Empirical Spirits Helena
This stuff is wild. Helena comes to us via a collaboration between Danish distiller Empirical Spirits, co-founded by Noma alums Lars Williams and Mark Emil Hermansen, and Sam Anderson, the wine and beverage director at Contra, Wildair, and Una Pizza Napoletana in Manhattan. It’s made from three distinct barley varieties fermented with a custom koji mold and distilled in a vacuum still at low temperature. Mind-bending complexity makes this challenging to work with in cocktails—it might be best served neat or on the rocks—but it’s still extremely rewarding.
Black Cow vodka
Although this spirit came out in 2017, we’re giving it a variance because it’s hardly gotten any traction in the U.S.—and it’s legitimately great. Made from whey, a byproduct of cheese production, Black Cow is super lush and creamy, with an eye toward waste reduction and sustainability. It’s quite versatile, too, with just enough character to hold up in mixed drinks without overpowering.
Montreu Chardonnay single-grape brandy
Produced in the Cognac-adjacent town of Pons, France, this brandy can’t technically be called Cognac because of its Chardonnay base. (Cognac laws only allow certain grapes to be used.) But don’t let that turn you off—this light, floral spirit spends its time aging in French and American oak casks on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a brisk, bright option for those looking to buck tradition.
Top of Their Game
This stuff is just plain good. It’s as simple as that.
Bertoux brandy
Dreamt up by Jeff Bell, the general manager of PDT, and the NoMad’s Thomas Pastuszak, this California brandy is tailor-made for cocktails. Complex and full of stewed fruit and floral aromas, Bertoux slots in perfectly in all sorts of applications. It’s accessible enough to be a home-bar mixing mainstay, yet it’s tasty enough to sip neat, working wonders in both classic brandy cocktails such as the Sidecar and Vieux Carre and more innovative menus from coast to coast.