Finding Out-of-the-ordinary Spirits in Louisville

Last week in Nashville we discovered a delightful (and nearly impossible to find) speakeasy called The Patterson House - great small plates and spectacular cocktails. The mixologist makes her own bitters, uses unusual ingredients, and does everything with a subdued flair. I had an amazing Manhattan, whose ingredients I copied so I could try to reproduce it at home (she used Dolin dry vermouth, Fernet Branca, Apernol. My wife's drink had some other interesting ingredients). What I'm wondering is where the best places are in Louisville to find those out-of-the-way spirits. I can wander between the big boys - Liquor Barn, Party Mart - and the select shops like Wine Merchant, Old Town, Gemelli, but I can't figure out where the go-to place is for difficult finds.

Ken, when 732 Social was open (sadly, now closed) they were known for some really interesting and innovative cocktails. Actually, 3-4 of the places on E. Market have very knowledgeable & innovative bartenders. And some have said that the new St. Charles Exchange might pick up 732's mantle.
I know the guys at The Blind Pig have come up with some pretty odd looking concoctions!!
But one place that might be well off of most folks' radars could be the bars @ The Brown and @ The Seelbach....serious tradition going on there!

St Charles Exchange has a large and delicious selection of bitters available- I think I've tried most of them, dandilion, burdock, celery etc and rhe only one I wasn't fond of was the chili bitters- it was odd drinking a soda with a kick.

Your best bet is to go with size...

Beverage Warehouse on Hurstbourne Ln is the monster. If they don't have it, they will order it (if it can be had.)

Otherwise, you will have to purchase online.

Hope that helps!

(St Charles has the Dandelion and Burdock Bitters? I guess I'm not the only one, anymore- boo...)

I guess I shouldn't have started with the Nashville reference. I know there are great things going on in bars here in town - I just was jarred by that experience into wanting to do a little mixing myself and having the weirder things around. One thing I've noticed is that there aren't a lot of interesting vermouths at the places I go, though I stumbled on a bottle of Carpano Antica at Old Town (crazy way to sell it - in a huge bottle that requires making two or three Manhattans every night before it goes off! It's great, though).

Anyone have suggestions for surprisingly good, uncommon spirits - that you know where to find?

Ken,
Westport Whiskey & WIne has a nice selection of "out-of-the-ordinary" spirits. They have much of the Haus Alpenz line http://www.alpenz.com , which includes many interesting items carried in the places mentioned in this thread. They also have the Bitterman's line of bitters. If you favor vermouth, try the Dolin Vermouths, or the Cochi Turino. They have gone out of their way to have those hard to find items that are in many of the establishments that have a serious bar program. Tempus Fugit is the next line of specialty spirits hitting Louisville later this week. http://www.tempusfugitspirits.com

Boom!

I was going to make a post about calling Thomas and having him direct you to these spirits.

This will keep you busy- for quite a long while, friend...

Fantastic. Thanks, guys. I've only been to Westport once... and came away with some great things. I should have thought of that!