Where the concierge points people first
- shot bar ZOETROPE — The Nishi-Shinjuku bar people cross the city for when they want Japanese whisky specifically, with a back wall of domestic bottles and old films projected while you drink. Small, so go early in the evening. (35.6945, 139.6984)
- TOKYO Whisky Library — In Omotesando, and it earns the name, with shelves of bottles running up the walls. Better for exploring a range than for a quick drink, and staff will steer you if you name a style. (35.6636, 139.7129)
- キャンベルタウンロッホ — A tiny basement near Hibiya and Yurakucho with a Scotch-first shelf and a loyal following. Expect to wait or be turned away when it is full, which is part of how it stays good. (35.6736, 139.7610)
- Highball Bar 新橋 1923 — One of a small group of highball bars named for the year Yamazaki distillery was founded. Come for a properly made whisky highball after work in Shinbashi rather than a rare dram. (35.6674, 139.7554)
- お酒の美術館 — A Kyoto-born chain that pours from older bottles at unusually low prices, with five Tokyo rows in this list. The place to try something discontinued without paying a collector's markup. (35.7119, 139.7984)
The rest of the whisky bars in Tokyo — every one we hold
- 3rd Place - Whisky Bar (35.6885, 139.7031)
- Bar 96 Moon (35.6642, 139.7827)
- Bar Alec's (35.6691, 139.7603)
- BAR BRUMMELL (35.7010, 139.7402)
- Bar Caol Ila (35.6575, 139.6985)
- Bar Corryvreckan (35.6676, 139.6854)
- Bar es (35.7192, 139.7958)
- Bar Espace Rassurants (35.6722, 139.7387)
- Bar FAL (35.6680, 139.7625)
- BAR Gray (35.6203, 139.7065)
- Bar Hermit Bourbon Side (35.6887, 139.6973)
- Bar Hermit West (35.6887, 139.6973)
- Bar House of Pain (35.6911, 139.7065)
- Bar Kage (35.6715, 139.7613)
- Bar Keith (35.6943, 139.7021)
- Bar KOW (35.6911, 139.7064)
- Bar MON（門） (35.6559, 139.7521)
- Bar Patron (35.6715, 139.7615)
- BAR Rachael (35.6344, 139.7123)
- Bar Roppongi Whisky Salon - BAR 六本木 ウイスキーサロン (35.6617, 139.7325)
- BAR rpm (35.6911, 139.7056)
- Bar Spec (35.6811, 139.7702)
- Bar Spirit (35.6347, 139.7128)
- Bar T.O. (35.6679, 139.7594)
- BAR TRACK (35.6492, 139.7092)
- Bar Trick Ster (35.6883, 139.8002)
- Bar Wednesday Tokyo (35.6632, 139.7346)
- Bar Whisky-S (35.6730, 139.7653)
- BAR 十二社 (35.6896, 139.6869)
- BAR 満 (35.6633, 139.7328)
- BAR 銀座えん然 (35.6695, 139.7619)
- BAR 鶴亀 (35.6835, 139.7833)
- Bar 黒猫 (35.6510, 139.7084)
- Bar武蔵 (35.6676, 139.7621)
- CABIN NAKAMEGURO (35.6434, 139.7013)
- Cask Strength (35.6639, 139.7340)
- CLAN PaPa (35.7172, 139.7663)
- Feis Ile(フィス・イール) (35.6618, 139.7806)
- Ginza Bar Calma HANARE (35.6705, 139.7599)
- Helmsdale (ヘルムズデール) (35.6572, 139.7182)
- HIGHBALL BAR 東京駅 1923 (35.6823, 139.7685)
- Irish Whiskey Enthusiasts (35.6882, 139.7736)
- Islay Whisky Bar (35.6751, 139.7748)
- Isshinji temple (35.6715, 139.7744)
- JACK DANIEL'S Lynchburg Garden (ジャック ダニエル リンチバーグ ガーデン) (35.6564, 139.7572)
- Jigen'S Bar (35.6916, 139.7049)
- Jule's Whisky Collection (35.6697, 139.7638)
- Malt & Deep Soul Liver (35.7076, 139.7711)
- Maltbar Whiskey Voice (35.6292, 139.7785)
- Mizunara Cask (35.6625, 139.7322)
- NOS ORG (35.6624, 139.6985)
- Outdoorsman Bar Rovers (35.6950, 139.7030)
- push up whisky (35.7109, 139.8144)
- S The University of Tokyo (35.7176, 139.7619)
- SAWA (35.6459, 139.6968)
- Scotch Club Ichiyo (35.6673, 139.7602)
- Shinjuku Whisky Salon (35.6917, 139.7061)
- T BAR (35.6914, 139.7069)
- The Whisky Bottle Bar ピレネ (35.6701, 139.7341)
- vitaminG (35.6703, 139.7601)
- Whiskey & Wine Kagurazaka Bar aura (35.7019, 139.7392)
- Whiskey Bar Sinsomnia (35.6977, 139.7020)
- Whisky Bar BAC (35.6733, 139.7739)
- Whisky Bar Hibiki (35.6696, 139.7596)
- Whisky Gibier Bar and Shop Yoyogi Uehara (35.6707, 139.6820)
- Whisky House Maduro Hibiya Okuroji (35.6701, 139.7590)
- あらじんデュオ (35.6690, 139.7653)
- ウイスキーボトルバー希 (35.6712, 139.7612)
- ザ ソサエティ (35.6632, 139.7595)
- サントリーバー 山崎 (35.7087, 139.7713)
- ゾーズ・ショットバー(ZO's Shot Bar) (35.6896, 139.7078)
- ダルトン (35.6711, 139.7620)
- ノア (35.7083, 139.7706)
- バー ハーミットレガロ (35.6887, 139.6986)
- バー ムーンライト (35.6667, 139.7569)
- バー・ザ・トラッド (35.7087, 139.7712)
- バーノア (35.7084, 139.7705)
- ハイボールバー上野駅1923 (35.7120, 139.7761)
- ハウステラス銀座日比谷Bar Whisky‐S Ii (35.6713, 139.7642)
- ムーンシャイン (35.6665, 139.7560)
- ル・コネスール銀座本店 (35.6690, 139.7610)
- ローズ (35.6942, 139.7037)
- ロックフィッシュ (35.6703, 139.7598)
- 天井棧敷の人々 (35.7203, 139.7627)
- 想和果 - そわか (35.6692, 139.7616)
- 日比谷BAR WHISKY-S II (35.6680, 139.7674)
- 水楢佳寿久 (35.6625, 139.7322)
- 洋酒堂 (35.7020, 139.7540)
- 洋風酒場RoBco (35.7291, 139.7641)
- 湯島山崎 (35.7086, 139.7713)
- 神楽坂 ロゼッタ (35.7012, 139.7409)
- 自然派Wine & Whiskey SPIAGGIA3 (スピアッジャ スリー) (35.6681, 139.7528)
- 道玄坂ロック (35.6589, 139.6985)
What the words Japanese whisky now have to mean
Until recently a bottle could say Japanese whisky while holding spirit distilled abroad and bottled in Japan. Since April 2021 the industry's own labelling standard, with full compliance required from April 2024, limits the term to whisky made from grain including malted barley, fermented, distilled and aged at least three years in Japan, and bottled there. It is a voluntary code rather than law, but the big producers follow it, and a knowledgeable bartender will tell you which bottles on the shelf meet it and which are world blends.
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