A guest leans on the bar and asks what makes the yacht's tequila worth four times the price of the one he drinks at home. "It just is" is not an answer. Every spirit category comes down to three questions: what was fermented, how was it distilled, and what happened afterwards.
The Common Ground
All spirits begin as a fermented liquid (a "wash") that is then distilled — heated so the alcohol vapour separates, then condensed. Pot stills work in batches and keep flavour; column stills run continuously and strip flavour towards neutrality. After distilling, a spirit is either bottled clear or aged in wood, which adds colour, vanilla, spice and softness.
The Categories
| Spirit | Base | Distillation | Signature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vodka | Grain, potato, anything fermentable | High-strength column, heavily filtered | Deliberately neutral. Judge on texture and cleanliness, not flavour |
| Gin | Neutral spirit re-distilled with botanicals | Pot/column | Juniper must be dominant by law. London Dry = no additions post-distillation |
| Rum | Sugarcane — molasses (most) or fresh cane juice (rhum agricole) | Pot or column | White, gold, dark, aged, overproof, spiced. Huge stylistic range |
| Tequila | Blue Weber agave, from defined regions of Mexico | Cooked agave, then distilled | "100% agave" or nothing — mixto is up to 49% other sugars |
| Mezcal | Any of many agave species | Agave roasted in earth pits | Distinctly smoky; artisanal, often single-village |
Reading Quality
Gin. London Dry is a method, not a place — nothing may be added after distillation except water. Plymouth is a protected style. "Old Tom" is a slightly sweeter historic style. Contemporary/New Western gins push citrus or floral notes but juniper must still be there.
Rum. Age statements are inconsistent across countries; "solera" figures may be an average, not a minimum. Never claim a rum's age with confidence unless the label is explicit. Jamaican pot-still rum is high in esters — funky and fruity. Rhum agricole is grassy and vegetal.
Tequila ages in oak on a defined scale:
| Term | Ageing |
|---|---|
| Blanco / Silver | Unaged, or under 2 months |
| Reposado | 2–12 months |
| Añejo | 1–3 years |
| Extra Añejo | 3+ years |
So the guest's answer is: the expensive bottle is likely 100% agave, from mature agave, properly cooked and distilled without additives — the cheap one is a mixto with caramel and glycerol added, which is why it produces the hangover he remembers.
Onboard Notes
- Store spirits upright — a high-ABV spirit lying against a natural cork will degrade the cork and taint the spirit.
- Spirits do not improve in the bottle, but they do evaporate and oxidise once opened. A bottle sitting a third-full for a season will taste flat.
- Duty-free/bond spirits are high-value, high-theft stock. Every bottle in and out of the bond locker is recorded — see the stock control lesson.
- Serve premium sipping tequila and mezcal neat, in a small tulip or copita, not slammed with salt and lime. Guests who ask for salt and lime get salt and lime — but offer the alternative once, politely.