Pouring only specialty spirits, BOTLD is Philadelphia’s most bespoke cocktail bar

Many distillers are too small to get onto the sales list of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. As such, these boutique products are unavailable through Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores, even via special order.

But longtime distiller Andrew Auwerda figured a way around that conundrum two years ago: His in-state limited distillery license allows him to bottle and sell spirits directly to the public, restaurants, and bars through his company, BOTLD.

Small-batch makers ship him spirits in totes and barrels. He in turn bottles the spirits and labels them at his facility in King of Prussia. Auwerda has a BOTLD website and retail stores in Rittenhouse and in King of Prussia to sell these specialty items, which are priced competitively. For example: Apologue liqueurs are unavailable in Pennsylvania. But the Chicago distillery sends it in bulk to BOTLD. Auwerda and crew bottles, labels, and sells it for $38 a bottle. (Apologue is widely available in liquor stores in New Jersey.)

BOTLD is taking the next step. On Friday, BOTLD’s new bottle shop and bar opens at 117 S. 13th St. in Washington Square West, next to Van Leeuwen’s Ice Cream and across from a restaurant zone including Barbuzzo, El Vez, Pearl & Mary, and Prunella. Its nine-seat bar was designed by Boxwood Architects, while additional lounge and banquette seating brings the guest count to 35.

Cocktail specialist Roland Coggin, a 20-year veteran of high-end bars now working with Auwerda, likened this BOTLD location to a showroom: All 150 labels on the shelves can be made into a cocktail. Coggin set up the bar and created the small cocktail list with drinks featuring spirits by distillers like St. George, Avallen, and Kyrö. There’s a New Nordic Sour, mixing Kyrö single rye malt whiskey from Norway with lingonberry jam, lemon, egg white, and whiskey barrel bitters, while the Savory Character is St. George green chile vodka with Apologue celery root, and dry sherry vermouth.

General manager Leighton Phillips, last at Hiroki in Fishtown after stints at Fork and Friday Saturday Sunday, said the bartenders are equipped to explain the flavor profiles, as well as mix the drinks. He said the experience would begin with a conversation, like “What kind of gin do you usually drink?” and go from there.

Coggin said: “We want [customers] to come to a place like this, seeing what one of these spirits are like in, say, a Manhattan, bringing the bottle home, and providing them with recipes. We’ll be a little more transparent [than most bars] in the cocktail program.”

There are no well spirits here, in the traditional sense. “That word has such a stigma to it anyway,” Coggin said. “Our most affordable bourbon is Cedar Ridge Farm Distillery from Iowa that we retail for $35 and we’ve got Pa’lante white rum from Chiapas, Mexico, that retails for $26.”

Drink prices are $10 to $17. Mixed nuts, popcorn, olives, pretzels, and jerky are the food offerings. This is clearly a spot for a predinner drink or nightcap.

BOTLD, 117 S. 13th St. Hours: 1 to 11 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.