Jamie Boudreau—formerly of Vancouver, BC’s Daniel Boulud restaurant Lumiere (he still says “about” funny) and Vessel downtown, both now closed—is finally opening his own bar: Canon Whiskey and Bitters Emporium. He hopes it'll happen this weekend; he's waiting on getting wine and beer, which, for a man completely fixated on liquor, must be painful. Last night, there was a preview.

Canon is where Licorous used to be, and the Upscale Barbie Dream Date decor has been replaced with dark upholstery, an antique cash register, a bar stained with Angostura bitters (on purpose), and such an extensive and beautiful liquor collection, it’s somewhat unbelievable. Shelves upon shelves of bottles glow alluringly—there must be tens of thousands of dollars of liquor, with more on the way. As Boudreau put it, he wants his patrons to be “ensconced in booze.” To that end, a 100-drink menu-book is soon going to the printer; barrel-aged cocktails will be served in glass flasks; and punch bowls will be available to tables. The Great Gatsby is in the house. The ice cubes will, surely, be perfect.

Boudreau was, I believe, the first barkeep in Seattle to give each cocktail on his menu a date, a place of origin, and a composer as available, back at Vessel in 2006. He was also the first barkeep to lecture me about vodka (look—everybody's doing it now!)—he told me that same year that vodka lacks complexity, is "for amateurs," and lies beneath consideration, and that it would not now nor ever appear on his cocktail menu. He said this with more charm than you would think possible; he's a charming man. And I think I read somewhere that he said at Canon, he wasn't going to be a vodka totalitarian (you can go try to order a vodka drink when it opens and see).

Canon is going to be the new, arguably ridiculous, arguably great pinnacle of Seattle cocktail culture.