Those in the Western Addition/Nopa/Divisadero 'hood may already be familiar with the surprisingly nice booze selection and deep bourbon catalogue at Save-More Market, a few steps up from Little Star Pizza at 1598 McAllister Street, on the Divisadero corner opposite Green Earth Natural Foods. But even nearby locals may not be aware, given how dusty, dimly lit, and nondescript the store appears to be, especially by comparison to the more brightly lit Green Earth and another convenience grocer and liquor store, the kitty-corner Transfer Market at 861 Divisadero. Thus the Chronicle's Jonathan Kauffman saw fit this week to call out the "superlative stash" of bourbons that have been collected by Save-More store owner Sam Salfiti, who explains that to compete with the two other stores in the same intersection, he decided he would need to specialize.

Citing the bourbon boom that he saw happening around San Francisco about a decade ago, he tells the Chronicle, "I figured we were going to do it different. A little more high end, a bigger selection."

His shelves are packed with labels like Buffalo Trace, High West, and George Dickel, with multiple high-end and aged varieties of each. Salfiti has also taken to attending Whiskey Fest each year when it comes to San Francisco, and he's now become a bit of a whiskey aficionado, traveling to Kentucky to tour distilleries, and buying exclusive single-barrel bottlings that he sells out of the market in the section marked Sam’s Private Whiskey Collection — a big hit with local in-the-know whiskey mavens.

And perhaps this is evidence of the ever-heightening, Valencia-fication of Divisadero: Salfiti's found a market for some decidedly high-end booze of other sorts in addition to the cheaper bottles you'd expect to find at a corner market — including bottles of anejo mezcal north of $100.

It's funny that Save-More has flown under the radar this long, but once you see the store you may know why — it's not necessarily drawing a ton of clientele for the rest of its stock. Meanwhile, Healthy Spirits, the corner-store bourbon and beer specialists, have three well regarded locations at the edge of the Castro, in the Richmond, and Bernal Heights, and the Outer Richmond also is home to the unassuming Bourbon County, which boasts a couple of bottles of the cult-famous Pappy Van Winkle priced over $1000, and kept in a special glass case in back.