When building a standard whiskey set for your home bar, you start with the basics: a straight bourbon, a mixable blend, a smoky scotch, maybe a trophy bottle. You keep a handful of versatile bottles at the ready, ensuring that, no matter who comes over or what is called for, you can offer a baseline of hospitality.

This is all good. But the whiskey world has grown ever more expansive, as have, in all likelihood, your tastes. So it’s time to lay in an expansion pack for your palate: a next-level set of bottles that represent the new cornerstones of a strong whiskey collection. 

So let’s take a spin through the new fundamentals. As you start looking to add to your shelf, keep a few things in mind:

1. Stay Curious. Remember when you were first getting into whiskey and every pour was a new, exciting experience? Don’t lose that sense of wonder. Fearlessly and joyfully taste the unknown.

2. Know Yourself. Seeking recommendations from trusted sources is fine (at least according to this particular trusted source that comes bearing recommendations) but don’t follow them at the expense of your own enjoyment. If you don’t like something, leave it behind. If you do, embrace it.

3. Take the Lead. If you’re reading this, it’s likely that you’re already the go-to whiskey person among your friends. Lean into that role and lead them beyond the usual suspects into the wider world of interesting, cool, and memorable whiskies.

Let’s get to it.

A Local Leader

Whether bourbon, rye or American single malt, a locally made whiskey is non-negotiable. The United States has over 2,200 craft distilleries, each a small business running on dreams, sweat and, often, a cashed-out 401k. These producers are trailblazers, and push the entire whiskey industry forward with their creative techniques and imaginative bottlings. And unlike brands owned by multinational conglomerates, they invest their earnings right back into the community.

Throw your support behind a neighborhood whiskey maker by keeping a bottle or two on your bar. If you’re lucky enough to live near multiple craft distillers, rotate through their whiskies—or maybe just stock them all. Will they be delicious? Often. Will you have something unusual to pour that you can feel good about? Always.

A Single Pot Still Stunner

Once upon a time, Ireland’s single pot still whiskey—made with malted and unmalted barley, among other grains—was the most popular style of whiskey in the world. But by the middle of the 20^th century, single pot stills had nearly disappeared, and Ireland’s whiskey industry rallied around blends to save itself. In this era, Jameson transmogrified from a pot still whiskey to the smooth blend that continues to define the entire Irish whiskey category.

But! In the last couple of decades, single pot still Irish whiskey sprang back to life, with dozens of new distilleries opening, many of them turning to the old method in a bid to set themselves apart. These whiskies boast classic single pot hallmarks like spicy, leathery flavors, and robustly creamy textures. They’re also some of the most delicious and interesting whiskies being made anywhere in the world right now. Pick up one of the newcomers, like Drumshanbo or Teeling. Or grab a Redbreast or Green Spot, two historic brands now enjoying the growing pot still renaissance.

A Different Kind of Japanese Whisky

For years, Japan's whisky offerings fell into two scotch-like categories: single malts and blends. If you’ve enjoyed Yamazaki, Nikka, Hibiki, or their ilk, that’s what you’ve been drinking. And good for you! These brands are rooted in a tradition that dates back a century and have earned their sterling reputation.

But in the last decade, a totally new style of whisky from Japan has emerged—one that draws on the country’s most ancient distilling and culinary traditions. We think this style, called koji whisky, is so interesting that we wrote a whole article about it. And it deserves a place on your shelf as both a delicious beverage and a reminder that the world of whisky is never static: It’s a living, evolving creature, just like the rest of us.

A Flavored Whiskey

Hear us out. We’re not recommending Fireball or the latest peanut butter atrocity. We’re talking about a new class of spirits that layer in botanicals, spices, real flavorings, and perhaps a little extra sweetness, while keeping the whiskey itself front and center.

These products include Terrativo Tennessee, a complex aperitif made with high-rye bourbon infused with the likes of cinchona, hibiscus, rhubarb and tart cherry, and FEW Cold Cut, bourbon proofed down not with water, but rich cold-brew coffee. (Manatawny Still Works makes something similar.) From Watershed Distillery there’s Bourcino, a killer bourbon-based version of the Italian black walnut liqueur nocino. And there are several excellent interpretations of the classic Rock and Rye from the likes of New York Distilling Co. and Slow & Low.

Whether you use them in a cocktail or sip them neat, these spirits have a certain je ne sais quoi that can liven up your routine and spark interest from guests. Remember, not everyone you offer a drink to is going to want straight whiskey and, frankly, there are probably times you’d like to sip on something a little different too. No shame in that!

A Wild Card

This is the bottle you pull out to keep guests off-balance—in a good way. (Particularly if your guests are whiskey snobs.) This could be a single malt distilled from double-hopped IPA, or a rye finished in a rosé cask that tastes like Cel-Ray soda, or even a green crab-flavored whiskey with an environmental mission. Whatever it is, you’re looking for something that’s 50% party trick and 50% substance. (Unless it’s a truly excellent party trick.)  

Wild card whiskies can be tough to find but are extremely fun to have on hand. Think of them not as practical jokes, but portals into new ways of approaching, and appreciating, whiskey. Can a sheep dung-smoked single malt compete with the classic peat bombs of Islay? Does whiskey aged in a Tabasco barrel work better as a drink or as a condiment? Does it take guts or just a touch of insanity to try a whiskey flavored with beaver anal secretions?

You may not get definitive answers while sipping a wild card, but you’ll certainly have fun trying.