SPIRIT

Part of the wine team, Gabrielle has chosen a tequila that reminds us of the way tequila used to  be made, here's why:

La Gritona is made by tequilero verteran Melly Cardenas and her team made up mostly of local women (all the men have crossed the border to find work) in the highlands of Jalisco. Made for LA based Punk guitarist Andy Coranado, this reflects a tequila that was made before the mass market took hold. There's no colouring or flavouring added, it's smooth with great depth and a lovely warming belly. Everything is thoughtfully done, nothing rushed that would compromise the quality. Even the charming green bottles are hand blown from recycled Mexican glass, just an hour's drive from the distillery. No need to mix this, serve it over a bucket of ice with a squeeze of fresh lime (and if you've got abit of lingering salt on your lips from your swim - even better). GABRIELLE POY, PWS


'La Gritona' is Spanish for 'The Screamer'. It's an appropriate name seeing that one of the people behind this outstanding tequila is LA-based punk guitarist Andy Coronado. The other significant player is the renowned tequilero Melly Cárdenas, who fashions La Gritona at her small distillery in Valle de Guadalupe in the highlands of Jalisco. One of Mexico's few female master distillers, the fiercely independent Cárdenas--who has 20 years of quality Tequila production under her belt--shares Coronado's love of the exceptional and unconventional, and leads a team staffed by only local women.

For a Reposado, La Gritona is light on colour and sweetness--Coronado and Cárdenas want none of the flavours that mask many commercial Reposados like vanilla, chocolate and dulce de leche. Instead this is packed with delicious, honest and savoury, roasted agave flavor, reminiscent of the old-style 'rested' Tequila, before the mass market took hold: "It's tequila like our grandparents drank," says Cárdenas. Working with 9- to 10-year-old, mature Blue Weber agave grown in the iron-rich red soil of the Jalisco highlands, every step of production after harvest takes place under Cárdenas' own roof. The agave is steam-cooked in a single, thick-walled earthen oven for 24 hours and then allowed to rest for another 24 hours before crushing. The collected liquid is naturally fermented (no additives are used to push things along) in open steel vats at a rate dictated by the ambient air temperature and the wild yeasts, usually lasting between six to nine days. The double distillation takes place in small steel stills. Those bespoke bottles by the way are made from recycled Mexican glass, hand-blown just an hour's drive from the distillery. Coronado uses any recycled clear glass he can find (mostly old Coke bottles) then chips in a few Dos Equis bottles for the green tint!

The distilled blanco is then rested in reused American whiskey barrels for eight months before bottling. These low-impact second or third fill barrels are given only the lightest char which allows for the refreshing, sappy notes of the agave to shine through, resulting in a Tequila that sips and mixes perfectly in equal measure--it's crisp, clean and elegant and kills it in a Tommy's Margarita. BIBENDUM BAR

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

Nonino Amaro is made by using a blend of UE (whole grape grappa) aged in oak for five years while being infused with mountain herbs. This is the perfect after dinner drink; combining heady medicinal, herbal elements with a refreshing and subtle sweetness and all backed by good alcoholic warmth. 

Bittersweet. Caramel and sweet orange are balanced by gentian and quinine bitterness with delicate spice. Very complex and delicate notes of apricot and saffron. DIFFORD'S GUIDE

Rittenhouse Rye 100 - Aged 4 years

Now widely accepted as a bench mark American Rye and outstanding its it class. Rittenhouse is much acclaimed and is enjoying a much deserved comeback throughout the USA with plenty of awards and accolades to its name. A beautiful nose, choc-full with baking spices and crushed red pepper. A touch hot but not the least bit unexpected for this 100 proof bottling. The higher alcohol  makes it the perfect candidate shaken into cocktails or poured over ice just to help break down the heat a little. More to the richer and robust side of US Rye the palate has lashings of clovey/vanilla-bean anglaise, gingerbread, citrus peel, cocoa and spicy, woody notes and an almost creamy, rich palate. Basically just just damn good tasty Rye.

"Rittenhouse continues to hit it out of the park" Chrisopher Null, DRINKHACKERS

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After experimenting with some exclusive batches of a high-proof gin for the Gin Palace we decided to add fresh 'Judy's Everbearing’ native finger limes, alongside our beautiful organic oranges, for its first release in 2014. This fresh citrus goes into the botanical basket, with some fresh ginger, giving our Navy Strength Gin its signature power and intensity.

The finger limes highlight the Asian spices like coriander and star anise, and are complemented by the fresh ginger. Then the turmeric adds a fresh but earthy quality, not unlike dill, and weight to the palate.

The resulting gin has lifted aromatics of lime curd, pine needles, and fragrant spices with a vanilla character which pulls the spices together. The palate is intense - sweet and juicy - but it is still very clean.

And we're very pleased to announce that our Navy Strength Gin has been twice been awarded Master status at the Global Gin Masters (in 2015 and 2016), and Gold at the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirit Competition 2014. fourpillarsgin.com.au

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

Presented in a handsome green fluted bottle, this version of Tanqueray is clean and crisp with a nose poised between coriander and juniper. Tasting a nip reveals a boozy heat, turns up the intensity of these two main botanicals and reveals a pleasant peppery finish. It's surprisingly subtle in a G&T due to its well-muddled flavours, and if you like a slow-burning lingering spicy finish, you'll like this gin. Where it really shines, though is in a martini where the smoothness, bottling strength and complex character can really come into their own.
GUARDIAN.CO.UK

The botanicals are steeped for 24 to 48 hours then additional Juniper and Liquorice Root are vapour infused in the neck of the copper pot still to give a traditional Juniper flavour at the front of the palate through to a sweet liquorice finish. This gin is triple distilled giving the spirit an ultra-smooth flavour despite the higher than normal ABV. It contains 11 Botanicals including 3 local botanicals - Native Bush Pepper, Lemon Myrtle, Tasmanian Wattleseed. SPRING BAY DISTILLING

For me this is an altogether gentle and delicate gin not that it doesn't have presence or flavour. More that it relies on its quality through craftmanship and quality ingredients. Juniper driven but highlighted with native bush botanicals that give a unique flavour and aromatic profile. I often find (Australia) native botanicals in gins overpower everything else but these are judiciously used and create a wonderful tasting gin. There is sweet oiliness on the finish that carries everything to gentle, clean and clear finish. A really well made and poised Aussie gin. MYLES,PWS

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

Made since the 1800s, Lillet (pronounced lee-lay) from the French village of Podensac is a French aperitif traditionally served over ice with a slice of orange. Lillet Blanc is made from white wine and the drier Lillet Rouge is made from red wine, sourced from premier vineyards in Bordeaux. Lillet Blanc is the key ingredient in James Bond's 'the Vesper', the drink created in Ian Fleming's Casino Royale. PWS

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

This is where it all began for Sergio and Lorenzo. Both being grape-growers and winemakers, most of the botanicals, fruit and grapes/wine for their products are sourced within the Nizza zone in Monferrato. Unlike Barolo Chinato, the Erba Volant Chinato is based on Barbera, a variety regarded most at home in Nizza, and one that works superbly due to its refreshing brightness and acidity.

Blended with their in-house mix of aromatic herbs, including cardo gobbo di Nizza Monferrato (a regional vegetable - also called 'hunchback thistle' due to the cultivation technique - and a key component of bagna cauda). After around 9 months of maceration, the herbs and spices (along with pure alcohol and sugar) are added to the Barbera. This has notes of bitter orange, anise, cinnamon and a delicate touch of vanilla. 16% alc.

Very much made in the pale, bitter and dry spectrum, this vermouth is a decent step up from the more traditional and commercial 'blending' vermouths. This is made from a base white wine of Cortese and Trebbiano with alcohol, sugar, water, an alcoholic infusion of herbs and roots, cardo gobbo di Nizza Monferrato and wormwood - the plant that defines Vermouth di Torino.

Wonderfully golden yellow in colour with amber reflections, the aromas and palate are expressive and elegant, with marked herbaceous notes of absinthe, cardo gobbo, velvety vanilla and a touch of chamomile. We think it's best served chilled on ice. 16% alc.

In the words of Sergio and Lorenzo, their Aromatico Bitter is a "collision… made by mixing cold with heat, bitter with sweet, bright red with the brown tones of the earth". With a partially different mix than for the Chinato, here we have a neutral alcohol, sugar, distilled water and a natural infusion of aromatic herbs, which include gentian, cinchona, liquorice, wild cherry and cardo gobbo. Initially packed with bitter herbs, this cocktail of medicinal goodies moves into a typical bittersweet taste, with marked notes of fresh fruit and spices. 25% alc.

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

Gold Medal - 2017 San Francisco World Spirits Competition 45% ABV.

Kings County Bourbon is the same spirit as Kings County's moonshine, here aged for an average of two years in new, American oak charred barrels. The nose offers spicy, cedar, fresh oak and roasted malt notes. Very fine but also complex, there is also the suggestion of pecan, fresh corn and bright cherry. The palate is really spicy and fine; there's real depth of malt and fruit cake notes shot through with higher notes of citrus, fresh vanilla as well as cinnamon and other autumnal spices. The texture is very smooth, a spirit of the quality we normally associate with top notch Cognac, and the finish is spicy, lingering and perfumed. Wonderful stuff that is easily good enough to sip from the flask. Exotic and deep, with flavors of grain, licorice, vanilla and molasses. ERIC ASIMOV, New York Times

Each year Ichiro Akuto selects the cream of his Blended Whisky for this 'blue-label', limited-edition version of Chichibu's Malt & Grain (listed above). It combines Whisky from his own Chichibu distillery with other stocks from his warehouses, including malt and grain from overseas distilleries.

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

Situated in Bas-Armagnac, vineyards are made up of Colombard, Ugni Blanc and Folle Blanche grape varieties. The distillery is to be found in the village of Lannepax, the ancestral home of the Delord family. The distillation, the most essential and fascinating stage in the production of Armagnac, takes place at the beginning of November through to the end of December. Their old Sier Armagnac alambics, that they wouldn't part with for all the gold in the world, produce less than 30 litres of eau-de-vie an hour. Delord cellars contain old treasured vintages and include more than 700 oak barrels that protect and age the Armagnac eau-de-vie dating from the 20th Century to the present day.

Delord thanks to their vision have stored such quantities of good Armagnacs for such a long time that they have the resource to be very competitive in price for the same quality. They also concentrate on Armagnac styles, very rounded, soft and easy to drink, that they are amongst the most successful producers.

Caramel, candy, vanilla, nut and a whole selection of tasting goodies. A rustic opening which rounds out all the way with hints of rancio that travels from fruitiness to sweetness and vice versa. A spiral of dried fruit, citrus peel, vanilla, caramel, spiced oak, grape, nutty, rancio, prunes, cinnamon.

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

Love this stuff! The perfect aperitif on its own, a bit of ice and even a spritz of soda if you wanted to make this a little longer. Made with un-fermented, fresh colombard grapes then spiked with young Cognac and aged a little in barrel.

Aromas of passion fruit with hints of honey, orange peel and dried spice. Sweet and fresh, cut with nice acidity to balance it all out. White negroni anyone?

Have you not had Pinneau de Charentes? Then this is the perfect place to start. Made mainly from Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes grown in the Cognac region where Mery Melrose make some of the finest and lush Cognace around.

The grape must is fortified with Cognac then slowly aged in oak barrels. Raspberry, dark plum, kirsch, cherry and a hint of citrus peel.. Delicious, effusive, sweet-summer in a glass. On its own or with a dash of soda. Perfect!