Best Bars With Unusual Spirits Programs

There are two kinds of spirits programs in the bar world. The first kind covers the bases: a solid bourbon or two, a range of Scotch, respectable gin and vodka, standard tequila. This is the correct approach for 90% of bars. The second kind goes somewhere else entirely. The bar director at these places has a collection obsession and the license to act on it.

We are talking about the bars where the spirits list includes eau de vie made from Williams pear, unaged calvados from a single orchard in Normandy, a vintage Marc de Bourgogne from 1978, pisco in 14 expressions organized by grape variety, and a Japanese shochu program that takes up 3 pages. These bars do not stock unusual spirits as a curiosity. They stock them because unusual, obscure, and hard-to-source spirits are often the most interesting things you can drink.

We tracked down 12 of the best programs across 6 cities.

Why Unusual Spirits Programs Matter

The spirits category sits in an interesting position in 2026. The premiumization wave that swept through whiskey over the past decade has driven prices for classic expressions to the point where a pour of 18-year Scotch at a premium bar can cost $40 or more. Meanwhile, equally complex, equally craft-produced spirits from less commercially established categories, calvados, armagnac, grappa, pisco, aquavit, and the various fruit brandies of Central Europe, remain dramatically underpriced relative to their quality.

A bar that understands this creates a genuine service: it gives knowledgeable drinkers access to excellent spirits at reasonable prices, and it gives less experienced drinkers the chance to discover something they would never encounter at a standard bar. The ability to read a spirits menu confidently is the prerequisite for getting the most from these places.

New York: The Leading Programs

Mace

East Village, New York · $$

AquavitEau de VieAmaro

Mace has built its entire identity around uncommon ingredients and uncommon spirits. The aquavit program alone runs to 18 expressions covering Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish styles. Separate sections exist for fruit eau de vie, grappa, and an amaro list that takes up half a page. The cocktails integrate these spirits thoughtfully rather than using them as a flex. For serious explorers of the hidden gem bar scene in New York, this is essential.

Llama Inn Bar

Williamsburg, Brooklyn · $$

PiscoChichaSouth American Spirits

The bar program at Llama Inn is arguably the most comprehensive pisco collection in the United States, running to 22 expressions across puro, acholado, and mosto verde styles, organized by grape variety. The cocktail menu uses pisco intelligently, but the real value is in the tasting flights. Three pisco expressions, served neat at different ABV levels with fresh citrus on the side, will teach you more about the category than any article can.

London: The Explorer's Choice

Bar Termini

Soho, London · $$$

GrappaAmaroItalian Spirits

The Soho outpost of Bar Termini runs one of London's strongest Italian spirits programs outside of an actual Italian restaurant. The grappa list covers both young unaged expressions and aged riserva bottlings from Nonino and Romano Levi. The amaro section is 26 bottles deep and extends into lesser-known regional producers. For anyone exploring London's cocktail bar scene, this is a required stop when the aim is depth over novelty.

Callooh Callay

Shoreditch, London · $$

CalvadosArmagnacRare Gin

Callooh Callay's spirits program has expanded significantly over the past three years, adding a dedicated calvados section with 11 expressions from small Normandy producers, an armagnac section with 8 bottlings including two vintages, and a rare gin shelf featuring 14 expressions from distilleries with total production under 5,000 cases annually. The service team can guide you through all of it.

Tokyo: The Japanese Spirits Deep Dive

Tokyo's bar scene has always had an unusual spirits streak, born from the city's relationship with Japan's own native distillates. Shochu, awamori, sake served warm or cold, umeshu, and the full range of Japanese whisky expressions are treated as seriously as Scotch or bourbon in a serious Tokyo bar. Beyond Japanese spirits, several bars in Ginza and Shinjuku have built Western unusual spirits programs that rival anything in New York or London.

Bar High Five

Ginza, Tokyo · $$$$

Japanese WhiskyVintage CognacArmagnac

Run by one of Japan's most celebrated bartenders, Bar High Five in Ginza is a 12-seat counter where the back shelf holds one of the world's great assemblages of vintage cognac and armagnac alongside Japanese whisky expressions that are no longer commercially available. The bespoke cocktail service here draws on bottles most drinkers will never encounter in any other context. Reserve 2 to 3 weeks ahead for a seat.

Berlin: Where Aquavit and Central European Spirits Lead

Becketts Kopf

Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin · $$

AquavitSlivovitzKorn

Behind a door marked only with the portrait of Samuel Beckett, this Prenzlauer Berg bar runs one of Europe's most serious programs of Scandinavian and Central European spirits. The aquavit selection covers Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish producers across 20 expressions. A section dedicated to schnapps and Korn (German grain spirit) treats these often-dismissed categories as the genuine cultural artifacts they are. No sign outside. Look for the portrait.

Barcelona: The Vermouth and Agave Specialists

Paradiso

El Born, Barcelona · $$

MezcalVermouthSpanish Spirits

Consistently rated among the world's best cocktail bars, Paradiso's spirits program in Barcelona's cocktail scene is distinctive for its mezcal depth and its Spanish spirits section covering pacharan from Navarre, Galician orujo, and Catalan ratafia. The cocktail menu changes seasonally, but the spirits list grows continuously. Enter through the false refrigerator door at the back of the sandwich shop on Carrer de la Barra de Ferro.

How to Approach an Unusual Spirits Bar

The best way to navigate a bar with a deep unusual spirits program is to ask one question before you order anything: "What are you most excited about on the back shelf right now?" Every bar director with a serious program has 3 or 4 bottles they are genuinely proud of, recently acquired or currently being used in a cocktail they consider one of their best work. That question routes you to those bottles directly.

Second approach: pick a category you have never explored and ask for a 2-ounce pour of the house recommendation within it. The cost is typically $12 to $20 and the discovery value is significant. Eau de vie from Williams pear, served cold in a tulip glass, is one of those experiences that recalibrates your understanding of what distilled spirits can taste like. Bars with rare spirits programs operate on the same principle but focus on scarcity rather than obscurity; the best unusual spirits bars often combine both.