Wonderful Shopping Discovery on the Road in Florida

I was in Sarasota, FL today checking out the extreme Halloween humidity (whoa...scary!) and the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Due to being on vacation, and having a need to acquire unique gifts, I was looking for a liquor store...ideally something different.

Boy, did I ever find it. I sure found it to be awesome. The VOM FASS store in Sarasota (and presumably elsewhere) lets you taste everything they sell.

Their whisky is all exclusive single-cask expressions and I had a blast tasting it, including some stuff that practically only exists in legend.

• My favorite was the 13-year-old Laphroaig that was aged in Port Ellen casks. Whoa - was that amazing! It was a softer, brinier Laphroaig that retained the smoky awesomeness expected of the Laphroaig spirit.

• I also had a really interesting Blair Athol 12-year-old that was really interesting, primarily because you don't see this single-malt on the shelves of many liquor stores. It was actually really good but since I had just had the Laphroaig it was difficult to really parse the flavors and aromas.

As I said, though, the amazing thing about this shopping experience was the unusual hybrid between a liquor store and a bar. Literally everything in the store can be tasted before it is purchased. They carry Armagnac, Cognac, Vinegar, Olive Oil, and (as you can tell from the above) Scotch and other whiskies (or whiskeys...they do carry American and Irish whiskey as well as Scotch whisky). They also have Rum, Absinthe and more.

If you are near a VOM FASS store, definitely check it out.