While there’s an undeniable luxury to sitting back in a beautiful cocktail bar and having a bartender make you a fabulous cocktail, it’s often even more fun to build up your own home bar. Whether you’re looking to wow your friends or just to have a library of fine drinks for your own enjoyment, there’s a real satisfaction in elevating your spirits selection to include all of your favorites. And once you’re armed with the bottles you want, you can get creative, mixing and combining those spirits in new ways and seeing how you can combine and enhance different flavors in new ways.
However, setting up a home bar takes time and can be expensive. We wouldn’t recommend that you rush out and buy multiple bottles of spirits all at once — for a start, it’s too much outlay all and once, and more importantly, you want to take your time to consider and explore your options before choosing the best selection of spirits to help you make the drinks that you want to enjoy. If you’re willing to be patient, you can not only make better choices but you can also keep an eye out for some good deals to help you save a bit as you stock up your home bar.
An online shop like Total Wine makes it easy to get your hands on a wide range of specialty and commercial spirits, and online retailers often have some great deals on to help you score a good price too. But these deals are endlessly revolving, so you need to keep a sharp eye out if you’re hoping to score a particular brand or style. If this is all sounding like a lot of work then we’re here to help. I’ve been mixing cocktails for friends and building up my home bar for nearly 10 years, and I’ve combed through the deals available today to pull out my favorites to get you drinking something special, something tasty, and something interesting.
WhistlePig 10 Year Private Rye Barrel Select
A luxury rye whiskey
WhistlePig is a beloved brand, and its range is full of gems that every whiskey lover will want to try. Its offerings aren’t cheap though, so it’s worth snapping up a discount when you can find them. This 10 year aged single barrel rye whiskey is currently on offer for under $100, making it a great chance to try out a high-quality rye whiskey. It’s a traditionally American type of whiskey, leaning toward notes of caramel and vanilla, with the spiciness you’d expect from rye.
Frankly, it would be a crime to mix this or put it in a cocktail — this is a whiskey to enjoy neat. With or without water or ice as you prefer, but it has plenty of complexity and interest to enjoy it just as it is. At 106 proof it’s classified as a cask strength, bringing extra heft and flavor, and the single barrel aging means you can experience the distinct qualities that come from ten long years spent soaking up notes from its barrel.
If you’re already a rye fan, you undoubtedly know this brand already. But if your experience in whiskey has run more to the Scotch side of things and you’re looking to branch out and try some high quality American-style whiskeys, then this is a great place to start. A sippable, complex, smooth whiskey that’s sure to please.
3 Amigos Anejo Tequila
An affordable sipping tequila
We recently covered a selection of the best tequilas for sipping, and while there are a ton of great options out there (including those on our list), they do tend to run pricey. But if you’re just getting into tequila and want to try something sippable that’s more within budget, then the discount on this 3 Amigos Anejo Tequila makes it a great starting point. As an añejo style of tequila it has been aged in American White Oak barrels to deepen its flavor and color, adding woody and vanilla notes to the peppery agave spirit.
Though it’s only 40% abv, it does have a hefty wack of alcohol on the nose and on the palate, so it’s not for the faint hearted. But there is interest here too, with oaky, smokey notes and a spicy, warm flavor in the mouth. It’s of course 100% blue Weber agave — no mixtos here — so this is a considerable step up in quality compared to the typical tequilas you’ll find in most bars. It’s a great entry into sipping tequilas, but you could have some fun mixing it too. It would make a mighty margarita if that’s your preferred tequila cocktail — but please, don’t use a prepackaged margarita mix. This spirit deserves freshly squeezed lime juice and proper Cointreau, with a dash of sugar syrup added if you have a sweet tooth.
Ginarte Dry Gin
For a classic G&T
One of the great things about gin is how variable it is. You take a base spirit, you add in some juniper — and then you follow your heart. Gin can be flavored with anything from fruits to vegetables to herbs and spices, and every combination brings its own unique character. It also doesn’t require aging, unlike other spirits like whiskey and tequila, so it’s relatively easy for small, local brands to pop up and start producing their own gin. That means the variety of gins on the market is absolutely massive, and practically anywhere you visit, you can find someone making gin using local ingredients.
One example of that fun local character of gins is Ginarte, an Italian brand which showcases locally grown juniper berries from Tuscany. As well as the essential juniper, this gin also features botanicals including lavender, hibiscus, and elderflower, making this a heavily floral-leaning flavor. It isn’t all flowery though as there’s also pine to give it a sharper, grassy edge and to keep it in balance. It also comes in a gorgeous bottle that pays homage to the one and only Frida Kahlo.
For a very reasonable price you can get a gin which will make the perfect gin and tonic. I’d choose Fever Tree’s Premium Indian tonic water to go with it for its dry, savory qualities, but if you prefer something a little sweeter and you really love your florals then Fever Tree’s Mediterranean tonic water would be a delicious choice as well. Add a squeeze of lemon and throw in a couple of dried juniper berries and you’ll have the scents and flavors of Italy right in your glass.
Cheritelli Maraschino Liqueur
For the cocktail enthusiast
As anyone who has gotten into mixing cocktails at home can tell you, building up a home bar is a time-consuming and expensive endeavor. On top of your standard spirits like vodka, whiskey, gin, light and dark rum, and tequila, you’ll also find yourself searching out a wide range of liqueurs and extras like Cointreau, St. Germain, Chartreuse and a variety of amaros, not to mention the bitters, syrups, garnishes, and other additions you need to make your favorite cocktails. There’s a seemingly never-ending list of bottles to add to your bar, so it’s handy to grab some of the most unusual or rarely seen options when they are available, and especially if they’re on sale.
That’s why our last choice for today might be an unexpected one. Marachino liqueur is an Italian staple made from cherries, though its flavor leans more toward the almond than the fruity. It’s syrupy, sweet, sharp, and funky, and trust me, under no circumstances do you ever want to drink this neat. However, it is an invaluable cocktail ingredient that will expand the range of drinks you can make at home to include some truly interesting options.
You’ll find a use for Maraschino in classic cocktails like the Aviation, which is a unique violet and cherry combination using gin, Maraschino, lemon juice, and creme de Violette that looks as distinctive as it tastes due to the purple-blue color of the violets, or the beloved Last Word, a spicy, complex combination of gin, Maraschino, green Chartreuse, and lime. The Last Word is not only a classic in its own right but also a template for infinite variations, as an equals parts drink which is tremendously adaptable. With a bottle of Maraschino in hand, you can mix of virtually limitless combinations of spirit, citrus, and liqueur and have a new taste experience every time.
The classic Maraschino liqueur is by Luxardo, but as the craft cocktail boom has continued to expand and more people are stocking unusual but handy mixing liqueurs at home, there’s a wider range of brands to try from. This offering comes from Cheritelli, which is also an Italian brand, and is similar in terms of abv and ingredients. The alternatives to Luxardo tend to be a bit less punchy, but that might not be a bad thing if you prefer a more subtle note of cherry and almond in your drinks rather than an in-your-face whack. Pick this bottle up while it’s on sale and get experimenting.
