| Revival Vintage Bottle Shop | |
|---|---|
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 Liquor available for tasting | |
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| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 2020 |
| Food type | Liquor |
| Street address | 614 Madison Avenue |
| City | Covington |
| State | Kentucky |
| Postal/ZIP Code | 41011 |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 39°04′56″N84°30′34″W / 39.08222°N 84.50944°W |
| Website | www |
Revival Vintage Bottle is a resale store and tasting bar in Covington, Kentucky, stocking vintage bottles of liquor and some new liquors. [1] It is a stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. [2]
Vintage spirits, known to collectors as dusties, are illegal for commercial sale in almost all US states. [3] [4] [5] Vintage spirits are legal for sale under Kentucky's 2018 Vintage Spirits law, [6] [3] known as House Bill 100. [7] As of 2022 [update] , the law was unique to Kentucky among US states. [5]
Because Kentucky distillers historically included bourbon in employee compensation packages and Kentucky is part of the Bible Belt, an area of the United States where the temperance movement retains some adherents, it is not uncommon for some households to have unopened bottles dating back decades. [3] According to the Kentucky Distillers Association, they receive "regular calls from state residents asking what they can do with unopened bourbon cases they discovered while cleaning out a relative’s attic or basement". [3] Unlike wine, liquor stored in unopened bottles remains essentially unchanged from the date of bottling [5] because of its much higher alcohol content and near total lack of yeast following distillation.
The shop opened on 8th Street in Covington in 2020. [8] In 2022, the shop opened a second location, also in Covington. [8] [4] In 2024, it relocated the original shop to Madison Avenue in Covington. [9]
The shop sources bottles of various liquors from estate sales and other private sellers; some vintages date from pre-prohibition. [1] [6] [3] [10] As of 2023 [update] , it had over 4,000 bottles. [11] It collects and sells bottles of bourbon, scotch, brandy, tequila, rum, and gin and [4] offers tastings. [12] [13] [14] The shop opens a bottle daily to offer tastings. [15]
Because the liquor remains essentially unchanged, it allows drinkers to experience older versions and compare them to newer versions of the same liquor, the recipes for which and techniques used to produce may have changed over time, or to taste cocktails made from liquors available when the recipe was developed. [4] [5]
Tasting Table said, "If northern Kentucky is basically the Disney World of bourbon, then Revival Vintage Bottle Shop is its marquee attraction." [1] In 2021 it was named one of the country's best bourbon bars by The Bourbon Review. [16] In 2023 it was added as a stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. [2] In 2024 the Cincinnati Enquirer called it a "bourbon mecca". [9]
Bourbon whiskey is a barrel-aged American whiskey made primarily from corn (maize). The name derives from the French House of Bourbon, although the precise source of inspiration is uncertain; contenders include Bourbon County, Kentucky, and Bourbon Street in New Orleans, both of which are named after the House of Bourbon. The name bourbon might not have been used until the 1850s, and the association with Bourbon County was not evident until the 1870s.
Tennessee whiskey is straight whiskey produced in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Although it has been legally defined as a bourbon whiskey in some international trade agreements, most current producers of Tennessee whiskey disclaim references to their products as "bourbon" and do not label them as such on any of their bottles or advertising materials. All current Tennessee whiskey producers are required by Tennessee law to produce their whiskeys in Tennessee and – with the sole exception of Benjamin Prichard's – to use a filtering step known as the Lincoln County Process prior to aging the whiskey. Beyond the perceived marketing value of the distinction, Tennessee whiskey and bourbon have almost identical requirements, and most Tennessee whiskeys meet the criteria for bourbon.
Maker's Mark is a small-batch bourbon whisky produced in Loretto, Kentucky, by Beam Suntory. It is bottled at 90 U.S. proof and sold in squarish bottles sealed with red wax. The distillery offers tours, and is part of the American Whiskey Trail and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
Jim Beam is an American brand of bourbon whiskey produced in Clermont, Kentucky, by Suntory Global Spirits. It is one of the best-selling brands of bourbon in the world. Since 1795, seven generations of the Beam family have been involved in whiskey production for the company that produces the brand. The brand name became "Jim Beam" in 1943 in honor of James B. Beam, who rebuilt the business after Prohibition ended. Previously produced by the Beam family and later owned by the Fortune Brands holding company, the brand was purchased by Suntory Holdings in 2014.
Woodford Reserve is a brand of premium small batch Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey produced in Woodford County, Kentucky, by the Brown-Forman Corporation. It is made from a mixture of copper pot still spirits produced at the company's Woodford Reserve Distillery, and column still spirits from the Brown Forman Distillery in Shively, Kentucky. Each 45.2% alcohol by volume bottle bears a unique batch and bottle number. The brand was introduced in 1996. Domestic sales of Woodford Reserve surpassed one million cases in 2021.
A liquor store is a retail business that predominantly sells prepackaged alcoholic beverages, including liquors, wine or beer, usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom, they may also be called an off-licence, off-sale, bottle shop, bottle store or, colloquially, bottle-o, liquor store or other similar terms. A very limited number of jurisdictions have an alcohol monopoly. In US states that are alcoholic beverage control (ABC) states, the term ABC store may be used.
The American Whiskey Trail is the name of a promotional program supported by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States that promotes the distilled beverage industry in the U.S. The Trail was first promoted to the public on September 28, 2004.
Various unique terms are used in bartending.
Knob Creek is an American brand of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey produced by Suntory Global Spirits at the Jim Beam distillery in Clermont, Kentucky. It is one of the four Jim Beam small batch bourbon brands targeted for the high-end liquor market. Its siblings in the line are Booker's, Baker's, and Basil Hayden's.
Davide Campari-Milano N.V., trading as Campari Group, is an Italian company active since 1860 in the branded beverage industry. It produces spirits, wines, and non-alcoholic apéritifs. From its signature product, Campari, its portfolio has been extended to include over 50 brands, including Aperol, Appleton, Cinzano, SKYY vodka, Espolón, Wild Turkey, Grand Marnier, and Forty Creek whisky.
Bulleit Bourbon is a brand of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey produced at the Bulleit Distillery in Lebanon, Kentucky and the Bulleit Distillery in Shelbyville, Kentucky, owned by the Diageo beverage conglomerate. It is characterized by a high rye content for a bourbon and being aged at least six years. It is bottled at 45% abv for the US, Canadian, British, Dutch and Mexican markets. For Australian and Danish markets, it is bottled at 40% abv. It is also sold in Germany, Norway and Sweden.
The Kentucky Bourbon Trail, sometimes informally referred to as "the Bourbon Trail", is a program sponsored by the Kentucky Distillers' Association (KDA) to promote the Bourbon whiskey industry in Kentucky. The KDA has registered the phrase "Kentucky Bourbon Trail" as a protected trademark.
The culture of Kentucky is firmly Southern, it is also influenced by Southern Appalachia, blending with the native upper Southern culture in certain areas of the state. The state is known for bourbon and whiskey distilling, tobacco, horse racing, college basketball, and quilts.
Willett Distillery Ltd, is a private, family-owned-and-operated company that produces bourbon and rye whiskey. Over the years, the company has bottled whiskeys that range from two years of aging maturity up to 28 years. The company was named Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD) between 1984 and 2012.
Sazerac Company, Inc. is a privately held American alcoholic beverage company headquartered in Metairie in the metropolitan area of New Orleans, Louisiana, but with its principal office in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is owned by billionaire William Goldring and his family. As of 2017, it operated nine distilleries, had 2,000 employees, and operated in 112 countries. It is one of the two largest spirits companies in the United States, with annual revenue of about $1 billion made from selling about 300 beverage brands.
Wigle Whiskey is an artisan small batch whiskey distillery in the Strip District neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Wigle's whiskeys are the flagship products of the company, which was entirely family owned and operated until 2022, when the company and its sister company Threadbare Cider and Mead was purchased by the Nutting Corporation.
Old Pogue is a brand of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. Located in Maysville, Kentucky, the Old Pogue Distillery carries strong family ties dating back to the 1870s, and is privately owned by members of the Pogue family.
Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey is a brand of premium single malt Irish whiskey produced by the Irish Distillers subsidiary of Pernod Ricard. The brand is named for historic Knappogue Castle in County Clare, Ireland, originally built by Clan MacNamara in 1467. Knappogue Castle is known for bottling one of the oldest and rarest known Irish whiskies, Knappogue Castle 1951, a pot still whiskey produced at the now-defunct B. Daly Distillery.
The Boone County Distilling Company is a distillery originally formed in Petersburg, Kentucky, and operated from 1833 until shutting down in 1918. It was later re-established in Independence, Kentucky, in 2015, by owners Jack Wells and Josh Quinn.
Vintage spirits, also known as dusties, are old, discontinued, or otherwise rare bottles of liquor. The collectibility of a bottle is based on rarity, with age as a secondary factor. The name "dusty" refers to the fact that many such now-collectible bottles had been sitting on a liquor store shelf or unopened in a home or in a restaurant bar for years, collecting dust. In the United States, sales of vintage liquor is generally illegal, the exception being Kentucky, which is a frequent hunting ground for dusties for a variety of reasons.
