in Baltimore than in Montgomery County, but it was that or nothing with the Pappy. Like in most places the Pappy and all of the Sazerac Antiquity Collection were in for a few days to a few weeks and then gone til next year. I don't know if there is any of that left there or not. I also do not remember what their inventory is like with regards to malt whiskies, since I get most of my malts in Mont. County. Cheers, Jeff!
13 years ago 0
WhiskyUp replied
I hear there is a Japanese Whisky tasting with Japan-American Society next week. It looks fun. I like Japanese food and I like whisky!!! www.us-japan.org/dc
12 years ago 0
I realize this title may sound a bit silly but the legacy of the failed experiment of prohibition has created an unusual landscape for the purchase and consumption of alcoholic beverages in the United States. The laws differ greatly from one U.S. state to another and great latitude is given to individual states to tailor liquor laws as they see fit, as acknowledged by Article 2 of the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
I live in Virginia but a few miles from Washington DC and Maryland. Virginia has an arcane system of state run liquor stores that are virtually identical. The prices are high, service is mediocre, and the stores are cookie cutter similar in a way that Starbucks would envy. Spirits, such as whisky, can only be purchased at these stores although beer and wine is available at a wide range of stores. I imagine that this type of system is somewhat similar to what exists in Canada or Sweden. The new Governor of Virginia ran on a platform of privatizing liquor stores but I am not optimistic that it will happen soon.
Where I used to live in California, alcohol sales were wide open and available at many locations. In Georgia, where I also used to live, the laws were kind of a hybrid between California and Virginia.
In Washington DC where I work, liquor stores are plentiful (could make sarcastic humor but am resisting), prices are competitive, but sometimes selection leaves a little to be desired. There are a few good stores I have been to in the past like Calvert Woodley and three stores all a few blocks from each other near Chevy Chase circle but these stores are not very convenient to my home or work.
In Maryland, I am not really sure how the stores work but I believe that the state of Maryland has delegated authority for the regulation of alcohol at the county level--counties are a level of government smaller than a state but larger than a city. I have never been to a liquor store in Maryland.
Sorry for the long winded explanation I really want to ask people in the Washington DC area if they have any tips on places to buy liquor--it will not be in Virginia, of that I am sure. But perhaps there is some store I am overlooking in Washington DC or Maryland?