The Bar Towel

Got a $50 gift card for the LCBO - nothing to sneeze at. Question is, what should I buy?

I figured I'd take a trip down to summerhill or QQ.

Should I spend it on a bunch of beer or put it towards a nice bottle of something special?

What should I do? Help me spend it.

A few other factors - I'll be celebrating first day of summer vacation AND my birthday, so...yeah...

Personally, when i get gift cards i buy something i usually wouldn't spend the $ on myself. Considering that beer is 95% of what i buy myself normally.
That being said, do you drink rum?, if so, i'd put the $ towards a bottle of Dictador 12 year old columbian rum. I think it's around $64 last time i bought it, so you'd have to front some money. It's a great sipping rum, better than 95% of the single malt scotches i've had. Caramel, coffee and tonnes of toasted coconut flavour. I can't say enough good things about it. Worth every penny.
Another option i'd suggest, if you drink scotch, is a bottles of 3 ships whisky. A south african whisky. Really tasty stuff, and i believe only cost me around $35. An "everyday" whisky but still really tasty, and with enough $ left over to buy a 6 pack.

Just my(drunken) 2-cents

They just got aviation gin in, which is supposed to be great. They got dolin vermouth in a little while back, which is great. Combined you're looking at 55 bucks and some really nice Martinis, which is a nice celebratory drink.

I'd use it as a 50 dollar discount on a nice bottle of scotch.

sofakingdrunk wrote:Personally, when i get gift cards i buy something i usually wouldn't spend the $ on myself. Considering that beer is 95% of what i buy myself normally.
That being said, do you drink rum?, if so, i'd put the $ towards a bottle of Dictador 12 year old columbian rum. I think it's around $64 last time i bought it, so you'd have to front some money. It's a great sipping rum, better than 95% of the single malt scotches i've had. Caramel, coffee and tonnes of toasted coconut flavour. I can't say enough good things about it. Worth every penny.
Another option i'd suggest, if you drink scotch, is a bottles of 3 ships whisky. A south african whisky. Really tasty stuff, and i believe only cost me around $35. An "everyday" whisky but still really tasty, and with enough $ left over to buy a 6 pack.

Just my(drunken) 2-cents

Yeah, that 3 Ships is really great considering the price point. Good recommendation regardless of the gift card.

This.

http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo/product/auchen ... 67ucbFA4Zw

Ale's What Cures Ya wrote:This.

http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo/product/auchen ... 67ucbFA4Zw

I can't afford that, but if I had a $50 LCBO gift certificate…oh man I'd be all over it!

I recommend bourbon......because bourbon is awesome!

I used a few gift cards on to buy the Old Rip Van Winkle 10 year and the Van Winkle Lot B when they had the special releases.

You just missed out on the Four Roses 2013 Small Batch Limited Edition which was released a couple months ago. It was rated by many as one of the best whiskey's of 2013 and sold at the LCBO for the U.S. suggested retail price of $80. It was a steal.

W.L. Weller 12 year is going to be released at the LCBO in about two weeks. This is a well-regarded bourbon. It should retail for $45. It is the same juice as Pappy Van Winkle. Exact same mashbill and distilled at the same distillery (Buffalo Trace).

If you like wheated bourbon then wait a few weeks for that.

Four Roses Small Batch is very solid and it's at a similar price point to what it retails for in the U.S.

Elijah Craig 12 year is also quite good and I also have an open bottle of this on hand at all times.

BakaGaijin wrote:I recommend bourbon......because bourbon is awesome!

W.L. Weller 12 year is going to be released at the LCBO in about two weeks. This is a well-regarded bourbon. It should retail for $45. It is the same juice as Pappy Van Winkle. Exact same mashbill and distilled at the same distillery (Buffalo Trace).
If you like wheated bourbon then wait a few weeks for that..

This is great news as I have about an ounce of a bottle I bought from last release. Excellent stuff! Did the LCBO give you a product number and is it a vintages or regular listing?
Thanks. Definitely stocking up.

I've been using the various LCBO gift cards from Christmas and birthdays to get whiskeys and bourbons that were otherwise a little pricey.

Beer'n'gin wrote:

BakaGaijin wrote:I recommend bourbon......because bourbon is awesome!

W.L. Weller 12 year is going to be released at the LCBO in about two weeks. This is a well-regarded bourbon. It should retail for $45. It is the same juice as Pappy Van Winkle. Exact same mashbill and distilled at the same distillery (Buffalo Trace).
If you like wheated bourbon then wait a few weeks for that..

This is great news as I have about an ounce of a bottle I bought from last release. Excellent stuff! Did the LCBO give you a product number and is it a vintages or regular listing?
Thanks. Definitely stocking up.

Got this info from the agent. #288886 - says it will be released through Vintages as per the agents hot sheet.

Jeff, I'd really like to help you out. Let's meet at store sometime.

So....what did you end up getting Jeff?

I got this...

http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-2623.aspx

for $63 - it's pretty nice. The great thing about summerhill is that little tasting room. For a buck you can try a nice half ounce of whiskey. I also tried Stalk and Barrel and while it was nice, it seemed sharp and young.

This was very approachable (especially me being a scotch noob) a little on the sweet and oaky side, but good for after dinner, which is when I'm likely to bring it out.

Even though I was willing to spend more, the guy in the tasting room really recommended it as a bit of a sleeper scotch worth a lot more than it's price tag.

If you're heading to summerhill anytime soon, well worth the dollar to try it out.

I was handed a LCBO gift card this morning. There is no amount marked on it. Does anyone know if there is a way to determine its value or do I have to check at the store before I start shopping?