Fig
Absolute Horse Shirt
- Dec 15, 2014
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@Fig my favorite Calgary Places are Liquor Depot stores. My go to these days when I'm in town or passing through is usually the Brentwood store as it's not far off from either the University or #1 on the way to Banff. I've phoned them prior to arrival and ordered multiple bottles. Get a discount that way. There was one on 17th south of downtown at one point too, maybe the Mount Royal store? Both superb liquor collections. I've also been to Kensington which has probably the best selection, but the highest prices too. Coop stores have been good to me on the Glendronach and Mortlach side of things.
Sierra Springs up in Airdrie is pretty nice too though the only time I was in there the staff seemed pretty confused. I follow them on Instagram and they have some pretty sweet specials at times.
I got pretty familiar with the Edmonton area liquor stores too, though I appreciate Edmonton is a dirty word. Liquor Depot up there (southwest), Keg n Cork and Chateau Louis were my favorites.
Minneapolis has some great ones as well. Obviously Total Wine wins on pricing but South Lyndale is by far my favorite store. They let you taste samples and almost every bottle of liquor is open. Merwin Liquors is a really neat store, but holy shady area Batman. There used to be a really great, small shop down in Burnsville as well, but I think Total Wine killed it.
I know the liquor depot store you speak of. It's a pretty decent size with decent prices and I used to go to that location a lot. But lately, more and more larger and more convenient liquor stores have popped up in the city, so I go to those instead. Coop has been expanding like crazy, and a bunch of places are also doing aggressive expansion in the last 5 years or so. Kensington Wine Market is indeed the most expensive in the city by up to 10-15%, but they also often have stuff that no one else seems to have. Their employees are probably the most knowledgeable in the city. From what I also hear, if you become a regular, they will often offer you free samples or significantly discounted samples that are very high end bottles for spirits and wine, so for those that go regularly, I hear it balances out long term but I don't go there, so I cannot confirm this personally.
If you can imagine the size of the Brentwood liquor depot is only about 1/3 the size of Wine and Beyond Sage Hill, that's why I go there to peruse and look for interesting things to try now. The crazy thing (for those who don't know) is that the Brentwood liquor depot is a pretty big liquor store (a small supermarket). Wine and Beyond is like being a kid again and being amazed the first time walking into a candy store.