A Taste of History: Take a Cross-Country Tour of Bars Serving Rare and Vintage Spirits

For our May/June 2024 issue, we sat down with Aaron Goldfarb, author of Dusty Booze: In Search of Vintage Spirits, to talk about the fascinating world of “dusty hunters,” aka chasers of vintage spirits. Private collectors aren’t alone in their pursuit. Bars and restaurants across the U.S. are giving well-heeled imbibers a chance to sip hard-to-find spirits or cocktails made with vintage booze. In Dusty Booze, Goldfarb cites 17 places around the country offering vintage spirits. Here, he narrows the list down to seven of his personal picks, including his favorite sips from each one.

Billy Sunday (Chicago)

This celebrated Chicago bar is purported to have one of the largest vintage amaro collections in America, which includes “countless now-unknown brands from the past,” according to Goldfarb. He had the pleasure of tasting a “1970s Stock Fernet—a now defunct brand from the past.”

Canon (Seattle)

Goldfarb notes that this award-winning cocktail bar boasts “a vintage list so big it can only be housed on an iPad.” But online you can peruse the 15 pages of offerings—liqueurs, gin, rum, calvados, and whiskey—listed under the heading “Hardcore Porn.” Currently, the priciest pour is the 1894 Turf Club Old Rye Whiskey at $1,995. But Goldfarb’s favorite sip was the vintage Chartreuse from the 1920s.

The Crunkleton (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)

Bar owner Gary Crunkleton wanted to expand his eponymous bar’s already epic spirits selection even further to include vintage rarities. The bad news was selling antique spirits wasn’t legal in North Carolina. That is, until Crunkleton made it his mission to have the laws changed so he could. Now his Chapel Hill and Charlotte locations are the go-tos for dusty hunters like Goldfarb who was able to indulge in a “very, very Old Fitzgerald from Stitzel-Weller’s glory days.”

The Doctor’s Office (Seattle)

For those who have always wanted to drink like an eccentric millionaire, make a reservation at this intimate cocktail bar. Owner Dr. Matthew Powell was able to get a hold of film tycoon and pilot Howard Hughes’ spirits collection: three gins and three whiskeys from the 1940s. Other dusty bottles outside of the Hughes list include amari and liqueurs, such as 1930s Suze. But it was here that Goldfarb tasted 1960s Sauza tequila. “It was my first time to try vintage tequila and I was blown away by the quality.”

Down & Out (New York City)

Goldfarb calls Down & Out’s vintage selection the best in Manhattan by far. A gander at the antique spirit list reveals an extensive roster of bourbons and ryes, such as Old Weller Original 107-proof Gold Vein 7-year 1990, as well as every year of Canadian Club starting with 1922. But for Goldfarb, it was all about the 1938 Hennessy—”vintage cognac is still way undervalued.”

Jack Rose Dining Saloon (Washington, DC)

Since 2011, this DC whiskey den, which Goldfarb calls “the grand-daddy of all whiskey dens in America,” has been the destination bar for whiskey enthusiasts. At one point, it housed one of the largest whiskey collections in the Western Hemisphere at nearly 3,000 bottles. But during 2020, as a matter of survival, the bar sold off its inventory, which included some dusty bottles. Still, Jack Rose continues to offer an impressive selection. For Goldfarb, it’s about “all sorts of incredible Willett single barrels from the past.”

Neat (Louisville)

Cap off that Kentucky Bourbon Trail excursion with a stop at one of the best bourbon bars in Louisville. The bourbon bar and bottle shop offers “a never-ending selection of vintage bourbon, always fairly priced,” according to Goldfarb. One of the oldest bottles on hand is a 1968 101-proof Wild Turkey 8-year for $100 per 1-ounce pour. But here is where Goldfarb “really fell in love with pre-fire Heaven Hill—bourbon distilled before the distillery’s massive 1996 fire.”

Revival (Covington, Kentucky)

At this tasting bar and bottle shop, one can sip from and then buy a dusty bottle, a rarity in most states. But under Kentucky’s vintage spirits law, bars and liquor stores can buy bottles from private parties to be resold at their establishment. One will find rarities like a 100-proof Old Taylor Bottled-in-Bond from 1913-1917. Here, Goldfarb enjoyed “Old Grand-Dad from back when it was made at National Distillers.”