Boston’s Best Bars

The December issue of Whisky Magazine features an article about Boston’s Best Bars.(You mean to say you don’t regularly read Whisky Magazine? What? You prefer the New York Times, or the Economist? Keep in mind that there’s always good news in Whisky Magazine, and these days, rarely any bad news. It was bad news in the early nineties, when they reported that the Rosebank distillery was closing. And it was pretty bad news to hear that some folks may very well be mixing Highland Park with sweetened iced tea, which according to the same December issue, might be happening in venues located in the Far East. But on balance, it’s far more pleasant to read than most other print publications.)

In any event, the article about Boston’s Best spotlights seven establishments, three of which have been the subject of our postings. That’s a pretty good average, considering that I’m not a Boston resident, and have only a few days each year when I’m actually within the Boston city limits. And that means if you are one of the six or seven intermittent readers of this blog, you knew about some of these establishments long before they were publicized in Whisky magazine.

For instance, The Last Hurrah. Not only have we written about The Last Hurrah, but we’ve made it a regular stop on almost all of our Boston visits. John takes us to a variety of eating and drinking establishments, many of which now have terrific cocktail bars. One example would be Eastern Standard in Kenmore Square, where they are doing classic cocktails in a big way, with knowledgeable bartenders and a deep inventory of spirits, liqueurs, aperitifs and mixers. And they have a good selection of whiskies made remarkable by the fact that Hirsch is still available at an affordable price. But for variety of malt whiskies, and more importantly, for the opportunity to drink stuff that’s hard to find elsewhere, the place is the Last Hurrah. Not to mention that the owner, Frank, who is often found behind the bar, really, really knows his stuff. It’s almost impossible to duplicate the experience of talking whisky, drinking great hard-to-find malts, and even learning about new, previously unknown malts.

Unless of course, you walk a couple blocks down toward the waterfront and visit Joe Howell at Federal Wine and Spirits. Federal is not a bar; it’s a retail shop. Still, Whisky Magazine included Federal in its short list of great Boston bars. And maybe they did that because once Joe figures out that you love whisky, it’s hard not to taste a number of different malts before you figure out what to buy. I recall stopping in Federal to look for Rosebank, and being introduced to Bladnoch, the other great lowland distillery, which incidentally has reopened. More recently, Joe has been evangelizing about Glenfarclas, mainly because it is such a great value in today’s overpriced market. And that’s the right term for Joe -- he really is a whisky evangelist, doing his best to spread the good word about all the wonderful spirits he stocks in that tiny little shop.

Whisky Magazine also selected Drink, which is John’s favorite watering hole, in part because it’s only about two blocks from where he lives, but also because they are as fervent about cocktails as Joe and Frank are about whisky. It’s not just the recipe, nor the spirits in the drink, but the mixing technique, the glass, even the shape and quantity of the ice. Attention is paid to every detail, as a result of which, the drinks are fabulous.

Anyway, the point of all this is that you can learn all this important information, not just in Whisky Magazine, but right here in this blog. And you can learn about it much earlier. I know that at least one reader, who formerly resided on Hatherly Road, has been to Federal, and has received personal recommendations from Joe, and as a result has bought some great spirits for loved ones in his family, and he did this a couple years before he could have learned about it from the magazine. So stay tuned for other great whisky news. And also stay tuned for some postings about this year’s Orange crop, which seems to be promising, although it’s admittedly early in the season. More on that to come very soon.