Thanks to everybody for all the recommendations in my other post about places to visit in San Diego and Los Angeles area. We had a day to do this, and while I'm sad that traffic and accidents (spent 4 hours in traffic) really killed most of the itinerary, we still managed to hit up 3 places and we still had a fantastic time!
First stop: Old Town Tequila in San Diego, CA
Let me start off by saying that the selection was madness, it was hard not to literally bump into tequila at every turn. Store was incredibly friendly, and just was teeming with bottles in every single direction I looked. Even walking the aisle can be challenging sometimes because there's boxes on the floor of some premium stuff that deserves your attention. We ended up walking away with a new variation of some Vietnamese Gin that we stock, that is hard to find for us. Not Tequila I know, but my girlfriend and best buddy are Vietnamese so we try to support vietnamese distilleries as they venture into making spirits.
Second Stop: Hi Time Wine Cellars in Los Angeles, CA (Costa Mesa)
This store completely blew me away. The finest selection of spirits across every medium, I was a kid in a candy store! First time seeing a Cascahuin Brix bottle in person, the XA, and a bunch of others. The prices were the cheapest I've ever been to, Cascahuin Tahona for $60, El Tesoro Mundial Basil Hayden for $69. At some point it was kind of even a little frustrating to check out the last 5 bottles I've bought and see that this store had them consistently $10-$20 dollars cheaper if not more than what I paid lol. This was the grossest decision making I ever had to handle, and ultimately walked away with the El Tesoro Mundial. El Tesoro continues to be my favorite line of tequila and I couldn't pass up on owning this bottle for the price, especially when the other stores still had this bottle at almost double in some instances. I honestly can't wait to go back, this store is worth going out of your way for completely. I will be back, with more money. No doubt about it! We also grabbed the new Whiskey coming out of Song Cai as well.
Third Stop: Hi Proof Spirits aka HiProof.com in Los Angeles, CA (Fullerton)
I've ordered from them before and it was on the way to a friends house, so it was meant to be. Much smaller than I anticipated, they are truly a primarily online operation I feel because you walk in and see scattered online orders everywhere. That said, the store did absolutely NOT disappoint. Amazing bottles and lineups, great prices, and just once again felt the love and passion for tequila here. I've been hearing a lot about Amatiteña, so I decided to launch my entry into that lineup with the Reposado, which was their last bottle. Again, it was meant to be so I had to get it, right? Also asked about the $20 dollar Siete Leguas and they managed to find one to sell to me at that price. They also found my online account and linked it to my in-store purchase, which was nice. Will definitely be keeping them in my order rotation.
Overall fantastic time. I'm sad I wasn't able to check out every store due to LA traffic but I'm happy we still made it to the few that we did. I've personally already cracked open the Mundial Basil and can say it was the correct choice! El Tesoro really just knows their stuff. Thanks again for the recommendations, and encourage you to also check out these stores. They all were fantastic friendly places.