When it comes to alcohol, it’s what’s inside the bottle that counts. But beautiful spirits bottles undoubtedly enhance the drinking experience. After all, doesn’t a martini taste better in an elegant coupe than a plastic Solo cup? A well-stocked bar cart that boasts both form and function should be the aspiration of every intentional imbiber.
If a distiller has gone to the effort of meticulously producing a flawless spirit, aging it for years in a cask and blending it to perfection, surely the end result merits a visual appearance that’s complements the liquid itself. Many producers these days enlist the help of luxury goods houses like Baccarat or the design agency Stranger & Stranger, which has established itself as the leading firm for eye-catching booze.
Even when empty, these beautiful spirits bottles are worth holding onto. Though we’re big fans of recycling, packages this gorgeous weren’t designed to be thrown out. Consider reusing them as vases, water carafes, or decanters for other spirits—maybe those that come in less lovely presentations—or for your infinity blend.
Solento
Here’s a brand ethos we can get behind: Solento translates to “slow sun,” and encourages imbibers to savor each sip rather than downing a drink to disengage with the world. The brand’s award-winning, USDA certified organic tequila celebrates the ritual of slowing down amidst an increasingly frenetic pace of life. Available in unaged blanco (tasting notes: meyer lemon and Tahitian vanilla), reposado aged in American oak whisky barrels for nine months (tasting notes: caramel and mandarin), and añejo aged in American oak whisky barrels for 18 months (tasting notes: buttery maple and a touch of oak), all are made from blue weber agave, which is grown to full maturity, then harvested in small batches from one estate in Amatitán, Jalisco. The agave hearts are cooked for two days in stone ovens, then pressed to extricate their juices before being fermented and distilled naturally. There are no additives, just sunshine in a bottle. Speaking of which, the bottles are a collab with New York-based Javas Lehn Studio. The diagonal ribs etched into the glass evoke sun rays, and the ‘S’ logo on the bottle’s top is meant to represent a sundial. It all comes together in a striking presentation (we suggest positioning on your bar cart so the sunset can shine through and really turn it golden). Blanco is brilliant in a classic margarita or sour, we love reposado in a paloma, and prefer to reserve añejo for sipping or to make a complex spicy marg (get all the cocktail recipes here).
[From $30; solento.siptequila.com]
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