If you’re looking for the perfect, unusual and incredibly special gift for anyone, and they enjoy a cocktail or two, or simply are looking for something unique something you can’t buy anyplace, think Salt Water Liquors at the Foodtown Shopping Mall on Route 36 in Atlantic Highlands. Bourbon
It’s true. You can get a ten or 12 year aged bourbon at Salt Water Liquors that you can’t get anywhere else.
That’s because owner Punit Patel doesn’t just buy bottles. He in fact buys full barrels of bourbon, giving him the right to put his own label, Salt Water Liquors, directly below the Maker’s Mark, or Jefferson, or Bookers Reserve or several other fine bourbons on sale at the store. His label also is inscribed with not only the barrel number from which it came, but also which specific bottle it is!
And if you’re into wine, well, there is a $5,000 bottle of fine cognac if you’re interested in that.
Make no mistake about it. Salt Water Liquors has varieties of numerous brands of alcohol in all kinds of prices and bottles. It offers wine of all varieties and sizes, ranging from $8 a bottle to some pricey French or Italian wines, in addition to those cognacs, which are actually a brandy, but with flavors that taste like a mix of wine and whiskey so liked by all.
But for those who enjoy bourbon, checking out the bottles from the Salt Water Liquors barrels is a must.
For me, it all started with my love for Thomas Jefferson and a winter jacket, a birthday gift from my son-in-law that not only had Jefferson’s profile on the front, and an American flag on the back but also Jefferson Tavern and Whiskey Bar embroidered on the sleeve. He thought it would be fun to gift me with something “Jefferson,” knowing how much I think of the third President. But it turned out to be so much more than that.
The thoughtfulness and gift was unusual enough to prompt me to stop in at Salt Water Liquors to see if there was such a thing as Jefferson Bourbon.
Indeed there is, Punit said, then captivated me with the story of this particular bourbon and his own barrels, not only bottles, of it.
Punit and his brother, Pavan Patel, have had their Salt Water Liquors store in the Plaza for about two and a half years, after having opened their first one, Pop’s Liquors in Neptune City in 2017 and another one four years ago, Liquor City, in Old Bridge. But it’s obvious their heart is in Atlantic Highlands, and their hard work and dedication to perfection are what make this store so popular.
Punit believes in searching out the unique and offering the best he can for his customers. So at Salt Water Liquors, in addition to the dozens of varieties of all kinds of spirits on display and on the shelves, there are two barrels topped with different bottles on display. The barrels, as the inscription carved in the side will show, are the barrels in which the Salt Water Liquors bourbon was distilled.
Not only Jefferson bourbon, he explained, but also Makers Mark, Jack Daniels and Buffalo Trace he purchases by the barrel.
Yes, it is a major investment he conceded, inasmuch as each barrel holds between 220 and 250 bottles of alcohol. But it gives him the opportunity to offer fine liquors at lower prices and include his own label below the distillery label on the front of unique bottles. It’s obvious the Patels take immense pride in their business, their partnership and their customers.
Not only can he purchase the barrels of alcohol after they have already had years of distilling, but he gets to be part of the team that ultimately decides on the highest quality each barrel and bottle contains.
The store owner explained the intricate work process of team members, who sample small quantities of the liquor provided by the company, rating it on variety of qualities from color and smoothness to taste and aroma. It’s a distinct process that follows strict rules and is only completed when the compilation of different opinions is melded and barrels created.
With a little bit of prodding, Punit will explain the interesting and intriguing process of selecting his own Maker’s mark Private Select bottles.
The store owner participated in a tasting experience at the distillery where he selected ten finishing staves , or wooden pieces from five types to tree, for instance American Oak, French Oak, Spice, Mendiant or ,more. The staves are then added to a barrel of Maker’s Mark, aging it for about nine weeks to create unique flavor profiles. The result of that is a cask-strength bourbon with custom notes that could include caramel, spice, fruit, or vanilla. Those steps alone mean there could be 1,000 possible combinations of flavor. The process next involves tasting individual staves and blending small samples to find a favorite combination before the final barrel is finished and bottled. The combinations are endless. One popular combo, he found is his “Bradentucky Batch, which produces hints of caramel, cinnamon, oak, and results in a smooth, warm finish.
Although all bourbon has to include not less than 51 per cent corn, it no longer necessarily has to come from Kentucky. But it must be made in the United States. Bourbon also includes rye, and barley, but must be aged in charred oak containers, with barrels being the best choice.
The entire process shows it isn’t easy to get a Salt Water Label affixed to the Makers Mark or other specially selected barrels.
Since temperature at which bourbon is aged also makes a difference in the final product, the numbered bottles also indicate whether it was stored in the lower shelves of the manufacturer, or at the top of 40- to 50-foot-high warehouses.
Patel also noted he has bourbon that was distilled in vessels at sea, giving yet another taste to the finished barrels.
Salt Water Liquors is also engaging in special raffles open only to the stores that sell a specific number of bottles of every kind of alcohol a provider offers, a raffle which is ongoing at the store now and will be ongoing until the raffle drawing in time for Valentine’s Day in October.
That $5,000 bottle of cognac? It’s Louis XIII and is most often bought by corporations or families who get together for the first holiday of the year, each having a sip for each holiday throughout the year until finishing it at Thanksgiving , in time to start a new bottle at Christmas.
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