What is the most unusual spirit you have in your home bar?

Some Victorian kid that died of tuberculosis in the 1800's. I really wish I could exercise it. Little shit rattles all the bottles at 3am every full moon and it's annoying as hell.

Linie Aquavit. It is a Scandinavian liquor meaning "water of life". It is a white spirit infused with botanicals, like gin. Its principal herbs are caraway or dill.

It's incredible.

A small bottle of the delightfully named Unicum:

Really not sure where it came from, we just found it one day!

I thought you were speaking of ghosts or demons and the like 😂

Cacique, which is Costa Rica's national liquor (only rare because it's hard to import).

It's essentially sugar cane hooch that the government decided to nationalize in an attempt to end secret production, back around the mid 1800s. Their plan worked and it became a sort of national identity. The whole history of it is pretty neat.

It doesn't taste like anything on its own, so it's mixed with everything and the kitchen sink.

A corn liquor. It tastes like corn? It tastes wonderful 1:2 with bourbon.

Jeppson’s malort. It tastes like grapefruit and diesel fuel. It’s passable watered down with as much Squirt as you have.

I had a bottle of Arak from Palestine, that a previous boss had imported, and then gifted to me. It's anise flavored, clear when warm, looks like a snow globe if you refrigerate it, and turns white when poured over ice. So neat, but it tasted like anise :-P

42 year old schnapps, made by my grandfather in the year I was born.

You guys have homes?

A bottle of North Korean soju I got while visiting the DMZ.

The most unusual spirit I have in my collection is a raspberry liquer, made from distilled raspberries.

It is called RoslagsHallon and is made a few scandinavian miles borth of where I live by Nortälje Brenneri:

https://www.norrtaljebranneri.se/destillat/roslagshallon/

(Just click "JAG HAR FYLLT 20 ÅR" to get in)

It makes a fantasticly dangerous summer drink when mixed with sprite, you hardly feel the alcohol, but the taste is amazing, with a fairly standard sprite tast first, that explodes into a full raspberry taste with the aftertaste.

I seldom drink, and drink little when I do, but this is brilliant.

I have an unopened bottle of Seagrams from 1946, and a bottle of Old Forester from 1953, where time + the VERY heavy glass stopper cracked the plastic seal and broke the cork. Both belonged to my better half's grandfather

Milk & honey gin. Doesn’t taste like milk, but once the dregs have evaporated, there’s a lingering smell of sweetened condensed milk.

Hucked - A Huckleberry Bourbon that is as good as it sounds. It’s by Lolo Creek Distillery out of Lolo, Montana.

Isopropyl

Double Double Oaked bourbon, you could only find it for sale on site at the distiller in Kentucky. It tastes like sweet charcoal.

A bottle of Canadian Club legit from 1963. We drank it neat while watching Mad Men.

Habanero Brandy Liqueur from Flying Leap Vineyards & Distillery in Elgin, AZ.

It uses a derivative from the production of their Habanero chili wine, the neutral grape spirits they use to sterilize the habaneros that would normally be discarded. The result is undrinkably hot, but they found they could dilute it and combine with a grape brandy and cane simple for a nice spicy result. Not as spicy as you'd think to be honest considering it is habanero.

Goes really well in hot chocolate this time of year.

https://www.flyingleapvineyards.com/product/habanero-brandy-liqueur-200-ml-/

Permanently Deleted

I guess the spirit itself - vodka - is not unusual, however I like to infuse local produce, and I have a fucking delicious passionflower vodka made from ripe local fruits. I also had a pawpaw rum, but that has a short shelf life so I had to imbibe it quickly.

Malort

Warning: it tastes like grapefruit flavored floor cleaner

Probably the earl Grey infused gin I've had in a decanter for 4 years now. It's pretty goof, but hard to mix with

Pisang Ambon, banana liqueur, I tried it in a bar in Spain, really liked it, and bought it. But what do you do with Banana Liqueur in your house? Nothing mixes well with that. Occasionally I sip it, but I've had it a decade and drunk maybe a third.

Partner made a jalapeño infusion we call jalapeño-cello (as in limoncello)

Seven Caves Tiki Gin is pretty unusual. Fruity.

And some odd amari I suppose!

Becherovka, it's an herbal alcohol, kind of a cousin to Jägermeister.

Best described as "Christmas in a bottle."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Becherovka

Centerba. It means hundred grasses in Italian. It tastes like grain alcohol infused with whatever they cut down in a field. Maybe a hint of mint too? It's fluorescent green now because food coloring is cheaper than bright green glass apparently.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centerbe

Absinthe and calvados are probably the most unusual here.

I have a 5000 yo former prince of some whacky kingdom I can’t pronounce. His head is partly caved-in but he’s generally cheerful despite his gruesome cause of death. He lives (haunts?) in the sink but comes out to scare the dog and MIL. Classic white robe type deal but older than the usual ghosts I encounter.

The spirit of Christmas future.

A jar of what I've been told is legitimate moonshine from Popcorn Sutton

A bottle of Sam Adams Utopia

Just finished off a bottle of chartreuse.

Now it would be sacrificio, a type of mezcal.

Most unique I've had might be Zirbenz stone pine liqueur.

A handle of tequila with cacao nibs added. I do infusions, and this was a failed experiment. Should have tried it in a mason jar.

Though it usually works out well. I have a bottle of premium Costco vodka with two anise stars and some simple syrup added. It's like a homemade ouzo and delightfully sippable for $18 a handle. I also have slices of pear in another bottle, and it's yummy. And a mason jar of bourbon with black peppercorns, which I like to splash into an Old Fashioned.

Hot tip: Buying flavored liquor is expensive and never as good as infusing it yourself.

I just got a bottle of malort. Yes. It's vile. Bitter, herbal, barely sweet, acrid, astringent.... It's bad.

I have a whiskey aged on chestnut. It's very good. Different than all the oak whiskey out there. A little earthier?

I have a bottle of aquardiente. It's kind of a minty drink. Not good or bad persay.

Ouzo and absinthe are pretty typical I guess. Rhubarb liqueur and I'm not sure what to do with it.

You should post this in !cocktails@lemmy.world too.

There are a couple of things I have to order online, that aren't in the shop here but I like - Heirloom Pineapple Amaro is one. I do make liqueurs so those I guess are the rarest. Like someone else in this thread, I tried infusing cocoa nibs, but in whiskey and it was similarly awful.

Jumex.

The straight up instant refreshment of chugging a jumex after I get off work is far more pleasing than alcohol IMO.

Zwack Unicum from Hungary and 58% Kaoling sorghum liquor from Taiwan. The Kaoling can melt the bottom of plastic cups.

Had a bottle of fermented mare's milk Kumis gifted from Kazakhstan, but it tasted like rancid cheese. Didn't want to risk keeping it around once the bottle had been opened.

Her name is Gladys and she a kind gho- ooooh

Screwball. Does that count as a spirit?

It's not particularly rare but the we have a spiced rum called Kilo Kai. It's mostly sold near Chicago.

We've had a consistent supply from visiting family members over the last few years.

Spirits of my dead balkan grandmothers and some decent greenery. Alcohol is for losers.

This one: https://feddit.uk/post/5822127

Woodford Reserve. They make a Double Oaked you can find in most liquor stores. I'd try that first, but I don't think they taste all that similar. The double double is much oakier in flavor, but the nose is similarly pleasant.

Legitimately thought you meant ghost for a minute there.