A Good Home Bar Is Like a Good Woman...

...um, OK, I don't know how to end that without setting myself up for a world of hurt. But a good home bar is a thing of beauty, something which I am much more likely to be envious of than, say, someone's car or income level. Having a "great home bar" can be defined as having a great physical space for your bar (think mancave-like Irish pub in your basement), or having an extensive list of raw materials from which to make drinks. I definitely fall into the latter category - not having been born into the landed gentry, or come up with the concept for a cash cow like edible underwear, I don't have a house in which I can dedicate several hundred square feet to just a place to drink and socialize. That's what I use my living room for (and sometimes the storage closet in my basement when I am in one of my "darker" moods). But, by picking up bottles here and there over a period of a couple of years, I think I have amassed a collection of materials from which can be made almost any drink one would want to try.

Below is a list of what's in my bar (aka the buffet in my dining room) as of April 2010. It ain't an exact architectural replica of the The Ritz Bar in Paris, but I can whip you up a mean French 75 at a moment's notice.

VODKA

Tito's Handmade Vodka

Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka

Elemental Organic Vodka

Elemental Organic Vanilla Espresso Vodka

Grey Goose Le Citron Vodka

Van Gogh Vanilla Vodka

Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka

GIN

Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin

Hayman's Old Tom Gin

Hendrick's Gin

Plymouth Gin

Plymouth Sloe Gin (I know, not really a gin)

Junipero Gin

Bols Genever

RUM

Bacardi Light Rum

Bacardi 151 Rum

Cruzan Black Strap Rum

Captain Morgan Spiced Rum

Appleton Estate V/X Rum

Rhum Clement VSOP Rum

Gosling's Black Seal Rum

Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum

The Kraken Black Spiced Rum

MEZCAL / TEQUILA

Del Maguey Minero Mezcal

Patron Resposado Tequila

El Jimador Blanco Tequila (jalapeño infused)

SCOTCH / WHISKY / WHISKEY

Isle of Jura Superstition Blended Scotch

Caol Ila 12 Year Single Malt Whisky

Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban Scotch

The Glenlivet Nadurra 16 yr old Scotch

Compass Box Spice Tree Scotch Whisky

Johnny Walker Black Blended Scotch

Wasmund's Red Single Malt Whisky

Wasmund's Silver Single Malt Whisky

Copper Fox Rye Whisky

Jameson Irish Whiskey

Bushmills Irish Whiskey

Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey

Sazerac Rye Whiskey

Rittenhouse 100 Rye Whisky

Hudson Manhattan Rye Whisky

Pappy Van Winkle's 20 yr old bourbon

Bulleit Bourbon

Woodford Reserve Kentucky Derby 136 Bourbon

The Yamazaki Single Malt Whisky 12

Canadian Club Whisky 6 Years Old

SHERRIES / PORTS

Drysack Sherry

Fladgate First Estate Reserve Porto

Osborne Fine Ruby Porto

COGNAC

Kelt Tour du Mond VSOP Cognac

Hennessy VS Cognac

VERMOUTH

Lillet Blanc

Lillet Rouge

Martini & Rossi Vermouth Rosso

Martini & Rossi Dry Vermouth

Dolin Dry Vermouth

LIQUEURS / OTHER SPIRITS

Aalborg Akvavit

Southern Comfort

Laird's Applejack

Berentzen Apfelkorn Apple Liquer

Batavia-Arrack van Oosten

Barsol Pisco

Green Chartreuse

Yellow Chartreuse

Dubonnet

Disaronno Liqueur

Aperol Liqueur

Campari Liqueur

Cynar Artichoke Liqueur

Frenet-Branca Liqueur

Zwack

St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur

Heering Cherry Liqueur

Stock Maraschino Liqueur

Kirschwasser Cherry Liqueur

Galliano Liqueur

Drambuie Liqueur

Benedictine Liqueur

Frangelico Liqueur

Cointreau Orange Liqueur

Kahlua Liqueur

Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur

Stone’s Ginger Liqueur

Pama Pommegranate Liqueur

LeTourment Vert Absinthe

Lucid Absinthe

Agua Luca Cachaca

DeKuyper Triple Sec

DeKuyper Creme de Cassis

DeKuyper Blue Curacao

DeKuyper Creme de Cocoa

DeKuyper Creme de Menthe

Bols Blackberry Flavored Brandy

DeKuyper Apricot Flavored Brandy

Rumple Minze Peppermint Schnapps

Bailey's Irish Cream

Creme de Violette

Creme Yvette

Orchard Pear Liqeuer

St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram

Limoncello (homemade)

SOJU / SAKE / PLUM WINE

Korean Soju

Korean Blueberry Soju

Plum Gekkeikan Plum Wine

Hakushika Sake

BITTERS

Angostura Bitters

Angostura Orange Bitters

Fee Brother's Old Fashioned Bitters

Regan's Orange Bitters

Peychaud's Bitters

Bitter Truth Celery Bitters

Bitter Truth Grapefruit Bitters

Bitter Truth Xocolatl Mole Bitters

SWEETNERS / OTHER ADDITIVES

Rose's Grenadine

Rose's Lime Juice

Alwadi Orange Blossom Water

Alwadi Rose Water

Tres Agaves Agave Nectar

TJ's Organic Blue Agave Sweetner

Gum Arabic