Whisky

A trip to Tokyo isn't complete without checking out its whisky bars. I'm not interested in the chic and hip clubs of the moment or fancy cocktails. I just want my alcohol from grotty whisky bars or those with old world charm. Or perhaps, I'm not in a mood to dress up and would like to just sprawl at places that won't raise an eyebrow if we're in jeans.

I wasn't looking to try Japanese whisky per se. They often don't contain peat and aren't layered enough for my palate. I prefer the deep smoky notes or briny taste of the Scottish drams. So for the whisky bars I'm interested in, I'd like to make sure they also have a selection of non-Japanese malts. However, it is ironic as Suntory now owns Bowmore Distillery, Auchentoshan and Glen Garioch; Nikka has interests in Ben Nevis, and Takara Shuzo owns the majority share of Tomatin Distillery.

Not surprisingly, the friends went along with the focus on whisky bars. Quite enthusiastically, too. We picked three bars to hang out at in the city. There're Cask at Ropponggi Minato-ku, Quercus at Ikebukuro and Bar Track at Ebisu. Polished wood, ambient lighting, plenty of choices for whisky. AWESOME. I made a note of the Japanese words for my few favorite whisky just so that I can identify it the next time. Not too difficult when they split the menu into Highlands, Islay, Speyside, etc. I could hazard a guess, but need the friends to help me translate.

While one can't smoke anywhere and anyhow along the streets of Tokyo except at the designated smoking areas, the whisky bars still permit smoking within. Likewise, MOS Burger. If MOS Burger takes the whole building, there'll be one smoking floor that is entirely filled with putrid smells. It takes alot of guts to sit there. Which will then mean, the rest of the non-smoking floors stink of cigarette smoke too. So out of the whisky bars and back in the rooms, we had to spritz plenty of Febreze (or its Japanese equivalent provided by the hotel) to get rid of those stale cig smells.