Lifestyle Mirror

“Five years ago, before Mad Men and the ‘cocktail culture’ had really come into its own, Rhys [Botica] had dreamed of a bar serving as many whiskeys as he could get his hands on,” says Heather Garrett, interior designer of Whiskey in Durham, North Carolina and wife to the locale’s owner, Rhys Botica. With more than 400 labels, the largest selection in the South, Whiskey more than met its mark.

As a “private club for members aged 23 years or over and their guests,” Whiskey is more than an oasis for grain liquor; it’s a sophisticated, full-concept experience.

With a one-time membership fee of $3—in keeping with antiquated North Carolina laws—patrons can spend an evening saddled up to the dark-wood bar of the ground level. But it’s upstairs at The Club Room where one hundred lucky regulars can relish the full experience. After a $150 annual fee and adherence to dress code—cocktail attire only—members can enjoy a separate entrance, their own bar, private wine tastings, invitation-only whiskey tastings, and cigar smoking events.

“Many drinking venues had become so dumbed down,” explains Garrett, the mind behind Whiskey’s 1930s-inspired ambience. And while the music—plenty of crooning from swing and big band musicians like Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong—and dim lighting certainly help, it’s the pre-Prohibition-inspired cocktail menu, with The French 75 and a Rittenhouse Ginger Sour (get the recipe here), that ensure the club’s authenticity.

“Where could you go for a proper cocktail, with a proper bartender wearing a waistcoat and serving your drink in an antique glass?” In North Carolina, at the very least, the answer is undoubtedly Whiskey. —Sasha Levine (@sashalevine)