Liquor Stores in South New Jersey

[Solomon Grundy]

Anyone know of good liquor stores in southern New Jersey for rum?

Here in the People's Republic of Pennsylvania, our liquor is sold through state-owned stores that have a very limited shelf selection of decent rum. Pyrat XO, Zaya, & Clement Premiere are about the only premium quality rums that are regularly stocked. Though they came up with a bottle of Tricentenial in two days on special order (the last bottle in the system, btw) I've been waiting a over month for my Khukri dagger bottle. Most internet sellers won't ship to Pennsylvania, evidently for legal reasons.

Can someone in the free world help me out?

Many thanks.

PS. I am familiar with the selections at Canal's and Total Wine.
PPS. For some reason, the same arcane set of laws make this a really great state for beer selection. Go figure.

[Torpnubber]

As a fellow Pennsylvanian, I feel your pain.

I'm afraid that I don't know of any South Jersey retailers that qualify.
Total Wine in Delaware is a good alternative.

The best source that I've found is Shoppers Vineyard in North Jersey.
If you ask nicely, they'll ship as well

BTW, welcome aboard

[RobertBurr]

Isn't Solomon Grundy the guy that invented the Zombie cocktail?

[Paulipbartender]

Originally Posted by RobertBurr

Isn't Solomon Grundy the guy that invented the Zombie cocktail?

Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt (Mr Donn Beach) may take credit for that

[Rumpelteazer]

Those of us in the opposite corner of Pennsylvanistan find a reasonably good selection at Premier Liquors in Buffalo. They could be a useful source for our new friends in Ontario also.

[RumBarPhilly]

I have your answer! I work in PA but live in NJ in a the cozy suberb of Sicklerville. In Sicklerville (corner of Cross Keys Rd and Chews Landing Rd) is a little liquor store called King's Liquor. He stocks:
Zaya, Zacapa, all the El Dorados, all the Mt Gays, Khukri, and many others. More over, you can ORDER whatever you want from him. He goes into his little book and the world is yours! (well, not EVERYTHING is there, but you get the gyst) Ive ordered rums like Pyrat Cask, Diplomatico, Abuelo, Starr, Barbancourt, and Stroh just to name a few.

PM me for directions.

[RobertBurr]

Originally Posted by Paulipbartender

Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt (Mr Donn Beach) may take credit for that

I'm confused. Perhaps Solomon Grundy is a zombie who drinks zombie cocktails. I'm thinking there is a comic book with arch villian Solomon Grundy, awakened from the dead and wreaking havoc on humanity buy drinking all the good rum.

[Solomon Grundy]

Many thanks to RumBarPhilly for tip (though he is too modest to suggest I get off my duff and walk the three blocks to his establishment ... if only my wife would go!) and to my fellow Pennsylvanians for the commiseration on our sad lot.

As for "Solomon Grundy", I was thinking of the nursery rhyme (pasted below), though I guess there are also a zombie supervillain opponent of the Green Lantern and a one-record grunge band from Seattle (where else?) to be considered.

-----

Solomon Grundy,
Born on Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Took ill on Thursday,
Worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday:
This is the end
Of Solomon Grundy.

[RumBarPhilly]

Mr. Solomon Grundy, we have a very large selection of rums at the bar, if you walk the 3 blocks, haha! If there is a bottle you desire, perhaps I can order one for you. Stop in some time! Under your assumed name of course haha

[Solomon Grundy]

Given RumBar's helpful comments above, and as this is faintly relevant to the struggle to find good rum at the eastern end of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I post this here now. When my head clears tomorrow (or later) and I am capable of finding the correct thread, I will also post it to the section devoted to bar reviews.

After a full dinner of ceviche and cuban food four blocks away, and a couple of caipirhinas for me and pina colada for the mrs., my wife finally assented to a visit to Rum Bar at 20th and Walnut in Philadelphia. First, the menu looked great. We were too full from dinner to order desert at the restaurant, so we didn't order any food, but the selection looked great and we'll be back to try it sometime soon.

More importantly, the rum...

The selection is as as vast and varied as you can get in Pennsylvania and stay legal. (This means you will not have any Ron Zacapa Centenario because the Pennsy state liquor system won't sell it. What is wrong with them!) The prices are generally reasonable. The best part: Rum Bar offers rum flights, either vertical or horizontal. The rum flights consist of three equal samples of rum, served in appropriate glasses (like small snifter thingamabobs, don't know whatcha call 'em) totalling, by my guess (and subject to being wrong), between 2 and 3 oz., maybe a bit more. The vertical rum flights allow you to sample three tiers of a distiller's brands. The horizontal flights allow you to sample three "peer" rums, based on various similarities (e.g., high-end rums, US distilled rums, etc.) The flights are a fantastic value -- even the super high end "El Presidente" flight, which includes both Mt. Gay Tricentential and Pyrat Cask 23 (I cannot remember the 3d rum for the life of me), is reasonably priced at $130, considering its constituents.

The better half and I ordered the vertical Appleton flight, which consisted of V/X, Extra and 21 for $30 (if I remember correctly). The Extra was out, so the Reserve was substituted (minor service quibble: the substitution wasn't mentioned until the rum was served ... no big deal to me, I was after the 21, but some folks might like to have been asked before hand.) As to these rums, the V/X is a fine rum -- I'd use it for mixing and would be happy if it replaced Mt. Gay Eclipse or Myers as the standard "dark rum" in most bars; the Extra was good enough but not particulary memorable (in fact, I have no memory of it probably because its older sister so outshined it); and the 21 was ABSOLUTELY AMAZINGLY FANTASTIC. The Appleton 21 is a rum of distinction and character, as good as any respectable Scotch and better than many. The Mrs. and I were bickering (ever so gently) over who got how much of it. I MUST acquire a bottle of it for my home collection, regardless of how many people I have to kill in order to do it.

In short, I, or we, will be back to sample a few more flights. The US-made flight has Prichard's Fine (which I am eager to try) and Captain Morgan Private Stock (which I am not eager to try but really ought to tho I don't want to buy a bottle of it). There is a Clement flight, with their premium rums on it, that I would love to try, if I could substitute the shrubb for the premiere. (I have got a liquid to-do list here, and these folks are helping me take care of it.)

If your companion should prefer to drink something other than rum, there seemed to be a full bar selection available (not that I was paying attention), so your companion can drink something else while you enjoy your rum and mull over whether or not you really want to spend time with someone who does not appreciate rum.

Of other aspects of the establishment that might be of importance to potential patrons, we came and went kind of early (9:15 ish to 9:50 ish) so I am not sure how accurate these impressions are. First, the bar is divided into a seating area near the front window, the bar itself, and an area with tables in the back. The bar can seem deceptively over-crowded from the street when it is not, so just go in. Second, the patrons all seemed well-groomed and behaved: no thugs in appearance. No reason why anyone of any race, sex, orientation or age from 21 to 121 would be uncomfortable. Third, the male-to-female ratio was tilted to the female, but mostly because there was a huge all female group seated in the front (they seemed too well behaved to be a bachelorette party). The table area was occupied by couples mostly. The bar itself had 3 or 4 groups of people there, the groups being either all male or all female. Fourth, the decor is kind of Caribbean inflected but not excessively so, if anyone cares. Fifth, it was well lit. Sixth, the music was not so lound that you could not carry on a conversation. I don't know if the music gets louder and lighting gets dimmer later in the evening or if the tables and chairs get put away to make room for some exuberant, sweaty, alcohol-fueled dancing to an Afro-Caribbean beat after the kitchen closes. I hope it does (not that I would be there) but the town fathers here might not approve.