Spirits

Melbourne, Victoria

Starward Whisky Negroni

We stock it because Starward's Two-Fold is on our whisky shelf and this is what the distillery does with it, and because at 500 mL it is the pouring format of a drink we otherwise only sell one can at a time.

500 mL32.0%12.6 std

Melbourne, Victoria

Curatif Tommy's Margarita Cans 130mL

We stock it because a Margarita made properly is three ingredients and no sugar syrup, and this is the only canned one on our shelf that reads that way.

130 mL22.0%2.3 std

Melbourne, Victoria

Curatif Negroni Cans 130ml

We stock it because it is built from spirits we sell separately, so you can taste the parts against the whole, and because the strength is on the front of the can rather than buried.

140 mL24.0%2.7 std

Catano · Puerto Rico

Bacardi Carta Blanca

We stock it because a range that carries only obscure bottles is making a point rather than serving customers, and because plenty of people know exactly what they want.

700 mL37.5%20.7 std

Santa Cruz del Norte · Cuba

Havana Club Anejo 3 Anos

We stock it because the drink it was designed for is two ingredients and a lime, and it does not come together properly with an unaged rum.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Demerara · Guyana

El Dorado 15 Year Old

We stock it because it is the Demerara most people should try second, once the 12 has explained what the style is doing.

700 mL43.0%23.7 std

Tintenbar, New South Wales

Winding Road Cane Spirit

We stock it because it tastes like the place it is from, which is the whole argument for buying local spirits rather than the label on the front.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Tumbulgum, New South Wales

Husk Bam Bam Rum

We stock it because it is grown, pressed and distilled in one place in northern New South Wales, and there are very few spirits in this country you can say that about.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Barbados, Jamaica & Trinidad · Caribbean

Plantation 3 Stars White Rum

We stock it because the extra strength is the difference between a cocktail that tastes of rum and one that tastes of lime, and because it is the most useful white rum on the shelf.

700 mL41.2%22.8 std

Quetzaltenango · Guatemala

Ron Zacapa Centenario Solera Gran Reserva Rum 700mL

We stock it because it is the rum most often given as a gift in this country, and because someone should tell you what the 23 actually means.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Demerara · Guyana

El Dorado 12 Year Old

We stock it because those stills cannot be replicated, and a range this small should carry at least one thing that genuinely exists nowhere else.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Bundaberg, Queensland

Bundaberg Master Distillers Collection Small Batch Rum 700mL

We stock it because the gap between this and the Original is the clearest lesson in what barrel time does, and both are on the shelf to compare.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Lara · Venezuela

Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva

We stock it because it is the bottle that converts whisky drinkers, and because being straight about the sweetening is the difference between selling someone a rum and selling them a surprise.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Saint Lucy · Barbados

Mount Gay Black Barrel 43% 700ml

We stock it because it is the rum that makes a good Old Fashioned without pretending to be whisky, and because 43% means it survives ice.

700 mL43.0%23.7 std

Clarendon & Long Pond · Jamaica

Plantation Xaymaca Special Dry

We stock it because it is loud, dry Jamaican rum at a fair price, and because the no-dosage decision is stated on the bottle rather than buried.

700 mL43.0%23.7 std

Nassau Valley · Jamaica

Appleton Estate 12 Year Old Rare Casks

We stock it because it is the bottle that answers the question of whether rum belongs in a glass on its own, and it answers it without costing what a comparable whisky would.

700 mL43.0%23.7 std

Nassau Valley · Jamaica

Appleton Estate Signature Blend

We stock it because it is the clearest inexpensive lesson in what pot still character actually tastes like, and because Joy Spence has been blending it since 1997.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Bundaberg, Queensland

Bundaberg Original Rum

We stock it because a shop selling only bottles you have to have explained to you is making a point rather than serving anyone, and because it sits three shelves from Beenleigh and Husk, which is the most useful comparison in the category.

700 mL37.0%20.4 std

Islay · Scotland

The Botanist Islay Dry Gin

We stock it because it is a whisky distillery's gin and it shows - more texture and weight than the category usually carries, and it rewards being drunk on its own.

700 mL46.0%25.4 std

London · England

Tanqueray No. TEN Gin

We stock it because it is the bottle that proves what fresh fruit does in a still, and because it makes a Martini that needs nothing else.

700 mL47.3%26.1 std

London · England

Tanqueray London Dry Gin

We stock it because a shelf of contemporary gins needs a reference point, and this is it - the bottle everything else is measured against.

700 mL43.1%23.8 std

McLaren Vale, South Australia

Never Never Southern Strength Gin

We stock it because it is the Australian answer to a navy strength, and because at this proof it survives being stirred over ice for a full minute.

500 mL52.0%20.5 std

McLaren Vale, South Australia

Never Never Triple Juniper Gin

We stock it because someone who says they like gin usually means they like juniper, and this is the most juniper on the shelf.

500 mL43.0%17.0 std

Yarra Valley, Victoria

Melbourne Gin Company Dry Gin

We stock it because separate distillation of every botanical is slow, costly work for a distillery this small, and it never gets the attention the bigger Victorian names do.

700 mL42.0%23.2 std

Osaka · Japan

Roku Japanese Craft Gin

We stock it because Suntory's blending discipline is obvious in it, and because the sansho pepper on the finish is unlike anything else here.

700 mL43.0%23.7 std

Sydney, New South Wales

Poor Toms Sydney Dry Gin

We stock it because it is the local bottle we most often see people come back for, and because it is the gin to hand someone who thinks they do not like gin.

700 mL41.6%23.0 std

Black Forest · Germany

Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin

We stock it because it is the most complicated gin most people will ever drink, and because the resting step is unusual enough to be worth explaining.

500 mL47.0%18.5 std

Sydney, New South Wales

Manly Spirits Australian Dry Gin

We stock it because the marine botanicals are a real point of difference rather than a story, and because it is another Sydney bottle worth the shelf space.

700 mL43.0%23.7 std

Girvan, Ayrshire · Scotland

Hendrick's Gin

We stock it because it opened the door for every flavour-forward gin that followed, and because the cucumber is still the easiest way to show someone that gin is not one thing.

700 mL41.4%22.9 std

London · England

Gordon's London Dry Gin

We stock it because a great many people know exactly what they want and it is this, and because a shop that only sells bottles you have to have explained to you is making a point rather than serving anyone.

700 mL37.2%20.5 std

Yarra Valley, Victoria

Four Pillars Olive Leaf Gin

We stock it because a good Martini gin is a specific thing, and most shelves do not carry one that was designed for the job.

700 mL43.8%24.2 std

Tumbulgum, New South Wales

Ink Gin

We stock it because the colour change is genuine chemistry rather than a dye, and because the gin holds up after the novelty wears off.

700 mL43.0%23.7 std

Vilanova i la Geltru, Catalonia · Spain

Gin Mare Mediterranean Gin

We stock it because it is the most polarising bottle in the category, and because the people who like it do not want anything else.

700 mL42.7%23.6 std

Girvan, Ayrshire · Scotland

Hendrick's Neptunia Gin

We stock it because it is the Hendrick's variant that actually goes somewhere different, and because a salty gin is a genuinely useful thing behind a bar.

700 mL43.4%24.0 std

Yarra Valley, Victoria

Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin

We stock it because it is a genuinely Australian idea - a gin that could only come from a wine region - and because it is the bottle people buy to give away.

700 mL37.8%20.9 std

Byron Bay, New South Wales

Brookie's Slow Gin

We stock it because it is the rare fruit gin that is not cloying, and because it does the job a sloe gin does without pretending to be English.

700 mL26.0%14.4 std

Sydney, New South Wales

Archie Rose Signature Dry Gin

We stock it because it is made in Rosebery, twenty minutes from this shop, and because separate distillation is a real technique rather than a marketing line.

700 mL42.0%23.2 std

Yarra Valley, Victoria

Four Pillars Navy Strength Gin

We stock it because it is the Australian gin that holds up in a drink with a lot going on, where a 40% gin simply disappears.

700 mL58.8%32.5 std

Laverstoke, Hampshire · England

Bombay Sapphire

We stock it because the vapour basket is a genuine technical difference worth explaining, and because it is the bottle most people picture when they picture gin.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Edinburgh · Scotland

Edinburgh Gin Classic

We stock it because it sits in the gap between the supermarket bottles and the craft ones, which is where a lot of people actually shop, and because at 43% it does not disappear into tonic.

700 mL43.0%23.7 std

Byron Bay, New South Wales

Brookie's Byron Dry Gin

We stock it because the provenance is literal rather than decorative, and because at 46% it has the backbone to sit in a Negroni without vanishing.

700 mL46.0%25.4 std

Sydney, New South Wales

Archie Rose Distiller's Strength Gin

We stock it because it is the Sydney bottle for a drink that needs to hold its shape, and because it is made a short drive from here.

700 mL52.4%28.9 std

Adelaide Hills, South Australia

Applewood Gin

We stock it because it tastes like nowhere else, and because the sourcing behind it is something we are happy to be asked about.

700 mL43.0%23.7 std

Yamazaki, Hakushu & Chita · Japan

Hibiki Japanese Harmony 700ml

We stock it because it is the bottle we hand anyone who says they do not like whisky. Soft, lightly floral, with no smoke and no heat to argue with. The 24-faceted decanter does not hurt when it is going to someone as a gift.

700 mL43.0%23.7 std

Atotonilco el Alto, Jalisco · Mexico

Patrón Añejo Tequila

We stock it because it is the Patrón worth the money. If the Silver is the one people know, this is the one that rewards knowing more.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Los Altos, Jalisco · Mexico

Espolón Tequila Reposado

We stock it because nothing else we carry gives you 100% agave and barrel time at this money. If you make margaritas regularly and want to stop compromising, start here.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Jalisco · Mexico

Sierra Tequila Silver

We stock it because it is honest value and people know it on sight. If you are making a large round of margaritas rather than a considered one, this is the sensible bottle.

700 mL38.0%21.0 std

Amatitán, Jalisco · Mexico

El Jimador Tequila Reposado

We stock it because it is the same sensible proposition as the Blanco with a little more weight, and because it is one of the few reposados at this price that is genuinely 100% agave.

700 mL38.0%21.0 std