Speaking of Crystal Skulls

Published October 20, 2011 | By RottenOne

I just had an encounter with Dan Aykroyd and the local beverage shop. He probably knows more about spirits than anyone, both figuratively and literally. Here was down here for a signing of his Crystal Head Vodka so naturally I had to go. The shop was about 10 minutes down the road and I’m a sucker for drinking liquor out of a skull.

The line was massive, Dan was very pleasant and I hope the vodka is equally so. Anyway, here is my collection of spirits, all of which are signed (except the tiny ones, they are just too small) with two of them being personalized.

Cheers!

I had a million things going on yesterday so I barely got to say anything about this event. Here is a news article that gives some of the highlights, including several fans dressed as Ghostbusters. I actually got pictures of these guys and their car. Nice job guys!

Actor Dan Aykroyd greeted by hundreds of fans in Fort Mill

So what was it like?

I showed up at Frugal’s just before 12:30 and there were already well over a hundred people in line. It took nearly two hours just to get inside. I thought I was waiting for some damn ride at DisneyLand. We were right across the street from Carowinds, so … Once inside it took another 30 minutes to actually meet the man. But, once I got up there I found he was very generous and seemed genuinely excited to be there. (why does this sound like I’m meeting Santa?) There was a lot of chaos as his staff kept unboxing and chucking bottles at him to sign. He’d sign one, toss it to the side, then wait for another. Amidst all this confusion, he had no problem taking pictures, saying movie quotes and signing other things besides bottles (you would not believe how many Blue Brothers DVDs showed up). As you see in the picture, I bought two of the big bottles and two of the medium bottles (I got the mini bottles as I left the store). He signed all of them and took a moment to personalize the big bottles. One is signed for me and one for my father in-law who’s also a big fan.

By the time I got out of the store with all my bottles and back to the car it was 2:30. He was only supposed to be there until 3, but there was at least 300 people still standing in line (there might have been more, I didn’t want to go wandering around with all that liquor and get mugged). I can only guess he stuck around and signed some more bottles. The article states they sold about 600 bottles that day. I think that might be a little low. I saw dozens of people walking out of there with a case of 6 bottles. It was rare for someone to buy just one bottle. After standing in line that long, you need to make it worth the effort.

But it was a good time and Dan was a very friendly guy. I’d love to sit down and talk with him about making vodka and the paranormal.

So how is the Vodka itself? Well, I’m not a huge Vodka drinker. I went down there to meet Dan, get an autograph and get some bottles that cool as hell. That being said, I thought the Vodka was very good. I put it in the freezer to chill it down and drank it straight. It was very smooth and was quite enjoyable as a sipping Vodka. I have to say I’m impressed. It’s not just some crap liquor he’s put his name on, it’s actually an enjoyable drink that’s worth the price. Even Donna thought it was smooth and drinkable.

Standing in line was boring as hell, but overall it was a good time. Like I said, Mr. Aykroyd was very pleasant the Vodka was quite pleasing. It was certainly worth the effort. If you’re in the Carolinas, you have one more chance to meet him today. If not, he’s got several more stops on his tour (damn he does sound like Santa Claus doesn’t he?) so maybe you can catch him at one of those.

Speaking of Crystal Skulls

Other Articles of Interest:

Leave a Reply Cancel reply