Check Out the French Laundry's Pricey New Booze Menu

The French Laundry, now with booze. [Photo: pvsbond/Flickr]

The French Laundry is not the kind of place where any expense is spared, and that ethos translates to their new spirits list, which is chockablock with all kinds of rare stuff that head sommelier Dennis Kelly had to painstakingly source. After nearly two decades of serving only wine and beer, the Laundry got its liquor license back in September (as did Ad Hoc), and while there's no cocktail program, the kind of stuff they carry doesn't really require outside ingredients.

Among the pricey tipples: a 57-year-old Macallan Scotch served in a Lalique crystal glass (at $1,950 for a single drink, it's the most expensive item on the menu), every variety of Pappy Van Winkle ($75-300), Old Fitzgerald from 1950 ($1,750), Jim Beam from 1911 ($1,500), two hundred-year-old Hennessy cognacs bottled to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's coronation and silver jubilee ($950-$1,450), and both green and yellow Chartreuse from the 1940s ($900-950). Check out the full menu here.

"The program is created around the idea of after-dinner drinks, and especially to enjoy with cigars," Kelly told Inside Scoop, and diners will be handed an iPad list with the menu for savoring in the restaurant's garden. If a $2,000 drink isn't your scene, there are also some dessert wines that are more affordable, like a $15 glass of port or a $20 Vouvray. Finally, cigar nerds should note that they're offering quite the selection of those as well, from a $19 Sumatran model to a $595 aged Cuban cigar that dates back to 1868. As it turns out, there are 145-year-old cigars that are still worth smoking, and Thomas Keller and co. will gladly smile as you set six hundred dollars on fire.

· New spirits flow through the French Laundry [Inside Scoop]