Batch 13

The employees follow you around like they’re expecting you to steal everything in sight. Then they high pressure sale you like rug bazaar salesmen. And if they don’t have what you’re looking for they act disgusted that you don’t buy their suggestion. This place has no idea what polite customer service is. They’re bullies. One shopper accidentally knocked over and broke a jar of bitters that was perched precariously on a display next to the register. The manager or owner came over with a very threatening sort of Eastern European Bond thug enforcer attitude demanding «Who’s gonna pay for dis? Huh?»
Ugly. I just walked out. I’ll spend my money where employees can be civilized and courteous.

I walked in here and went to check out the bottles. I was awkwardly followed upstairs by an employee who literally shadowed me as I walked around looking at the bottles. When I finally asked if they had a particular bottle of whiskey, the guy didn’t understand me and just pointed to a bottle of Bullet 10 year and said, «it’s 10 years old»…it wasn’t even at all what I asked for or wanted and thanks for the generic suggestion. I will never come back here; the employees are very rude, make you feel like you’re being watched for shoplifting and clearly aren’t knowledgeable about their supply or able to make good suggestions.

While guy working is very helpful and knowledgeable, the price gouging here is unreal. I was sold a bottle of Blackadder Peat Reek which is priced online (and can be bought online much to my dismay) at $ 70 avg for a 750 ml bottle for $ 130 at this store. Almost double what the bottle should have been priced. Buyer beware!

The creepiest experience I’ve ever had in a retail store. The store was deserted except for the clerk at the counter. As my girlfriend and I, a very unthreatening middle aged couple, entered the store another man appearing to channel Peter Lorre entered from the other front door. He followed us as we climbed the stairs to the second floor to check out the scotch and bourbon selection. We made eye contact as he hovered closely around us, trying to guess if he was policing us for the store or planning to rob us, but he stared, never said a word the entire time we were there. Neither did the clerk behind the counter. The prices were high. I understand about DC rents, but Laphroaig 18 for $ 159.99, really? After about 10 minutes of this the overall creepiness got to us and we left. A hard sell approach would have been welcomed at this point. As we left, we saw our creepy companion join the clerk behind the counter and noticed a family resemblance. If they are so suspicious of their potential customers, they should not be in retail. We will not be back.

I was visiting DC and needed to get a bottle of whiskey for someone as a gift. I was floored at the variety of items available — especially hard to find items from the west coast. The owners were super helpful and asked me a lot of questions about what my friend typically drank to help me find something suitable. I will definitely shop here whenever Im back in town.

Large selection of various types of alcohol and liquors. I didn’t find pricing to be too outrageous. However, the service was subpar. Not that’d you’d expect much but when the guy helping you is continuously following you staring not saying anything that can get low key creepy and just plain annoying! They also don’t have any cool gift bags for alcohol other than wine. I wish their beer selection was a little more, but oh well, what can you do.

Best place to find craft everything. They carry Sonoma Cider too so extra points for sure.

I wanted to like Batch 13. It’s a somewhat upscale neighborhood liquor store, so those are always better to have than the ones surrounded by Plexiglas. I’ve been here a few times to just stop off to get some beer or wine, and they have a lot of tastings during the weekend with various vendors, which I really like.
However, recently I was with a few friends who wanted to get some beer, so my friend opted for the Punk’n ale that they had here. We didn’t really think about it, and while it didn’t taste that good, but whatever, everyone has a different taste in beer. But then my partner tasted it, and to him, it was a bit «skunky» and when he looked at the expiration date, it was a month and a half prior. That kind of makes sense, because for whatever reason, my friend wanted a pumpkin ale in March, so these kinds of beers made in the fall basically expire by now. But by that time, we get already drank four of the six beers, so it wasn’t really a point of bringing it back for refund or something like that. So the next time we stop in at Batch 13, we see that they still had that same beer on sale and with the exact same expiration date, weeks after we purchased ours. We mentioned this to the people there, and they acted like we were crazy — like how could we be complaining for beer that clearly they’re still selling. And we were talking to three or four guys working there, and they just shrugged even though they’re selling an expired product.
I like that it’s a nice place to go get liquor or beer, but I’d rather go to corner liquor store that’s a bit seedy over getting an inferior product and staff that doesn’t care about the quality of the goods they’re selling.

Very convenient! Great Staff Very friendly and knowledgeable about their product. These guys are really a great stop for top shelf wine and liquors. You really should check them out!

Amazing selection of both Wine and spirits, thanks

The guy who was working was both nice and helpful, but this place is overpriced. Expect to pay roughly 20−25% more for your bottles here. As an example, Evan Williams Single Barrel 2004 bourbon has an MSRP of $ 26.99, and most places sell it for that price. Here, it’s $ 8 more at $ 34.99. Every bottle I saw at Batch 13 was more expensive than I’ve seen at other places.
So yeah, if you’re in a bind and need some booze fast, this isn’t a bad place. But just go in expecting to pay more that usual.

Really poor customer service, and I always get negative vibes from the owner. No one seems to ever crack a smile, and I sometimes get glares from the owner. It’s odd, because there are some great reviews here. They have a decent enough selection, but the folks at Cork are sooooooo much nicer.

I am a gin drinker and Batch 13 has one of the best gin selections that I’ve ever seen. Most places stock Bombay, Tanqueray and maybe Hendricks. Batch 13 sells many indie brands and the owner or manager always seems to be adding something new to the mix. They also sell some unique things like tonic syrups that you don’t often find in a retail space. If you are a gin drinker, then this store should be your go-​to spot to buy it.

Honestly, one of the best places to grab a bottle around 14^th street. It seems like every weekend they are always hosting a tasting from a local distillery or an interesting wine.
Frankly, I’m baffled by some of the other reviews on here that describe a poor experience because EVERY time I go into the store the folks are friendly and provide top-​notch customer service.
Bottom line: If you are looking for something more than a plain vanilla liquor store, you should definitely check it out.

This store is awesome! I love that they carry craft brands that I can’t find anywhere else! The prices are amazing and the staff is always great!

Great selection. Convenient location.
I basically come here to pick up wine, beer or liquor so I don’t show up empty-​handed at dinner parties, BBQs, brunches, etc.
Not sure why others had bad customer service. I had two different people on the floor and at the register ask me separately if I needed any help.
This is the city — thus, the prices. People forget that real estate plays even more heavily into pricing for mom and pop shops.

LOVE LOVE LOVE Batch 13!!!
We always spend a good chunk of money when we go in here, and not because things are expensive, he actually has some good prices on items, such as DC Brau which we usually find for $ 14, but he has it for $ 10, but because we see so many things we want!
They are, as far as we know, the only liquor place that sells the Corsair line around here. Corsair is a great distillery that makes outstanding stuff (check them out). Their Triple Smoke whiskey, and Red Absinthe are wonderful, and we are keeping an eye out for the seasonal Pumpkin.
Batch also has all the local distillery’s items, such as Catoctin Creek, Green Hat Gin and a couple other places in VA. So that makes us local supporters happy.
They also have tastings on Fridays and Saturdays (I think it is those days) and they usually do tastings of liquor and wine, of which we have purchased several items.
The guy that is usually there is named George… so we are partial to that name.
They are also dog friendly, the owner will walk out from behind the counter and give your dog a treat.
So great!

Based on the booze alone, this place would be four stars. If you have an odd spirit you’re looking for, then this is your place in the District. I’m a bit of a booze geek, and even I was impressed. Cocchi Americano, Luxardo Amaretto, Taylors Falernum, Zucca, Bittermens Bitters, FRICKIN’ Zucca! Their bourbon selection may be the best in the region and the beer selection is also very good. Also, it’s so nice to see a place that doesn’t have a wall of vodka, all of which tastes virtually the same but markets itself through celeb endorsement and fancy packaging. Ugh, stupid, stupid, vodka. That said, Scotch selection is a bit weak and the prices on everything are a bit high, though that’s not unusual for DC. What really ticks me off though is that the two times I’ve been there, the staff has been really unfriendly. The first time I told the guy I was just walking back from lunch and stopped in to see the place because I hadn’t been in before. I told him he had great selection and he just shrugged. I smiled and told him I lived a few blocks over and I’d have to make a place in my monthly booze budget just for his store and he just stared at me, not even cracking a smile, before going back to looking at his smart phone. Look, I know it wasn’t a piece of comic gold, but I basically just told him he had a great store, I live in the neighborhood, and I was looking forward to becoming a regular customer: how about at least saying thanks and we hope we can help you find whatever you need, or something like that? I work in MoCo, where the folks who run the County stores just seem like hateful people, but the selection is good and the booze is dirt cheap. I’m used to unfriendly employees at a county store and put up with it for the price. However, if you’re going to open a high-​end booze store in the middle of a neighborhood in DC, you might want to consider being a bit more friendly to the folks who come into your store. Oh, and the second time I had a hard time even finding someone who worked there. Walking out with a bottle of booze would not have been hard.
My other beef is that a lot of stuff has no price tag. I know a bottle of Zucca is not going to be a couple of bucks, okay, so how about letting me know what the damage is before I bring it to the register? Otherwise, I’ll just swing by Ace Beverages up near AU or order from BevMo, DrinkUpNY, or some other site where I know the price and tend to get a decent deal, even when shipping and handling come into play. For booze I can’t find in MoCo, I’d love to support local retail, but with haphazard price labeling and unfriendly staff, I’m not so inclined.

So many tastings, so little time! I don’t know how often they roll out the samples the way they were when I stopped in during the holiday season, but there were five or six labels doing tastings, many of them with five or more goodies to try. And since I firmly believe spit buckets are for sissies, I was definitely aglow with the, uh, holiday spirit by the time I left.
I also took some time to look around a bit before I got bleary-​eyed (also during and after), so I can note that there’s a hefty selection of craft beers, conveniently organized and labeled by brew type (pale ales, belgians, etc.), with many categories filling an entire freezer. I don’t know shit about wine but there seemed to be a lot of it, and there were also tons of liquors that I didn’t recognize in cool bottles and such, bitters, etc., so I’m thinking this’d be a great place to score an easy gift for your favorite classy drunkard. Also, numerous entertaining signs reveal that they carry kegs. So, there ya go. You’ve got your birthday gifts, cocktail parties and keggers covered in one spot. Boom.

I’m not a big alcoholic guy, so take my advice for what it’s worth, but they seemed to have a really good selection of wine and interesting beers.
I went in to purchase some wine for a Thanksgiving dinner I’m attending. I asked the sales person for a couple of cheap bottles that might go well with turkey. He chose a couple, I took them and bought them. Do I know if they are really good for the price? Not really… as I said I don’t know diddly about wine, but he was nice, the place looked interesting, and they did their job, so for that I’m giving it 4 stars. I’ll probably come here again if I need some alcohol.