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"If I want to stock a home bar with liquors that will offer versatility, range and value-for-dollar, which three bottles should I buy first?"

On a recent trip to Las Vegas, I was served a Pina Colada liquid nitrogen cocktail out of a double-walled nitrogen-safe bowl. The next night, at Sage, I was served pink lemonade with a dash of egg white in an antique absinthe balancier, a late 19th-century bar tool used to distribute sugared water between glasses (the mixologist had found the balanciers at an antique dealer in Germany). Now, full disclosure: I was being hosted by MGM, and the occasion was their annual food and wine festival. So my bar experience may have been a somewhat elevated one. But the fact remains that on the Las Vegas Strip, the most competitive and least-budget-restricted 130 square miles in the hospitality world, you can order some pretty wild cocktails.

And wild cocktails are what guys want when we go to Vegas. When we’re at home, however, we prefer our drinks to be a little more down to earth. We want to mix them with ingredients that we already have in the fridge, and we don’t want to make our guests wait for 20 minutes for us to do so. We want the best liquors available in a reasonable price range, and the assurance that we will be able to drink from these bottles again and again. In short, we want a basic bar. So I asked three Vegas mixologists to help us assemble one.

Here’s what I asked:

If I want to stock a home bar with liquors that will offer versatility, range and value-for-dollar, which three bottles should I buy first?

And here's what they each answered:

Aaron Baca
Mixologist, Sage

Aaron's three beginner liquors: vodka, gin, bourbon

“Starting with vodka, gin and bourbon gives you a range. It gives you something that you can mix and absolutely not taste it, something with a little bit more depth, and something that's a little bold and hearty, something old-school. This combination leads you from vodka, to mix with whatever you want, to gin, which has a little more depth, to bourbon, which gets back into that classic type of liquor.”

Vodka: “Vodka, take your pick. Vodka's meant to take on whatever you mix it with, so whatever you like to drink is where you're going to go. I have a favorite vodka: Hangar One. Their flavors are the best on the market. They use a lot of natural things and they do a lot of seasonal stuff.”

Gin: “I prefer gin; I'm not a big vodka fan. I like the St. George Botanivore gin, I also like Plymouth. But for your first bar, I'm going to tell you to get Hendrick's. It's a nice entry-level gin; it's what they call "feminine" only because it's very easy to drink. There’s not too much juniper, so you can do a lot with it. You can drink it straight-up or you can drink it on the rocks. You can have it in a mixer or in a martini. It mixes beautifully.”

Bourbon: ”Bourbon-wise, I'm going to tell you to get a Woodford Reserve. It’s not too pricey -- it should be in the $30-range -- and it's a good way to ease in because it mixes well. Plus, it's nice enough to have on the rocks.”

Aaron's Picks:

Woodford Reserve | Hendrick's | Hangar One

That's not bad for a first bar. But two other mixologists suggested two other bottle combinations... Next Page >>