Fine Spirits And Liquors: The Hooch Project By Nicolas Palazzi

Do you ever look at a fancy spirits menu–the kind inviting you to spend double digits on a single glass of booze–and wonder, who orders this stuff, anyway?

So do we. Problem is, most of those blue-chip pours are seriously delicious, so we're left with a quandary: spend our cash on cab fare for the week or an ounce of something sublime that's been aging longer than we have?

Fortunately, spirits importer Nicolas Palazzi has a solution to the dilemma–750 milliliters at a time. Every other week, usually on Tuesday nights, he cracks open a bottle of something enviable. He calls his mission "The Hooch Project," and it consists of him serving one-ounce pours–at cost–until the bottle's empty.

A list of past offerings reads like a plutocrat's primer on whiskey: Talisker 30-year-old Scotch ($9), Parker's Heritage Collection 27-year-old bourbon ($6) and McCarthy's Oregon single-malt whiskey ($3). Next up: Herradura Seleccion Suprema extra-añejo tequila and some Glenfarclas 175th-anniversary Scotch that he snagged abroad.

The best part: You're free to nurse your ounce in grateful silence. But if you feel like digging into the finer points of agave terroir or cask finishing, Palazzi is happy to join you for a chat.

Just don't be late: When the first 24 pours are gone, the party's over.

To learn about upcoming tastings, send an e-mail to Nicolas Palazzi at nicolas@npalazziwine.com