Spirits

Amatitán, Jalisco · Mexico

El Jimador Tequila Blanco

We stock it because it is the everyday 100% agave bottle - no mixto shortcuts, no premium pricing, nothing to apologise for in a margarita.

700 mL38.0%21.0 std

Jalisco · Mexico

1800 Cristalino Tequila

We stock it because it is the most interesting thing happening in mainstream tequila, and because it genuinely confuses people in a blind pour, which is a decent recommendation on its own.

700 mL35.0%19.3 std

Jalisco · Mexico

1800 Añejo Tequila

We stock it because añejo is the argument against treating tequila as a shot. This is a bottle to pour into a glass and leave alone.

700 mL38.0%21.0 std

Atotonilco el Alto, Jalisco · Mexico

Patrón XO Cafe Coffee Liqueur

We stock it because it makes a better espresso martini than most things designed for the job, and because dry coffee liqueur is harder to find than it should be.

750 mL35.0%20.7 std

Jalisco, Mexico · Mexico

Tequila Blu

We stock it because there needs to be something between the mixing tequilas and the premium names. Not every tequila customer wants to spend a hundred dollars.

700 mL38.0%21.0 std

Atotonilco el Alto, Jalisco · Mexico

Patrón Silver Tequila

We stock it because people ask for it by name, and because the quality justifies the recognition rather than merely following it.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Tequila, Jalisco · Mexico

Jose Cuervo Especial Reposado

We stock it for the same reason - it is familiar, it is asked for, and it does its job in a mixed drink. Just know it is not the same category as the 100% agave bottles on the shelf next to it.

700 mL38.0%21.0 std

Jalisco · Mexico

Sierra Tequila Reposado

We stock it because it is the familiar bottle for a familiar job. If the Silver is what goes into the round of margaritas, this is what goes into the one you make more carefully.

700 mL38.0%21.0 std

Jalisco · Mexico

1800 Reposado Tequila

We stock it because reposado is where most people find the tequila they actually like. Blanco can be sharp and añejo can be expensive; this sits in between and suits both sipping and mixing.

700 mL38.0%21.0 std

Atotonilco el Alto, Jalisco · Mexico

Don Julio Blanco Tequila

We stock it because it is the benchmark blanco. If you want to know what good unaged tequila tastes like, this answers it.

700 mL38.0%21.0 std

Tequila, Jalisco · Mexico

Jose Cuervo Especial Silver

We stock it because it is what a great many margaritas are made from, and because you should be able to buy it here knowing exactly what it is.

700 mL38.0%21.0 std

Jalisco · Mexico

1800 Coconut

We stock it because it does one thing well - it makes a very easy drink with soda and lime - and because we would rather tell you what it is than let the shelf position imply otherwise.

700 mL34.0%18.8 std

Speyside · Scotland

The Glenlivet 12 Year Old Double Oak Single Malt Whisky

We stock it because it is the other half of a conversation that starts with Glenfiddich. Two distilleries, the same region, and genuinely different answers to the same question.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Jalisco · Mexico

1800 Silver Tequila

We stock it because 100% agave at this price is not a given - a great deal of tequila at the same money is mixto - and the label tells you which you are buying.

700 mL38.0%21.0 std

Melbourne, Victoria

Starward Two-Fold Double Grain Whisky

We stock it because it is the most drinkable Australian whisky at the price, and because the red wine cask is a genuinely Australian idea rather than an imported one.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Tasmania

Lark Devil's Storm No. 183 Single Malt Australian Whisky

We stock it because Australian single malt is now taken seriously internationally and Tasmania is its centre. Lark is the origin story, and a whisky range without it is missing the beginning.

700 mL42.0%23.2 std

Cork · Ireland

Jameson Stout Edition Irish Whiskey

We stock it because it is genuinely different rather than differently packaged, and because it converts people who thought they had Jameson worked out.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Speyside · Scotland

Glenfiddich 18 Year Old Small Batch Single Malt Whisky

We stock it because it is what the 12 grows into, and the two side by side make the case for age statements better than any marketing does.

700 mL48.0%26.5 std

Scotland · Scotland

Johnnie Walker Double Black Blended Scotch Whisky

Black Label with the peat turned up - more smoke, more charred cask, and noticeably more assertive than its sibling. We stock both because Double Black is not simply the better one. It is the version for someone who already likes smoke, and Black Label is the version for everyone else at the same table.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Dublin · Ireland

The Dubliner Irish Whiskey Liqueur

We stock it because it does an honest job in coffee and over ice, and because not every bottle in the whiskey section needs to be a serious one. It is sweet and it knows it.

700 mL30.0%16.6 std

Isle of Skye · Scotland

Talisker Skye Single Malt Whisky

We stock it as the entry point to the distillery for someone who is curious about maritime whisky but not yet sure they want the full weather.

700 mL45.8%25.3 std

Speyside · Scotland

Monkey Shoulder Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

We stock it because it is built for mixing and honest about it. If you are making a whisky sour or a highball, a bottle designed for the job beats sacrificing something that was not.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Rampur, Uttar Pradesh · India

Rampur Double Cask Indian Single Malt Whisky

We stock it because Indian single malt is the most interesting thing happening in whisky at the moment, and Rampur is one of the reasons why.

700 mL45.0%24.9 std

Speyside · Scotland

Royal Salute 21 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky

We stock it for exactly that. It is not an everyday bottle and does not pretend to be, and when someone needs a gift that carries weight without needing explanation, this is the one.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Highland · Scotland

Dimple 12 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky

We stock it because it is a familiar sight to a lot of people and it still drinks well. Some bottles earn their place through recognition rather than novelty.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Cork · Ireland

Jameson IPA Edition Irish Whiskey

We stock it alongside the Stout because the pair make an unusually clear demonstration of what a cask finish actually does. Buy both and taste them next to the standard bottle.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Speyside · Scotland

Chivas Regal 12 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky

We stock it because people ask for it, and we would rather you got it from us than made a second trip. Consistency is a genuine virtue in a blend, and this is one of the ones that delivers it.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Japan · Japan

Nikka From The Barrel Japanese Whisky

We stock it because it is the Japanese whisky we recommend most often, and because the strength means it holds up in a highball instead of disappearing.

500 mL51.4%20.3 std

Islands · Scotland

Johnnie Walker 18 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky

We stock it because it makes the case for blending as a craft rather than a compromise. If someone believes blends are what you drink when you cannot afford malt, this is the bottle that changes their mind.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Scotland · Scotland

Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old

We stock it because it is the most useful whisky most households can own, and because a blend that does three jobs well is worth more than a malt that does one.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Bangalore · India

Amrut Fusion Single Malt Whisky

We stock it because it was the bottle that forced people to stop treating Indian whisky as a novelty, and because it still tastes like nothing else in the cabinet.

700 mL50.0%27.6 std

Miyagikyo, Sendai · Japan

Nikka Miyagikyo Single Malt Whisky

We stock it because Japanese single malt beyond Suntory is worth knowing, and Miyagikyo is the most immediately likeable place to start.

700 mL45.0%24.9 std

Speyside · Scotland

Aberlour A'bunadh Single Malt Whisky

We stock it because it is the most honest whisky in the Speyside section. Add water to taste - at this strength that is not a suggestion, it is part of the drink. Check the batch number; they are not the same.

700 mL61.2%33.8 std

Speyside · Scotland

Chivas Regal 18 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky

We stock it because it is the blended Scotch we are most comfortable recommending as a present. It arrives looking like an occasion and tastes like one.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Islay · Scotland

Laphroaig Oak Select Single Malt Whisky

We stock it beside the 10 because it answers a real question. Someone who admires what Laphroaig does but finds the 10 too uncompromising has somewhere to go, and it is the same distillery rather than a substitute.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Speyside · Scotland

Glenfiddich 12 Year Old Single Malt Whisky

We stock it because it is where a great many people start, and starting somewhere reliable matters more than starting somewhere fashionable. If you are buying a first bottle of single malt, this one will not embarrass you.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Cork · Ireland

Jameson Black Barrel Irish Whiskey

We stock it because it is the step up from the green bottle that people actually notice. If Jameson is already the house pour, this is the one worth trading up to before spending considerably more.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Speyside · Scotland

BenRiach The Original Ten Single Malt Whisky

We stock it because it delivers more complexity than a ten year old Speyside usually manages, and because BenRiach are one of the distilleries doing genuinely interesting work without charging for the reputation.

700 mL43.0%23.7 std

Richmond, New South Wales

Karu Pourtrait Gin

We stock it because a shop that only carries the interesting bottles is not much use on a Friday. This is the gin for a gin and tonic you are not thinking hard about.

700 mL37.5%20.7 std

Speyside · Scotland

Aberlour 12 Year Old Double Cask Matured

We stock it because it is the bottle we would hand to someone stepping past blends for the first time, and it does not punish the decision.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Richmond, New South Wales

Karu Orsa Coffee Gin Liqueur

We stock it because it makes an espresso martini without the usual argument about which coffee to use, and because a local collaboration is worth supporting when the result is this good.

500 mL25.0%9.9 std

Richmond, New South Wales

Karu House Vodka

We stock it because an honest house vodka at a fair price is more useful than another premium bottle. If you are making drinks where vodka is the base rather than the point, this is the correct choice.

700 mL37.0%20.4 std

Richmond, New South Wales

Karu Outcask Wild Rum

We stock it because Australian rum is thin on the ground and this one has genuine character rather than added sweetness. It drinks like a whisky drinker's rum.

700 mL46.0%25.4 std

Richmond, New South Wales

Karu Lightning Gin

We stock it because overproof gin earns its place in cocktails - it survives ice and citrus where a 40% gin gets lost. One bottle carries about 32 standard drinks, so it goes further than the price suggests.

700 mL57.5%31.8 std

Richmond, New South Wales

Karu Rested Morita

We stock it alongside the standard bottle because they do different jobs. The original is for building drinks; this one is closer to something you would sip, and it is the more interesting of the two.

700 mL42.0%23.2 std

Speyside · Scotland

Aberlour 14 Year Old Double Cask Matured

Two more years than the 12, in the same double-cask arrangement, and the difference is in the weight rather than the flavour - more sherry, a longer finish, less of the youthful sharpness. We stock both because the step between them is easy to taste, and comparing them is a better education in what age does to whisky than any amount of reading.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Richmond, New South Wales

Karu Affinity Gin

We stock it because it is the local distillery we would back over an imported name at the same price, and because you can taste where it comes from.

700 mL44.0%24.3 std

Richmond, New South Wales

Karu Morita Chipotle Vodka

We stock it because it does something no other bottle here does. In a Bloody Mary or a Paloma it replaces three separate ingredients, and it changes what people assume flavoured vodka means.

700 mL42.0%23.2 std