How do you Stock your Bar Cart?

Curious to know what others are keeping in their liquor cabinets/bar carts/etc. 
This is probably dependent on what you like to drink, but I think it could be a fun exercise to see how you would stock your bar if you like to have people over and entertain. 

For me I think I would try to have one decent bottle of all the main spirits and spend more on the bottles that I drink the most. Vodka: Probably Kettle One. I think it's best bang for your buck. No need to spend more on something like Chopin or Belvedere. Kettle One always gets the job done for Moscow Mules and other drinks. Tequila: Espolon has been my go-to. It's good for the price and mixes well. I also like Altos Reposado. Milagro is also a good cheaper alternative. Whiskey: I'm not really a whiskey guy so I could use some recommendations here. Maybe a bourbon? I hear Buffalo Trace is popular, but I really don't know for this category. I don't drink much Whiskey.

Gin: I don't like Gin at all but it's definitely something you need to have for certain cocktails. I would probably buy something safe like Beefeater or Hendricks.Rum: My favorite spirit. Flor de Cana 12 yr has been my favorite rum for a while. Ron Zacapa if I have money to blow. I love Mai Tais and other Tiki type drinks so I drink a ton of Rum. Shipwreck Spiced Rum is amazing if you can find it. 
I would keep the rest of the bar stocked with things like simple syrup, bitters, liqueurs, and fruit just so I could make anything a guest would want. 
What do you guys thing? Do you have better alternatives? 

 

Usually have two bourbons and two scotches, a nicer one for myself and a good but not super pricey one if I wanna get hammered or if I have company over and they're not a connoisseur. Also have two gins Bombay and Hendricks, Tito's and goose, 3 or 4 tequilas (espolon, 1800, dj, maybe lunazul), and a bunch of liquers both for mixing and for digestivos/aperitivos, ranging from sweet as fuck like averna to Italian grandmother level bitterness like zucca or fernet

 

For thee could definitely be a Glenmorangie 10 or Highland Park 16 (if you’re a great host). For yourself, that’ll depend on your palate. A nice Lagavulin 16 holds the keys to the city. Dalwhinnie 15 is quite nice as well or Highland Park Valkyrie. A good scotch should run you $40 to $90 (depending where you’re located.)

 

My bar cart has been pretty built out over COVID:

Bourbon: Maker's or Woodford Reserve

Vodka: Ketel One

Gin: Hendrick's for most mixed gin drinks, Monkey 47 for martinis

Tequila: Espolon

Rum: Bacardi (just to have it for the occasional drink necessary, I don't really drink rum)

Other: bitters, Cointreau, Campari, Aperol, sweet / dry vermouth, Fernet, simple syrup, and a steady supply of lemons / limes / oranges

I can pretty much make any mixed drink now which is nice.

 
Most Helpful

Some thoughts on whisk(e)y $ = Least Expensive, $$$$ = Most Expensive / A = Available, SA = Somewhat Available, U=Unavailable

Bourbon: Four Roses Small Batch Select ($ / A), Old Grandad 114 ($ / SA), Old Forester 1920 Prohibition Style ($$ / SA), Woodford Reserve Double Oaked ($$ / A), Old Carter Bourbon ($$$ / U), Rock Hill Farms ($$$ / U), Garrison Brothers Balmorhea ($$ / SA), EH Taylor Small Batch ($$ / SA to U depending on where you live), George Dickel 13yr Bottled in Bond ($ / A), Stagg Jr. ($$$ / U), George T. Stagg ($$$$ / U), Weller Antique 107 ($$ / SA), Heaven Hill 7yr Bottled in Bond ($$ / A), 1792 Full Proof ($$ / SA), 1792 Bottled in Bond ($$ / SA), 1792 Small Batch ($ / A), Russell's Reserve Single Barrel ($$ / A), Wild Turkey Rare Breed ($$ / A)

Rye: Michter's 10yr Kentucky Straight Rye ($$$ / SA to U)

Irish Whiskey: Redbreast 12yr ($$ / A), Redbreast 12yr Cask Strength ($$ / SA), Yellow Spot ($$ / SA), Blue Spot ($$$ / U)

Japanese Whisky: Nikka Coffee Malt or Grain ($$ / SA), could go on for days here, but the Nikka Coffee offerings are best unless you're completely deep into whisky

Scotch (single malts, blends, etc.): Glenn Grant 18yr ($$ / SA), Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength ($$ / SA), Ardbeg 10 ($$ / A). Again, could go on for days here

World Whisk(e)y: Paul John (best Indian whisky distiller. Top make globally. Price ranges from $-$$$$), Armut (again, Indian quality. Prices and availability really range)

IMO, drink all these in a Glencairn whisky glass at room temp and neat (maybe a couple of drops of water if higher proof/you want to bring out different flavors) 

 

Blue Label is overpriced. Your really just paying for the name. Lagavulin, Macallan, and Talisker are solid suggestions. If you're willing to compromise on age Macallan is pretty good price point and unless you are one of the top scotch enthusiasts in the world, its hard to tell the difference.

Array
 

What are your thoughts on Johnnie Walker? Is it over hyped and over priced? I imagine there are just better options for the money 

I think Teddy and Addinator kinda hit the nail on the head, but my 2 cents

- Johnnie Walker is a blended malt Scotch. Meaning, 1) no grain whisky is included and--most importantly--2) it's a blend of malts from single-malt distilleries. Some context/semantics: Single = Produced entirely at one distillery, Blended = Sourced from multiple distilleries, Malt = Mash of malted barley, Grain = Any kind of grain. Common confusion? Single grain does not mean only one grain. It just means there was one distillery.  

- On the Johnnie Walker brand itself. Blue Label--as Teddy pointed out--is vastly overappreciated and overvalued, IMO. Why?

  • No age statement: I think it's generally assumed Blue Label (minimum age) is 18yrs, but no age statement really throws me off. Especially considering the price point. Is it 10yrs, 15yrs, 20yrs, 40yrs? The age statement on the bottle refers to the minimum age of the whisky in the bottle. For example, in a 12yr some blenders mix older whisky (~30yr) to reach a signature taste (note that this is usually a small %). So you can't really pinpoint what the blend 'is' exactly
  • Substitutions: There are many better comparables out there and--a lot--have a lower price. IMO, if you don't really know or--more importantly--like Scotch, then I would frankly go with Monkey Shoulder. It's a blend and it's 'good enough'. For a little more, you can get Chivas Regal 18yr which also--IMO--is a better blended Scotch choice. I mean you could even go slightly up-market to Ballantine's 30yr blended Scotch and that--IMO--is more impressive than Blue Label could ever hope to be. Addinator also mentioned Compass Box. I completely agree here

Macallan. Ok. It's very popular and it has that signature Macallan taste. Every bar worth its salt has a bottle of Mac 15 on the wall. I think Mac 18 is great, but I would caution you on selection. They have a double cask and sherry oak. I personally like the double cask more, but for a Scotch newbie... perhaps the sherry oak is better as it 'cuts' some of the harshness from Scotch (I personally like this complexity, but others may not). Price? I mean... again... substitutions.

At the end of the day, the best Scotch is the one YOU like to drink. For example, Speyside fan (fruit and nutty flavor forward)? Islay fan (peat, iodine, smoke flavors)? Highlands? Lowlands? This all matters when choosing Scotch.

 

I stick to my kegerator. “If St Paul or an angel in heaven gives you any other thing to drink. Give him thanks, and go pour it down the sink”

 

One of my best friends sells bourbon on the second hand market and swears by anything from Buffalo Trace – I’d agree. Personal favorite is Eagle Rare 10 year, if you can find it retail (not likely depending on your area) it should be around 45$ but most places in NYC for example will charge you ~$80. I think normal Buffalo trace or eagle rare, if you want to spend a little extra, are some of the best intro bourbons you can get.

 

Guy knows everything about whiskey there is to know and by talking to liquor store owners about it has great relationships with them. They hit him up when they get limited releases, he gets them for retail, sits in them for a while, and sells to online auction houses or to our friends. He started a whiskey club our senior year of college where every Thursday 15-20 dudes come over, throw in 10$ and he goes and gets some limited shit for everyone to try and talk about each week. Ended up with our house having an unreal whiskey collection and by getting all this kids into it, he gets way more people to sell to.

I’ll follow up this with some of his recs for bar setup when I see him later.

 

I keep a moderately extensive bar cart, nothing crazy but I find it does the trick for most of the cocktails I like. 

Vodka - Belvedere/Kettle One, depending on what I'm feeling and find in the liquor store that day. For the most part I agree that unless you're drinking it straight there isn't too much sense in buying anything too expensive. Though I think its overpriced, I've sometimes kept Grey Goose since it's one of the more attractive bottles imo. 

Gin - I'm a big french 75 guy, so sometimes empress is a fun twist. For the most part it's just Bombay/Beefeater/Citadelle though. Honestly if you're going for something more interesting on the botanical side or just more complex I'd go with the Botanist or Monkey 47, though I tend to prefer the former. 

Tequila - Not really much of a fan of tequila, though in recent years I've started to modestly enjoy it in cocktails. Always Espolon in my bar, though there's sometimes Patron lying around, too since it's so popular. 

Bourbon - Always Woodford for me, though I'm not the most sophisticated bourbon drinker. Also think Wild Turkey, Buffalo Trace, and Knob Creek punch above their weight class. Never had Blanton's but hear mixed reviews. Had and liked Jefferson's Presidential before, though again, I'm not super sophisticated. 

Rum - Gonna be honest, Bacardi. I exclusively put it in fruity drinks like Rum Punches and Daquiris so I don't think it matters, much. Is it kind of lame? Yeah, but I mostly have rum drinks on the beach and the drinks don't have to be good, they just have to have alcohol. 

Orange Liqueur - Contreau is the only acceptable answer, but during the pandemic the liquor store ran out and I tried Combier which I grew to really enjoy also. Adds a touch of sweetness to a sidecar, which is one of my favorite drinks. 

Cognac - Pierre Ferrand is the only cognac I will buy if given the option. There's nicer stuff that you can pay hundred for, but in my eyes Ferrand does everything perfectly for the cocktails I make. Beautiful sidecars. I strongly dislike Hennessy so take that as you will.   

Generally keep other liquers and such around. Vermouth sometimes for martinis, which should always be stirred, not shaken. Peach for cosmos because it's cheap and sometimes does the trick.  

My girlfriend makes killer bitters of all sorts. Some of my favorites were earl grey bitters to make an earl gray old fashioned, and extremely fresh cherry bitters. Obviously you have to keep angostura. 

Also, mock me all you like but in many cocktails I prefer Realemon/Realime in bottles to fresh juice. Maybe being from concentrate works better for how I make my cocktails. 

Probably spend too much on alcohol for my own good, but hey, better that than other drugs I guess. 

 

I think my bar cart is pretty standard, I'd just list some of the same selections that are already listed here. 

But I did go to a whiskey pairings dinner last year that I really enjoyed and I gained an appreciation for the stuff that's really aged, like upwards of 20 years. So I recently obtained a bottled of the Mr. Porter & Glenfiddich collaboration (20 year old, 1500 bottles worldwide) that I will open on a special occasion and I'm still trying to track down a bottle of Glenfiddich 30 year old because I had a taste of it at the dinner and it was glorious

 

The staples...

Bourbon: Four Roses single barrel

Scotch: Balvenie Doublewood or Caribbean Cask

Tequila (sipping- anejo): G4, Fortaleza

Tequila (mixing): Don Julio Repo

Grand Marnier (mixing)

 

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