Green bottle, red seal, and a recipe of exactly four botanicals - juniper, coriander, angelica and licorice. What London Dry actually means, why a London gin is distilled in Scotland, what the 750ml costs, and how it stacks up against Hendrick's and the rest of our gin shelf.

Hana is flavoured sake - real rice-brewed sake with fruit added and the alcohol pulled down to about eight percent, half the strength of wine. How the lychee, fuji apple and raspberry differ, how to serve it, what to eat with it, and why lychee sake is not the same drink as lychee wine.

Five bottles on our shelf sound like "elite" and run from $29.99 to $129.99. Stolichnaya is the base vodka, Stoli is the same brand's short name, and Elit is its top shelf - while Russian Elite and Royal Elite are different companies entirely. What each one is, what the price buys, and which to pick.

Amaretto is the sweet almond-flavoured Italian liqueur, and Disaronno is the bottle almost everybody means. What the name means, why there may be no almonds in it at all, what ours costs at $39.99, and the five things worth doing with an open bottle.

Smirnoff Green Apple is $14.99 for the 750ml and $19.99 for the litre, and it tastes like an actual Granny Smith - tart first, sweet second, which is the opposite order to most flavoured vodka. The two bottles on our shelf, the drinks worth making, and who should buy something else.

Templeton Rye Aged 4 Years is $34.99, comes out of a town of 350 people in western Iowa, and is the approachable end of the rye category on purpose. What four years in new oak buys you, the Manhattan to build with it, and where it sits against High West, Redemption, James E. Pepper and Dad's Hat.

Six botanicals foraged along the gray whale migration route - Big Sur juniper, Mendocino kelp, Baja limes, Sonoma fir, Santa Cruz mint and Central Valley almonds. What that tastes like, what to mix it with, and why $32.99 is the interesting number.

100% blue Weber agave from Jalisco, three expressions, and a Silver that costs exactly what Patron Silver costs. What is in each bottle, which one to buy for which job, and what the price actually gets you against Espolon, Don Julio and Casamigos.

Proper 12 is a triple-distilled Irish blend aged in ex-bourbon barrels and nothing else, bottled at 40% and priced at $34.99. Where the name comes from, how it tastes, what to mix it with, and the five Irish whiskeys sitting either side of it on our shelf.

100% blue agave from the Jalisco highlands, a skeleton on the label, and an anejo that costs less than every other anejo tequila on our shelf. What is in each bottle, what it costs, and where the 1.75L pays for itself.

It started as a private batch two friends had made for themselves. Here is what is in all four Casamigos bottles, what each costs, and which one is actually worth your money.

Lunazul is a 100% agave tequila at a price most 100% agave tequilas do not reach, and the reason is Kentucky bourbon barrels. Blanco vs reposado, the 1.75L maths, and how it stacks up against the expensive names.