Spirits worth stocking - a curator's first selections

When we made the decision to lead the shop with wine and spirits, the wine program was already there. We had been building it for years. The spirits program was the harder problem.

The instinct, when you start a small spirits program, is to fill the shelf. You order ten cases of recognizable bottles, you put them up, and you call it a program. We did not want to do that.

What we wanted instead was a small shelf, chosen with the same lens we use for wine. Real producers. Honest farming. Bottles we would open ourselves on a quiet evening at home.

These were the first four.

Lalo Blanco Tequila

This was the easy one. Lalo is made by Don Julio's grandson, additive-free, with a transparency about ingredients and process that most of the tequila category still lacks. The blanco is bright, slightly herbal, with the kind of agave clarity that ruins you for the mixed-shelf brands.

We pour it at tastings. We sell it as a gift. It is the bottle we hand to anyone who tells us they thought they did not like tequila.

Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal

Del Maguey was the house that taught Americans what mezcal could be. The single village bottlings, made by small producers in named villages around Oaxaca, are the reason the category got serious here.

We carry a small range. The Vida is the entry point. The single village expressions reward a careful evening and a few friends willing to taste them in flight.

Westland American Single Malt

A Pacific Northwest answer to Speyside. Westland uses Washington-grown malted barley and a careful cask program, and the result is a whisky that drinks like it knows where it comes from. Toasted grain, a hint of fruit, a clean coastal finish.

If you have a Speyside drinker in your life who is willing to try one American single malt, this is the one.

Suntory Toki

Toki is the blend that punches above its weight. Bright, floral, easy on a summer porch, and a good highball whisky if you want one. It is not a contemplative bottle. It is a useful one, and there is a meaningful difference.

Real producers, honest farming, and bottles we would happily open ourselves on a quiet evening.

That was the lens. It is still the lens. The shelf will grow slowly, with intention.

What is next

We are talking with importers about a few additions for late summer. A rye from a small Indiana distillery. A grappa from a producer in Friuli we are quietly excited about. A Cognac house that we have known for years and finally have an allocation from.

If there is a bottle you are after, ask. We have a long memory for hard-to-find spirits and a little patience for the chase.