I've never set foot into the store, but I did spend 2 and a half hours in the company of Vine Riverbend Wine Merchants' Steve Richmond during a Virtual Whiskey Scotch Tasting. The Edmonton chapter of a professional organization I belong to organized the event and were kind enough to invite me.
My Edmonton friends were fortunate to have ordered a tasting kit with a wee nip of five whiskeys to sip, compare and contrast. Too much international and bureaucratic red tape prevented me from sipping along with them.
Steve was a real pro, and entertained us all night with awesome tidbits about the history of whiskey, its aging, legal requirements on ingredients, percentage of alcohol, the different features of barley, corn, millet and rye, casks and barrels, Scotch vs. Bourbon vs. Whiskey vs. Rye vs Peated Whiskey, collectable whiskeys, and Provincial shipping policies. The man was a walking encyclopedia of knowledge and tossed out so many one-liners he had us smiling and laughing all night.
Seated in front of his store's impressive "Wall of Whiskey", he introduced the night's five drinks - Jack Ryan 12 year old Irish Whiskey, Scotch Tullibardine Whiskey, a Dutch Millstone Rye Whiskey, a Bibb and Tucker Bourbon from the USA, and an Ardberg Single Malt Scotch Whiskey.
I had a tremendous time and I loved the way Steve Richmond ended the presentation when he said that someday "we'll meet up again on the Whiskey Trail." read more