If you’re drinking your booze fairly unadulterated, you want to reach for the top shelf. Pouring a whiskey on the rocks? Go for an aged scotch (we like Lagavulin) or a small-batch bourbon like Blanton’s. And your martini deserves Beefeater or Hendricks gin. But every bar needs well-liquor, the workhorses stashed below the bar– or atop your fridge, in our case– for more complex mixed drinks where the nuances of the base spirits are overshadowed by liqueurs, syrups, and juices.
For this project, we’ve tasted high-medium-and low ranges of many base spirits, and we’ve settled on some of our home well. Some other day, we’ll talk about what vermouths and bitters you should keep on hand, but today we’ll stick to the basics: whiskeys, gin, vodka, and rum. (Note: Mr. Boston barely touches tequila, so we really haven’t either.)
We think a good well spirit should be $20 or less for a 750 mL bottle. They should be drinkable on their own or mixed with soda, and they should have a presence in a mixed drink.
Whiskey: We’ve tried a LOT of whiskey. No affordable bottle does better in a cocktail than Old Overholt Rye, which is easy to find, and usually costs between $18-21. It’s a little bland on its own, but it’s smooth, slightly sweet, and heavy enough that it’s still a presence in most mixed drinks. We use it all the time: in our Manhattans, Old-Fashioneds, and basically anywhere a drink recipe calls for nondescript whiskey.
Scotch: This is a tough one, since it’s hard to find a good scotch for mixing in general, and even harder to find one cheap enough for our criteria. Johnny Walker Red was Liz’s great-grandma’s go-to, and we think she was probably onto something. It’s light but a little smoky. It doesn’t disappear in a Rob Roy, but it’s not too assertive. It’s also widely available, and usually tops out at $20 for 750 mL.
Gin: For a really long time, we thought we needed to buy Tanqueray or Bombay for gin and tonics. But at some point, we watched a bartender pour some Seagram’s into a totally serviceable gin and tonic, and since then, we’ve always kept Seagram’s Extra Dry gin in our freezer. It’s a little piney for a martini, but it’s perfect for basically everything else. It’s a nice foil for tonic, and it’s great in a citrus-y gimlet. It’s also CHEAP. You can get a 750 mL bottle for under $15; we usually buy it in the 1.75L size for $20 or less and drink G&Ts for months.
Vodka: Vodka is a funny thing. Unlike the others, we think vodka is best when it’s so smooth you can barely taste it. Tito’s is $20 for 750 mL and it’s our go-to. It plays really nicely with vermouth in a vodka martini, and makes Liz’s favorite lazy cocktail mixed with a Spindrift cucumber soda.
Rum: Old Mr. Boston basically talks about two kinds of rum: imported rum and Jamaica rum. Based on the recipes, we’ve interpreted important rum to mean a thinner, clear rum, Jamaica rum to be the dark, spiced stuff, and Bacardi to refer to Bacardi Gold. Bacardi Silver is right in the $20 sweet spot, and works just fine in a mixed drink. For spiced rum, we keep Kraken Black on hand. The bottle is great-looking, and it’s warm and sweet, great in a highball. It’s widely available, though sometimes slightly over our price range; we found it online for $20.
Midcentury Mixology 