On 2016-02-23 18:38:04 +0000, Ed Pawlowski said:

> Every once in a while I like a G & T. Refreshing, nice flavor. In the
> course of a year I probably drink 3 bottles. I like to try different
> ones at times too.
>
> Yesterday I stopped at a nearby liquor store and it is under new
> ownership and they changed the shelves and merchandise. In the gin
> aisle, they had 52 different gins.
>
> Of the 52, I've already tried about 10. Of the remaining 42 there are
> about six I have no interest in. That leave 36 different gins to try.
>
> At 3 bottles a year, I'm going to be tied up on this project for the
> next 12 years!
>
> This is in addition to the four bourbons and two Scotchs in the house
> that have to be finished. I'm going to be a busy man.

I started trying to explore the terrain about 8 years ago, and found
many gins. Now there are likely 5 times that number of gins available,
and a number of my favorites from that time, including Zuidam, are no
longer available. It's a buys world in spirits these days. The same
is likely even more true of bourbons.

Additionally 8 years ago in the biggest booze supermarket HiTime Wine (
hitimewine.com ), they had about 8 bitters in total. Now there are two
full shelves, maybe over 40. The vermouth shelf had about 12, now it's
stwo full shelves, again probably over 40.