I visited 52 tiki bars in 2019, so needless to say I’ve been feeling extra restless lately. Local tiki celeb Correy Bravo (aka MidCenturyTiki) turned me on to a liquor store close by with some older vintage rums, so I thought I’d start checking out these places myself to see if they hold any treasures.
Bob’s Discount Liquors seems to be the best in the southeast Bay Area. Found some older Appleton 12 and VX bottles, some late 1990s Trader Vic’s rums, plus some of the flavored Coruba releases that are no longer available.
At Mission Blvd. Market in Fremont I even found some 15 year old and 25 year old Trader Vic’s mixes (which can’t be fit for human consumption, see my earlier post). At that store I also found this bottle of Mount Gay Extra Old – circa 2007 or 2008. I have the two latest XO releases and so I took a chance on this one.
What I should have noticed was that the bottle seemed a little less than full. Once I opened it up I found that the cork was shot. Since ABC regulations say that liquor cannot be returned for refund unless it is “unfit for human consumption” I was stuck with it. Luckily, I was able to use a corkscrew to get the cork out without further deterioration.
This older Mount Gay expression is wonderful. Flavorful and a bit more spicy than the pre-2020 XO release. So, it all ended well. Additionally, I knew there was a good reason to keep a few spare bottles around the house.
