Shebeen's - A Bar Review
Vancouver's not exactly top of mind when it comes to cities with top whiskey bars, but there are at least two bars there that stack up well against any major city. On a weekend trip to Vancouver, my wife and I made it to one of the two, Shebeen's/The Irish Heather, an Irish pub with two names and a wall of whiskey.
Atmosphere and Service: Shebeen's has the decor and atmosphere of a classic Irish-American pub, bedecked with classic advertisements and merchandise by Guinness. It's a well kept but no-frills, wood-paneled style, with a high ceiling and an impressive shelf of whiskies that stretches from bar to ceiling. The service is friendly and quick, living up to my image of Canadians, and my memories from spending some of my early childhood years in Toronto (not in its bar scene, of course). The bartenders served us quickly and offered waters without being asked. Shebeen's is more of a place where someone can come enjoy a drink, not one of those bars where the tenders are frantically throwing together an order of six vodka tonics with accompanying tequila shots while simultaneously taking the next two groups' drink orders. That being said, even at 1 AM, there was a large group of patrons sing-shouting The Killers' Mr. Bright Side, so it's not exactly a monastery atmosphere.
Selection: In a word, extensive. The Irish whiskey selection alone was several shelves of distinctive yellow and green spots. The scotch portion of the menu filled a large page even with small print, and also divvied up the scotches by region (a sure bet that a bar has a strong selection). Perhaps the best thing to say about it was that the bar was so devoted to whiskies that they only had room for 1-2 options for other types of liquor, like vodka or gin (Tempo Gin, a BC brand, and The Botanist, of Islay extraction). No messing around here. The menu up online isn't 100% current, but it seemed like it was 90-95% accurate, which is understandable given the shifting nature of any bar's collection of bottles. For instance, Thomas H. Handy Sazerac, which is on the online menu, wasn't on the physical one that I saw -- clearly the Vancouver BTAC fans drank their fill.
Rare Bottles: Rarity seemed to be a strong suit of Vancouver's whiskey bars. Shebeen's had a list of rare bottles as long as some bars' lists of whiskies, period. They stocked several Ardbeg limited editions, including Auriverdes and Perpetuum, Lagavulin 8 and 12 year limited releases, Laphroaig Cairdeas 2015, and several Bruichladdich Black Art and Octomore bottles. And that's just the Islay rarities! I also spotted some Kavalan Soloist on the shelf for the cutting-edge international whiskey lovers amongst us. Fets Whisky Kitchen, another Vancouver bar, seemed to have an even deeper bench and was affiliated with the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), so housed many of that group's independent cask-strength bottlings. SMWS bars seem like a special treat and aren't in every city, but we just didn't have time to make it to Fets during this trip. Although not an SMWS bar, Shebeen's collection already would be the most impressive in Miami or several major US cities.
Value: Prices aren't cheap in Canada, as liquor prices in general (including in liquor stores) are higher than in the States by quite a bit. We stuck to rarer bottles, where the prices were higher but relatively speaking the premium compared to basic expressions wasn't that extensive. For instance, we had a pour of Ardbeg Auriverdes (a 1 oz) for $18 Canadian (about $14-15 US) when the 10 year was $13 Canadian. The value in the menu, relatively speaking, lies in the higher-priced, rarer expressions. In New York, Auriverdes probably is priced at 1.5 to 2 times the standard 10, at the few bars that stock it. Similarly, while Shebeen's had it, they poured Handy for about $20-21 (U.S.) an ounce, which is pricey but half or less of what I've seen bars charge in the States.
Random Tips: Although we wanted to visit Fets, one reason we couldn't is that it closes at 12 AM, pretty early for a bar! Shebeen's is open until 2 AM, which is a boon for us late night whiskey lovers. If one wants to hit both bars in a night, which is feasible since they're only about 5 minutes apart, I recommend going to Fets first and then closing out the night at Shebeen's. Also, although somewhat random, the bar goes by two names -- Irish Heather and Shebeen's. I suppose in theory Irish Heather is the pub/restaurant, whereas Shebeen's is the whiskey bar, but I don't think there are separate physical spaces (at least not that I saw). The easier entrance to find is the one called Irish Heather on Carrall Street. Also, a public parking lot called "Lot 4" is located around the corner and about a block away on East Cordova Street, which is quite convenient.