Rum, rum, rum!

On the 1st of June The Good Spirits Co. finally opened its doors to the Glaswegian (and visiting) public. Over a year of hard work has paid off and we’re at last providing quality drinks to those who are looking for something a cut above the supermarket offerings in a friendly, relaxing environment. And we have a record player! Mmm, classic Bowie on vinyl.

So what have I learned or observed in the past week and a half? Well, firstly we have sold lots of weird and wonderful stuff. Sake, sotol, vanilla liqueur, grappa…and we’ve been asked for many, many strange drinks. Oh, and Kraken Black Spiced Rum is the new Sailor Jerry by the look of our sales figures. The kids can’t get enough of it, man!

Glasgow, it appears, likes its gin and rum and tequila, as well as its whisky. We see tequila growing particularly well as more discover the taste of the quality aged stuff which is miles away from the industrial cleaning fluid kind that you slam with salt and lime. There are some seriously tasty bottlings there which I’m sure whisky drinkers would appreciate. Single cask rums are also something I’m particularly keeping an eye on as the parallels with whisky are very interesting. A particular favourite is Foursquare Vintage 1998 which will hopefully be back in soon, but if you pop in I might let you try a wee sip from my own bottle. It’s sublime stuff. 10yo bourbon barrel matured heaven.

Most importantly I now have a desire to go to work, rather than try to avoid it. I LOVE going to work. I can’t wait to get into my shop. It’s my new baby. That surely makes it all worthwhile. That and the situation that arose last week. We had a customer come in asking for a particular tequila, one that he had only managed to get in the US when last there and something he had hunted high and low for on these shores but never found. I told him to leave it with me and three days later, when he returned, he was amazed to see me holding a bottle of the particular tipple. The joy and amazement on his face was the reward for all this madness. Long may it continue.

Right, back to work. I’ve got some spirits to sell!

P.S. The title is a kind of private joke. You’ll need to ask Jason of Guid Scotch Drink. He might not reply but he’s a legend in his own underpants.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 12th, 2011 at 11:10 pm and is filed under Shops. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.