New liquor store Gibby’s Bottle Shop has deep West Ashley roots
by Lorne Chambers | Editor
For years local bourbon enthusiasts have been making the drive up Interstate 26 to Gibby’s Bottle Shop in Orangeburg for one of the best bourbon selections in the Southeast. Known for having unique single barrel offerings, Gibby’s has built relationships with many of the top distilleries and is able to get the sought-after private store picks that make bourbon aficianados and collectors drool.
Gibby’s has been so successful in Orangeburg that they also have opened bottle shops in Bamburg, St. George, and now West Ashley. Gibby’s Bottle Shop just opened its fourth store in the space that was formerly home to Wonder Works in the St. Andrew’s Center next to Harris Teeter on Savannah Highway.
For owner Calen Gibson, the opening of this store holds special meaning because it also represents a homecoming. Gibson’s father, who opened the first Gibby’s Bottle Shop, was a Middleton High grad who worked for more than 20 years as the chef at the Mill’s House downtown.
“Being from West Ashley, all my friends and family are here,” says Gibson, who graduated from West Ashley High School. “Since I left I’ve been working my way back slowly trying to put myself in a situation that would allow us to move ourselves and business here.”
Gibson says Gibby’s Bottle Shop is different than other liquor stores, not only because of the large amount of single barrel bourbon store picks, but because of their customer service.
“We built our business on our products and customer service, our job is not to get you out of the door but to make sure you’re happy and informed when you get home because our name is and business is what would get the backlash,” says Gibson. “We treat all of our wholesale clients the same. I grew up in food and bev in Charleston, so I know what it’s like trying to run a small business … on that side of the spectrum, service, dependability, and dollars count more than most people realize.”
When opening a new store, Gibson looks not just at selection, but at the entire shopping experience and how to make it best for the customer.
“We make a fun, safe, visible, well-lit environment for everyone including your kids and -four-legged children (which are welcome in Gibbys),” says Gibson. “Lastly and certainly not least, we price honestly. Customers have and will never find overpriced products on our shelves from our extensive wines to bourbon and tequila.”
This is music to the ears of local bourbon hunters who have grown weary of being price-gauged by local liquor stores. With the demand for rare bourbon reaching an all-time high, a lot of mom & pop stores have resorted to raising the prices for harder-to-find bourbons, sometimes asking two or three times what the retail price should be. That’s something that Gibby’s doesn’t do. Gibson knows that in order to compete with the big box retailers he has to offer something unique and at a fair price.
“The barrel picks give us as little guys a chance to be exclusive in the bourbon, tequila, and rum world. We have been doing ‘store picks’ of bourbon since 2017 and tequila since 2018,” says Gibson. “Gibby’s barrel picks have generated such a following—between the exclusivity and taste, which we get right … most of the time.”
When a store does a “barrel pick” the distillery typically supplies it with several samples from different barrels. Each barrel will have a different taste based on a variety of factors, ranging from climate to where it was actually stored in the rickhouse. So the store’s designated taster(s) must then choose the best of the bunch. Then that specific barrel is purchased by the store and the distillery bottles it exclusively for that store. So the “store picks” are something bourbon hunters clamor after because of their uniqueness.
“Store Pick single barrels started slow, back when we got our first barrel of Elijah Craig it wasn’t ‘cool’ like it is now. This year, however, I believe we have over 20 barrels of bourbon and tequila scheduled, which we are ecstatic about having the opportunity for!”
James Island resident Kevin Dawson, who runs the South Carolina Bourbon Club (SCBC), is excited to have a Gibby’s Bottle Shop here in town.
“Many of our Lowcountry members have been driving to Gibby’s out-of-town stores for years,” says Dawson. “So to now have a Gibby Bottle Shop right here in Charleston is a big deal. They really go above and beyond with their barrel picks, which is something our club really enjoys because each one is unique and Gibby’s does a good job picking the right barrel.”
Between SCBC and growing up in West Ashley, Gibson says he is humbled to already have a built-in customer base for the new store.
“It’s a little bit of a homecoming, if you will,” says Gibson. “And coming home to do what I love is even better.”.
Gibby’s Bottle Shop is located at 975 Savannah Hwy Suite 139 in the St Andrews Center. For more information, call (843) 628-1614 or visit gibbysbottleshop.business.site.
