Amid the neon blur of Tokyo, Japan’s whisky culture is flourishing, with dozens of specialist bars offering a head-spinning choice of drams If there is a whisky drinkers’ paradise, it is usually assumed to be somewhere in Scotland. Perhaps one of those remote distilleries where you can taste the landscape in the glass. But true connoisseurs know that the best place to drink whisky is almost 6,000 miles away, amid the neon confusion of downtown Tokyo. “There are superb pubs in Edinburgh and London serving great whisky,” says Chris Bunting, Tokyo resident and author of a forthcoming book, Drinking Japan. “But Tokyo’s whisky culture, with dozens of small bars offering thousands of top-quality whiskies, takes it to a different level.” The Japanese have a broad taste in imported Scotch, American bourbons, and the increasingly fine output of domestic distilleries. Tokyo is now home to a multitude of bars. Some are tiny, darkened basements where whisky geeks (or otaku ) sit sampling from old bottles in monkish silence. Others are more stylish joints, where bow-tied experts mix highballs and house specialities for an after-work crowd. This being Tokyo, a dram will cost you dear. But there are a few bargains to be found, and a few bar owners in it for love, not money. Newcomers to Japan, or even to whisky, will discover that they blend together nicely.

Original Source Tokyo, a whisky drinkers’ paradise