Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on December 2009

Screwdriver
Photo by Yoshitaka Dazai

If you’re going to do something, you may as well do it obsessively. Tokyo’s top alcohol senmonten (specialist bars) offer world-beating lineups of booze served by people with a professorial knowledge of their passions. If you want to learn about drinks, here’s where to pull up a seat.

Shot Bar Bourbon Bottles: 500. Kyoichi Okuno calls his eight-seat Ginza bolt-hole a “bourbon museum,” and that’s a fair description. You can read the history of the drink on these shelves, from 19th-century bottles warning against applying their labels to bootleg products, through the Prohibition-era drinks that were “for medicinal purposes only,” to modern times when marketing teams figured out you’d pay more for a “distiller’s edition.” Better still, you can taste the history: while some of Tokyo’s bourbon specialists are reluctant to open their prestige bottles, this one loves to pour his best stuff. But no, you can’t have it with coke. Where to begin: Okuno ages Wild Turkey and Four Roses in casks on his bar. Pick one and compare the rested version with the original. B1F, 8-4-4 Ginza, Chuo-ku. Tel: 03 3575-1239. Open Mon-Fri 6pm-4am, Sat 6pm-2am, closed Sun. Nearest stn: Shimbashi (Ginza exit). http://ameblo.jp/shotbarbourbon

Campbelltoun Loch Bar Bottles: approx 250. It’s not just the number of bottles that makes Campbelltoun Loch Bar special; it’s also the turnover. Bartender Nobuyuki Nakamura buys around ten new bottles a week, and his fast-moving, first-rate selections make this a regular stop for whisky industry workers and serious Scotch buffs. If there’s a rare bottling you’ve dreamed of trying, or a new release you’d like to check out, this is a very good place to look for it. It’s an intimate establishment, and usually bustling, so don’t even think of turning up in a large group. Where to begin: Try any release from Springbank, the biggest name from the Campbeltown region, beside an Ardbeg Supernova, the most intensely peaty whisky on the market. 1-6-8 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku. Tel: 03-3501-5305. Open Mon-Fri 6pm-4am, Sat-Sun & hols 6-11:30pm. Nearest stn: Yurakucho or Hibiya (exit A4).

Zoetrope Varieties: approx 300. Japanese whisky has been a magnet for major awards recently, with Yoichi, Hibiki and Taketsuru all scooping international trophies in the last couple of years. The world is waking up to the sensational flavors pouring out of this country’s distilleries, but Atsushi Horigami was years ahead of the curve. In 2005 he opened Zoetrope, a bar packed with domestic single malts and blends. In contrast to Scotland’s distilleries, which have distinctive house styles, each of Japan’s distilleries produces a whole spectrum of styles, giving Horigami plenty to choose from. He also serves Japanese rums, brandies and Doppo, a spirit distilled from beer which resembles a rough vodka or a really bad whisky. The name Zoetrope, after a 19th century optical toy, refers to Horigami’s other passion—cinema—which accounts for the giant screen playing silent movies. Where to begin: A tasting set of Suntory and Nikka standards. 7-10-14 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku. Tel: 03-3363-0162. Open Mon-Sat 7pm-4am, closed Sun & hols. Nearest stn: Shinjuku (east exit). http://homepage2.nifty.com/zoetrope

Courtesy of Agave

Agave Bottle count: 350-400. Was there ever a drink more misunderstood than tequila? It takes up to a decade to grow the source ingredient, agave, which requires great skill to harvest. The plant is pressed, fermented, twice distilled and sometimes aged in a bourbon cask. Then you muchachos treat it like cheap party fuel and fire it straight into your bloodstreams. Luckily there’s Agave (right), which for over a decade has been teaching Tokyo to sip and savor this fine drink. The bar is modeled after an upmarket cantina, but you won’t find many joints in Guadalajara with a menu this extensive. Where to begin: Whether you only know tequila as a party drink, or you think premium tequila begins and ends with Patron, a Don Julio 1942 will transform your view of the drink. Sip it with a sangrita (spicy tomato-juice chaser). B1F, 7-15-10 Roppongi, Minato-ku. Tel: 03-3497-0229. Open Mon-Thu 6:30pm-2am, Fri-Sat 6:30pm-4am, closed Sun & Mon hols. Nearest stn: Roppongi (exit 2). www.agave.jp

Screwdriver Bottle count: approx 400. The city’s largest rum collection is tucked away in a Kichijoji backstreet. With an intimate, all-wood interior, calypso from the speakers, and upbeat, informative staff, Screwdriver (above) is exactly what you want in a rum bar. Neophytes can drink half shots of contrasting styles; connoisseurs can store their tasting notes in a bookcase beside the bar. Where to begin: Try a Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva, an easy-to-drink 12-year-old Venezuelan with notes of orange, chocolate and caramel, alongside a Rhum Bielle, which is a whopping 59 percent alcohol but has a nose of fresh tomato. 4F Toei Bldg, 1-20-15 Kichijoji-Honcho, Musashino-shi. Tel: 0422-20-5112. Open daily 7pm-4am. Nearest stn: Kichijoji (north exit). www.screw-driver.com

Sherry Club Bottles: approx 150. In 2007, Sherry Club was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for its unrivalled menu of Spanish fortified wines. At the time, they offered 227 labels; now they claim just 150, but that ought to see you through an evening. More importantly, the bartenders are truly knowledgeable. When you work at Sherry Club, you study to be a venenciador (think sherry sommelier with flashier pouring skills) and intern in Spanish bodegas to learn how the drink is produced. If you want to see their prowess, order a Paloma oloroso from the cask. Where to begin: Compare a crisp, dry Viva La Pepa manzanilla with a deep, rich Don Jose oloroso. 6-3-17 Ginza, Chuo-ku. Tel: 03-3572-2527. Open Mon-Sat 5pm-4am, closed Sun. Nearest stn: Ginza (exit C2). www.sherry-club.com

Popeye Drafts: 70. The capital is blessed with several great beer specialists, but Popeye was an easy choice. It’s got the numbers: a staggering 70 draft brews. It’s got the quality: most of the taps pour Japanese craft beers. It’s got the knowledge: owner Tatsu Aoki is one of Japan’s foremost authorities on all things malt and hops. Add warm and speedy service, and this 24-year-old pub is the best place to drink beer in Tokyo. Where to begin: The “Tenpler” tasting set of ten 70ml glasses that takes you from whites to stouts. 2-18-7 Ryogoku, Sumida-ku. Tel: 03-3633-2120. Open Mon-Sat 5-11:30pm, closed Sun. Nearest stn: Ryogoku (west exit). www.40beersontap.com

Screwdriver
Photo by Yoshitaka Dazai

Bloody Doll Bottle count: approx 500. Vodka is the spirit that celebrates neutrality—a drink that’s distilled to within an inch of its flavor. So the obvious question for Hiroshi Tsuchiya is: why fill a bar with the stuff? “My wife is Russian, so I began buying vodkas,” he says. “Eventually I had to get a bar to put them in.” And he doesn’t believe for a second that they all taste alike. Though this long, dark counter bar is in the heart of Ginza’s upscale drinking turf, it’s an approachable, jovial place where the banter flows as fast as the vodka. Where to begin: Try a neutral brand like Skyy or Stolichnaya alongside a pungent vodka such as Vietnam’s popcorn-fragranced Nêp Mói or Mongolia’s Arkhi, which is distilled from yak’s milk and tastes of sour goat’s cheese. 2F, 7-4-7 Ginza, Chuo-ku. Tel: 03-3289-8155. Open Mon-Fri 6pm-3am, Sat-Sun & hols 6pm-midnight, irregular holidays. Closest stn: Ginza (exit B9) or Shimbashi (Ginza exit). www.bloodydoll-ginza.com