Old Lightning Is Back, With Rare Spirits For an Experience Unlike Any Other in L.A.
Maybe you’re a liquor history buff, or perhaps you’re just looking to impress your date with a $2,000 pour of an elusive 25-year-old bourbon. Either way, your destination should be Old Lightning, the bar hidden behind Scopa Italian Roots in Venice, which recently reopened after a long, pandemic-induced hiatus. Known for its coveted collection of over 1,000 rare and vintage spirits, Old Lightning is finally back, and better than ever.
The speakeasy didn’t have a website pre-pandemic, though it did enforce a strict leave-your-phone-at-the-door policy. Today, online reservations are not only available but required, and the bar has dropped its no-phone policy (though they still kindly request that you refrain from flash photos or live streaming). To mark the occasion, we had to ask: how does one cocktail bar come to possess so many nearly impossible-to-get-your-hands-on bottles?
Owners Pablo Moix and Steve Livigni have been collecting rare bottles and vintage glassware for over two decades. Hunting for those “dusties,” as rare bottles are called, has taken Moix, Livigni, and the bar’s director of operations, Marco Ramos, on some “epic” adventures to unlikely places, including estate sales in Pasadena and liquor stores all over the San Fernando Valley. “You know those really dusty bottles on the bottom shelf that no one’s ever touched?” asks Ramos. “That’s where we’ve found some of our jewels.” The team, as such, occasionally finds themselves in hairy situations, which means they can’t disclose all the juicy details, but they did share a little about their procurement quests.
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Exhibit A: an adventure to find a circa-1960s bourbon bottle produced in Juárez, Mexico. “We went to Tijuana looking for vintage Tequila, and we were let into an old abandoned liquor store,” Ramos says. “But instead, we found Mexican whiskey, produced by Waterfill & Frazier, which was one of the major whiskies being smuggled across the border during Prohibition.”
If you’re looking to experience the type of whiskey your grandparents might have enjoyed, Ramos and his staff can bring out their vintage Tijuana finds for a side-by-side comparison alongside a similarly aged Jim Beam. It’s worth noting that the ’60s-era Beam and the Beam produced today are two completely separate recipes. “Two different sets of hands made these spirits, and when you try them, you might understand why your grandparents loved it back then,” Ramos says.
No two guests have the same experience at the bar — the magic of Old Lightning is that the staff tailors each experience to meet your specific interests. For example, if you’re a Chartreuse nerd, choose from two vintage bottles — one from 1964 and one from 1970 — as well as more recently produced versions. Considering the recent uptick in Chartreuse popularity — and the decision by the Carthusian monks who make the spirit to cap production a few years ago — it can be difficult to find newer bottles, let alone vintage ones.
Old Lightning offers the opportunity to taste several bottles at once. “Only two people know the recipe: the master and the apprentice,” explains Ramos. “When the master passes away, the apprentice steps in, and eventually he gets his own apprentice. Over time, the recipe changes a bit. So you can see the difference between 1960s Chartreuse and today’s Chartreuse in terms of color, flavor, and how the spirit drinks.”
About that $2,000-a-pour bourbon: Old Lightning is one of very few places that was able to get a bottle of the rare and coveted 25-year-old single barrel Pappy Van Winkle. Only three bottles of Pappy were allocated to Southern California, and Old Lightning got one. “It was a bit challenging because several liquor store owners made a huge fuss, saying, ‘How come they got the bottle and we didn’t?'” says Ramos. (A second bottle was purchased by the distributor, who hosted a special dinner at Old Lightning for the disgruntled liquor store owners.)
If straight-up spirits aren’t your thing, but cocktails are, fear not. The Old Lightning bartenders painstakingly recreate vintage cocktails to match the intention of the person who originally created the recipe. For a while, they were offering a 1970s margarita, made with Jose Cuervo and Cointreau from the decade itself, using the recipe from an era-appropriate advertisement that’s hanging on the wall. Today, there’s a Garibaldi cocktail made with Campari from the 1960s. That same Campari finds its way into other classic cocktails, including a Boulevardier made with Old Grand-Dad bourbon whiskey from 1971, a Negroni made with Bombay Dry 1967, and an Old Pal made with Jim Beam White Label Rye from 1969.
Ramos asks that you approach a night at Old Lightning as you would a tasting menu: come in with an open mind and a set budget. Let the staff know if there’s something that you absolutely must have, and from there, Ramos and his crew “will show you things that were either made in a different era, things that you’ve never seen before, or things that you might never be able to try again.” All you have to do is sink into the custom Mid-Century furniture, admire the vintage glassware and tiki collection, and absorb the liquor lore while enjoying your very rare tipple.
Erin Mosbaugh is a food and travel writer from West L.A. who has worked in kitchens in New York and L.A. and co-created the James Beard Award-winning food site First We Feast. Follow her on Instagram and TikTok; follow Resy, too.
