Eagle Rare Single Barrel

Bourbon
Purchase Price: $22
Place of Purchase: Warehouse - New York, NY
Rating: 8.3

Eagle Rare isn't so rare, but it is definitely near the top of the heap as far single-barrel bourbons in the $25 range. In fact, you could say Eagle Rare commands an “aerie” far above all others, but that would be inaccurate, not to mention a rather childish way of looking at things. Better for you to just pour a glass of this rich and complex bourbon and relax a bit.

Bowmore Legend

Single Malt
Purchase Price: $22
Place of Purchase: Warehouse - New York, NY
Rating: 8.0

A mild and young tipple that is probably the most approachable of the malts that hail from Islay, easily the most intimidating region of the spirit world's most intimidating drink. Bowmore doesn't exactly nuzzle the back of your hand like a doe at the petting zoo, but compared to swaggering peat monsters like Ardbeg and Laphroiag, it's much easier to confront head-on. A nice balance of peat, smoke, salt spray and toffee. And who among us would dare pass by its sub-$30 price tag? Bowmore is a world-class distillery and being able to buy in so cheaply is nothing to be scoffed at.

Three Olives

Vodka
Purchase Price: $20 (1.75 liter)
Place of Purchase: Crossroads - New York, NY
Rating: 7.2

And much like any given member of their national football side is wont to do, England skies this strike up into Row Z. Three Olives is pretty dire. Vodka’s a neutral enough entity that it’s pretty hard to ruin. Okay, not that hard, various American distillers have been doing it for years, but Tres Aceitunas
have produced a right cock-up here. The off-putting metal-spoonful of Metamucil aftertaste reminds me of my all-time least favorite vodka, Rain. It’s a memory I’d rather not have revisited. Three Olives have been pushing to break into the youth market with a lot of gusto and “sexy” marketing, but I don’t think the kids are buying into it. This bodes well for our country’s future.

Saint Brendan's

Cream Liqueur
Purchase Price: $9
Place of Purchase: Warehouse - New York, NY
Rating: 8.6

This was Bargain of the Year for 2006, and the ensuing years have not seen its stature diminished in any way. Supposedly this was conceived as a "clone" of Bailey's, and while that might not seem such an admirable goal in theory, in practice it works just fine. Every bit as lush and creamy as Bailey's for just about half the price. Over a few ice cubes it's simply unbeatable as a dessert bridging the meal and the Scotch. I'm a bit of a name-brand snob myself, but this is just too good a bargain to stroll by looking the other way. Buy a bottle by next Tuesday and on Wednesday morning you'll be emailing me your sincere thanks. ;-)

South

Gin
Purchase Price: $16
Place of Purchase: Warehouse - New York, NY
Rating: 7.9

This is sold to the general public in a towering bottle that's going to loom over its companions in your liquor cabinet like Jan Koller over everyone else on the pitch. And that's about it. New Zealand is supposedly an exotic place that has hobbits, wizards and other fantastic creatures, but they seem to have forgotten to infuse this gin with any of that 'ol Kiwi magic. It's serviceable, and that bottle is always going to come in handy in a liquor bottle sword fight, but a little bit of packaging gimmickry does not a world-beater make. Especially when it is priced considerably higher than the bargain basement introductory price I paid for this. I think it's going for $30+ in most places.