Where to drink in ......

[NeoTexan]

Use this thread to post where to find the best watering holes / microbreweries in each city.

[HighTower]

Brisbane...

If it's bourbon you want, head to Byblos Bar, the best selection you would see in Australia! The food is great too :grin:

Scott

[SBOmarc]

Riverside is not exactly Prime Time...but if you should find yourself here, and you don't have the good sense to PM me, here are your choices.

Yard House, Just opened here in December. 116 beers on tap and a menu that will keep your interest.

Kilarney's Irish Pub, 21 on tap, eat before you go. Great Scotch, Irish and Bourbon Selection.

Mario's. Great Bar...Pappy 20 and still had WTRR 101 over the holidays.

That's all Folks!

[cowdery]

My recommendations for Chicago are here.

[camduncan]

Brisbane...

If it's bourbon you want, head to Byblos Bar, the best selection you would see in Australia! The food is great too :grin:

Scott

I totally agree with Scott.

These guys have gone out of their way to bring in great bourbons not available in Australia.

Here's their site -

http://www.byblosbar.com.au/

Great food and a fantastic bar, all on the Brisbane River.

[StraightBoston]

I'm not sure how useful these will be to most of the members, but most of the expansion of my bourbon-drinking palette has taken place in Japan. A combination of small market size, relatively high disposable income, and preference for aged whisk(e)ys makes this the perfect place to send limited release bourbons that simply aren't sold in the US.

All of my recommendations are relative to Shibuya station -- specifically the Hachiko exit (which I'm told is the busiest crossing in the country!)

If you're buying, go to Kawachiya -- I think I've counted over 70 varieties for sale, of which half aren't available in the States. (The link -- unfortunately in Japanese -- shows what's available.) Directions in Tokyo are particularly tricky -- I always find it at the corner of "the first left after the Udagawacho (robot) police box." Ask around.

If you're drinking, get on the Tokyu Den-en-Toshi line towards Chuo-Rinkan to Saginuma (take the express even though it's crowded!) A 20 minute ride into the suburbs and you will find Sal's Cafe, with a ridiculously comprehensive selection of both bourbon and microbrews. The owner Koji is known to many on this board (even if he doesn't post in these forums as frequently as he used to!) and his English (and taste in music and computers) is impeccable. From the front of the station, turn left, cross over the tracks, then turn left again at the 2nd(?) alley -- Sal's is at the end on the right.

If you can't make it out of town (but you should) then I found a smaller bar in Shibuya called Boylston. Follow the directions in this link. Not as great a bourbon selection as Koji's place, and the owner only speaks Japanese, but you'll still find a bunch of bottles you can't taste back home!

[StraightBoston]

I remembered two more places to drink in Tokyo. These are near Shinagawa station, the east (Konan) exit.

Strings Intercontinental Hotel: Go out the Konan exit skyway, turn right, and duck into the hallway just before the 7-11. Blanton's Gold, Four Roses Single Barrel and Evan Williams 23yo in the lobby bar on the 26th floor.

T.Y. Harbor Brewing Co.: Picture a California brewpub (specifically the Tied House in Mountain View) dropped at the edge of a funky mix of old warehouses and new office buildings in Tennozu Isle. Probably easiest to take a cab. (No bourbon that I recall.)

[bigtoys]

New York City

Well, I'm sure there are others in NYC, but I fell upon Blue Smoke last fall when I was there for a meeting. They have their own van Winkle bourbon and that's where I first had Four Roses. As a bonus, the food (bbq) was excellent. Double bonus: a jazz club, too.

Here's the link: http://www.bluesmoke.com/

[Hondo]

Louisville!

Two of my favorites...

Bourbons Bistro: http://www.bourbonsbistro.com/

AND

Maker's Mark Lounge: http://www.makerslounge.com/site/index.php

Both have an amazing selection of Bourbon!

Hondo

[smokinjoe]

I can't call this the best place to drink in Music City, TN. But, the last time I stayed at the Marriott in Nashville (By the Airport) a week or so ago, they had just brought on Four Roses Single Barrel to the bar, that day. BTW, half of the first bottle they opened...is mysteriously missing......Burp...

[Gillman]

Bardstown, KY. Well, depending on the time of year, there is a wooden gazebo behind a motel there, and some nice folks with a table full of whiskeys, some looking quite old or unusual, arrayed in the centre. Approach them with friendliness and you can sup for no money.

Gary

[barturtle]

Bardstown, KY. Well, depending on the time of year, there is a wooden gazebo behind a motel there, and some nice folks with a table full of whiskeys, some looking quite old or unusual, arrayed in the centre. Approach them with friendliness and you can sup for no money.

Gary

I have a vague, yet fond, recollection of visiting someplace quite like this.

[SBOmarc]

I can't call this the best place to drink in Music City, TN. But, the last time I stayed at the Marriott in Nashville (By the Airport) a week or so ago, they had just brought on Four Roses Single Barrel to the bar, that day. BTW, half of the first bottle they opened...is mysteriously missing......Burp...

You actually left half of it. Very impressive.

[smokinjoe]

I love your optimism, Marc. A "glass half full", outlook. :toast:

Actually, I'm a giver. I want to leave something for the next person. :horseshit:

You know, although their selection isn't spectacular, (Knob, Baker's, Booker's, MM, etc.) they offer a righteous pour at the Hyatt in Garden Grove. I've done some damage with the Baker's, several times!

Cheers!

[smokinjoe]

Bardstown, KY. Well, depending on the time of year, there is a wooden gazebo behind a motel there, and some nice folks with a table full of whiskeys, some looking quite old or unusual, arrayed in the centre. Approach them with friendliness and you can sup for no money.

Gary

Yes, a fine description, Gary. And these nice folks who circle this table, are a happy lot, and can also be described as "quite o(d)d or unusual"...at times. And, that's the way we like it.

BTW, not to veer off here...but it was brought up a couple of times this weekend..., has anyone ever PURCHASED a drink in Bardstown during KBF or Sampler???