A premium spirits menu is not defined by the number of brands on the shelf or the presence of recognizable airport labels. It is defined by whether the team behind it knows what they have, why they have it and how to use it to produce an experience the customer would not find anywhere else.
Etro Rooftop built its menu from that perspective. It is not a list where the main criterion was keeping the brands customers already know: it is a concept where Colombian origin spirits carry the same editorial weight as international spirits.
What distinguishes a premium menu from an expensive one
An expensive menu has high-price labels the customer recognizes from duty free. A premium menu has selection with criteria: each spirit is there because the bar team found an argument for it, a flavor profile covering something no other item in the menu covers, an origin with a verifiable story, a production that justifies the price with something concrete.
At Etro, that criterion produces a menu where cured Pacific coast viche canao occupies the same space as a small-distillery Scotch whisky or an artisan Oaxacan mezcal. Not because they are equivalent in flavor profile (they are entirely different) but because each is present with its own argument.
That approach to building the menu has direct consequences on service: the team can discuss each spirit at the same level of knowledge, make real recommendations based on the guest’s state and the evening, and build an author cocktail with any base from the menu because they understand how each ingredient functions.
Etro: sensoriality as the core of the bar program
Etro’s concept organizes its menu around what the team calls sensoriality: each combination is built to stimulate in sequence. The aroma arrives first and prepares expectations. The entry in the mouth confirms or surprises against those expectations. The finish prolongs the experience beyond the last sip.
That requires a base where the spirits have well-defined profiles the team knows in depth. Colombian spirits are the axis because Etro’s bartenders know them more thoroughly than those at any other bar in the city, not because they are Colombian but because they have worked extensively with them in developing the menu.
- Viche canao. The artisanal spirit from the Colombian Pacific combines notes of fresh sugarcane, local medicinal herbs and a contained sweetness that no industrial aguardiente replicates. Cured in plants like poleo and regional cinnamon, each batch has subtle variations that Etro’s bar artists track and use to adjust proportions.
- Artisan Antioquian aguardiente. Spirits from small Antioquian producers have a higher concentration of anise essential oils that produces a more complex and less linear profile than industrial aguardiente. That complexity enables combinations that standard aguardiente cannot sustain.
- Aged Colombian rum. Rums with extended aging processes have a vanilla, wood and mature sugarcane profile that in combination with Colombian tropical fruits produces cocktails with geographic coherence from start to finish.
La Makha: Viche Canao and international pairings
La Makha complements Etro’s bar program with a different approach: not author cocktails but pairings designed to accompany the restaurant’s Colombian contemporary cuisine.
The wine selection prioritizes productions from Chile, Argentina, Spain and some smaller-scale European wineries with acidity and tannin structures compatible with Colombian cuisine flavor profiles. A Chilean Casablanca Sauvignon Blanc has the right acidity for a Pacific ceviche. A Central Valley Carménère has the structure to hold up against a meat dish with Colombian fruit reduction.
Cured Viche Canao also appears on La Makha’s menu for those who want to explore local spirits in the context of a haute cuisine dinner, not only during a cocktail evening at the rooftop.
For diners wanting to go deeper into pairing, the dining room team can make specific recommendations based on the dishes chosen. Not as a standard chain hotel sommelier service: as genuine guidance based on knowledge of that week’s menu. You can learn more about the author cocktail concept behind these ingredients in the article on author mixology in Medellín and Etro Rooftop.
Frequently asked questions
Is it possible to organize wine pairings at Etro or La Makha?
At La Makha, wine pairings are part of the restaurant’s offering. The team can coordinate a selection based on the dishes chosen with specific recommendations for that week’s menu. At Etro, the focus is on author cocktails with Colombian spirits, with a wine list available for those who prefer that option.
Does Etro Rooftop have cocktails with Colombian ingredients in its premium menu?
Yes. Colombian origin spirits (viche canao, artisan Antioquian aguardiente, aged Colombian rum) are the axis of the bar program. The menu is not built on recognizable international labels but on the diversity of Colombian spirits with origin and process criteria. To see how those ingredients become cocktails with argument, the article on Etro Rooftop’s elevated Colombian mixology develops that process in detail.
Does Etro’s menu have non-alcoholic options within the premium program?
Yes. Etro’s mocktails use the same fresh Colombian ingredients (fruits, herbs, concentrates) as the author cocktails, prepared with the same construction techniques. They are not named juices: they are non-alcoholic versions of the bar program at the same level of elaboration.
Colombian Spirits of Origin · Pairings at La Makha · A Sensory Experience from the 16th Floor
