• Brandy Library

  25 N. Moore St.; 212-226-5545

  Put a few single-malt enthusiasts in one room, and it can turn pretty quickly into what Ethan R. Kelley, the spirit sommelier at the Brandy Library in Tribeca, calls a “drunk’s Star Trek convention.” But if you don’t know an Islay from a Speyside, Ethan is ready to help you navigate the Library’s two-ring binder of more than 200 single malts organized by region—and find a dram to your liking. Try the “Scotch Novice,” a $22 flight covering six regions of the bonny country, before going on the $32 “Highland Hike.” The Scotch Trek crowd will find plenty to get worked up about in this charming haunt, where everything, from the waitresses’ dresses to the leather banquettes, is the color of a fine malt. There’s the 25-year-old Bunnahabhain, “a lesson in balance,” the rare 27-year-old Dallas Dhu, and the 21-year-old Benriach Authenticus, “a lesson in duality.” The truly devoted can sign on as members ($500 per year) and get a monogrammed spirit glass, a bottle on reserve, and 10 percent off every bill.

From the 2007 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine