Women, I’d been told, are the fastest growing segment of Bourbon drinkers. My friend Patti and I were doing our part for our gender as we sampled our way through northern Kentucky. But men have a special niche in the Bourbon world as collectors of rare bottles. They’re often affectionately called ‶dusties″ (the bottles, not the collectors).

Brad Bonds (at left above) is just such a guy. In 2020 he turned his avocation into a business by launching the Revival Vintage Bottle Shop (5 East 8th Street, 859-479-2676, revivalky.com) in Covington.

‶I think all the best stuff has already been made,″ he insisted to Patti and me when we stopped in at his storefront. Contrary to the nickname, there wasn’t a speck of dust in sight. Immaculate bottles filled shelf after shelf and vied for space on many a countertop. Some were the makers’ typical bottles while many others were such fanciful ‶figurines″ as elephants and donkeys (in election years), dogs, fish, a castle, or even an Indianapolis Speedway commemorative. Distillers came up with such novelties to boost sales during Bourbon’s slow years.

Bonds, who noted that many of his bottles are older than he is, doesn’t need gimmicks to appreciate vintage Bourbon. ‶Newer spirits are like McDonald’s food. Vintage spirits are like going to grandma’s house for a meal made from scratch,″ he said. ‶You can’t remake old whiskey. It’s a time capsule of a time and place that doesn’t exist any more.″

COLLECTIBLE BOURBONS PRESERVE A TASTE OF THE PAST

Bonds also clearly relishes the hunt and his status as ‶the only liquor store in the country that doesn’t deal with distributors.″ He likens his business model to a cross between the television series American Pickers and Pawn Stars. Between estate sales and auctions and people calling or walking in off the street with a few bottles in tow, Bonds said that there is no shortage of dusty bottles. ‶We buy directly from the public’s basement,″ he said, ‶and then sell back to the public to put back in their basement.″ Although he focuses on old Bourbons, old Scotch, gin, rye and vodka bottles also appear on the shelves along with a curated selection of new Bourbons.

Bonds stressed that he is not creating a museum. Those bottles aren’t going to gather dust. He prefers to share his finds with the public and make new converts to the world of vintage spirits. The serious collector can find mid-1950s Old Grand-Dad selling for a little under $2,000. But more modestly priced old bottles of Jim Beam are the shop’s best sellers.

‶They are an eye-opening way to start out,″ Bonds said.

In fact, he offers a $5 pour of a Jim Beam from the 1970s every day that he is open (usually Wednesday through Sunday). Sippers might prefer a selection of four one-half ounce pours. ‶You get to taste history,″ Bonds said. ‶I want to find the most rare taste and open it up and share it with people.″