Most people build a first bar out of the four or five names they grew up seeing advertised. Those bottles are priced for the marketing budget as much as the liquid, and in a cocktail โ where the spirit is the largest single ingredient โ you taste that compromise immediately.
The alternative isn't spending more. It's buying from producers who don't have a marketing budget at all. A small distillery puts the money into ingredients, slower distillation and someone actually watching the cuts, because that's all they have to compete on. You frequently pay the same or less for a better bottle.
That's the whole idea behind this kit, and it's why there isn't a household name in it. Four categories, four small producers, one of them from Oyster Bay โ about twenty miles from where this box is packed.