This Disneyland restaurant is building one of the largest whiskey collections in California

Disneyland is often referred to as the “happiest place on Earth.” If you’re a whiskey fan in Southern California, you might agree. Anyone in that subset probably already knows about Club 33, the legendary members-only watering hole hidden within the park. But much less is reported on the best dishes offered at Napa Rose, and that fine dining establishment is completely open to the public.

Just off the grand lobby of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, beverage director Patrick Kirchen is quietly assembling one of the region’s most extensive whiskey libraries here. It already has more than 170 selections, including bottles as elusive as a 1940 vintage of The Macallan Fine & Rare and liquids as revered as Balvenie 40 Rare Marriages. And it’s just beginning.

Although Napa Rose originally debuted 25 years ago as an upscale destination along the outskirts of the park, it only reopened earlier this year after an extensive remodel. Since then, Kirchen and his bar staff have been deep in a concerted effort to expand the brown spirits portion of the menu to compete with the property’s remarkably extensive wine cellar. Of course, that means more than just unicorn bottles.

“It’s special to have rare bottles like this, which customers know are incredibly difficult to find elsewhere,” Kirchen explains. “But at the same time, we continue to maintain a great accessible collection, offering Macallan 12, 15, 18, 20 and 25, as well as Highland Park 12, 15, 18 and 25 for guests to try. Ultimately, it’s the storytelling that intrigues and excites visitors when they know we have these rare bottles available.”

In fact, simply pointing At $11,250 (1.5 oz) of whiskey on a menu is a good conversation starter between guests and staff. It’s a phenomenon Kirchen observes frequently. “We have quite a few whiskey collectors who visit the hotel, admire our collection and share stories and photographs of their own collections at home,” he says. But for his part, he’s just as happy to see that spark lit with a rookie. “It’s a real gem when guests who know nothing about whiskey come in, learn, try it, and walk away loving it without knowing how much they really enjoyed the whiskey.”

And while the location next to one of the country’s biggest tourist attractions is sure to attract a global audience, Napa Rose is now also starting to attract local whiskey drinkers who aren’t staying overnight and may not even enter Disneyland. They’re not interested in anything more than, say, a reasonably priced dram of Michter’s 10 Bourbon, an orange wine barrel-finished American whiskey bottled specifically for the bar, or (Kirchen’s personal favorite) a barrel-strong expression of Olde St. Nick’s Harvest Rye. Or even a Sequoia Skyline, a whiskey cocktail with real redwood smoke.

Napa Rose is doing its part to attract more of these people with the rise of whiskey pairing dinners, which will feature distillers from some of the world’s most famous brands. The series is scheduled to begin later this year. But in the meantime, he’ll keep hunting for the next unicorn for the back bar.

“A rare one we’re still looking for is Port Ellen’s Ghost & Rare 40 Year Old, distilled before the legendary Islay distillery closed in 1983,” he says. Forbes. The ongoing procurement process is one he assigns to “patience, partnering with the right people, doing your homework and research, and knowing what the trends are in the world.”

It certainly helps to have the purchasing power of Disney behind you when working with major whiskey distributors, too. However, they are never guaranteed to release supremely allocated expressions. A place has to demonstrate that it is a place where a liquid like that will be respected and periodically depleted. Napa Rose is doing just that. “Resellers expand their vision of the hotel in a very positive way,” adds Kirchen, “they understand that we want to offer even more to our guests.”

In other words, whether you come here to enjoy a theme park or a 32-year-old single malt, you’re guaranteed a wild ride either way.