Dispatch from the Bottom Shelf
Though I am no expert, I am an enthusiast of bourbon. And I like to sample. So when I go to the giant Binny’s in the West Loop, I always make a point of getting the opinion of one or two resident aficionados, and sometimes I sidle up to the bar, where one can sample even the expensive stuff without dropping sixty or seventy (or ninety) bucks. I have a few favorites, but since I am yet a young man I try to get something entirely new every second or third visit. Well, I have something to report. No, I am not about to sing the praises of a high grade single barrel you’ll see on the top shelf. That’s predictable enough, and certainly not worth a blog post. Instead, I want to point out the virtues of a bottom shelf beauty called Very Old Barton. I know, the name’s not great. Well, neither is the packaging or plastic cap. In fact, it’s so ugly that when the bourbon man picked it up and said “trust me” I just smiled and thanked him, hoping he’d walk away long enough for me to pick up something else. He didn’t. And he could tell I was suspicious. So he challenged me to go ask any worker in the store to name the best bottle of bourbon under twenty-five bucks. I got the same answer three times: Very Old Barton (or, once, VOB, the sort of shorthand that made me feel very much outside the know). This surprised me, for Barton is about 11 bucks. Well, I pondered, what the hell. I bought it and returned home with a curious admixture of joy and regret in my gut.
I have sampled the VOB for several evenings in a row. It’s quite delicious. Not spectacular, not a Baker’s or a Pappy van Winkle, but indeed better than any bourbon twice its price.
Am I the only one out there who knew nothing of this stuff?
