Salt - A Bar Review
Just a few blocks from our hotel, we tried a whiskey bar in London's Mayfair neighborhood called Salt. While not as well known as some of London's other whiskey bars, Salt is well worth visiting. In particular, for Americans, you'll find some bourbons here that are either unavailable or unaffordable in the United States. Also, unlike most dedicated whiskey places, Salt is a full restaurant and also a hookah bar! Atmosphere and Service: Salt is on a corner in the northern area of Mayfair, a few blocks above the northeast corner of Hyde Park. The restaurant has a cosmopolitan feel. The aesthetic leans toward the sleek and upscale, without necessarily standing out from the crowd in this type of neighborhood. As mentioned above, it's a restaurant-bar, so a solid one-stop shop to grab a bite to eat, drink a few drams, and enjoy a hookah at the end of the night. Service is quick and friendly, and the bartenders are true lovers of whiskey. The one who attended us would pour our drinks and then get a whiff of the emptied measuring glass to appreciate the aroma of what we'd ordered. I liked the fact that we were dealing with someone who actually liked whiskey. As a general comment, it felt like there was more of a "whiskey culture" in the UK. The customers crowded around in Milroy's excitedly discussed what they were drinking, including, in one case, speculating as to which Islay distillery made the Port Askaig he was sampling. Whiskey shop employees became very enthused when we talked about scotch with them, and we got into a debate with one about the merits of Ardbeg Kelpie. I loved that part of London. Selection: This bar features approximately 150 bottles of the dark stuff, which is a respectable range. Every region of Scotland is well-represented, and Salt has an especially robust choice of Islay whiskies. Unlike a lot of places in London, this bar also does not neglect American bourbons and ryes. Helpfully, the bar maintains its whiskey list online, so take a look and see if there's something you like!
Rare Bottles: Different countries have different whiskey preferences, which opens up unexpected opportunities. Londoners or Europeans don't seem to love bourbon as much as they enjoy scotch. This meant that we saw a few bars that had bottles of Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. Salt, for instance, had both George T. Stagg and William Larue Weller (charmingly listed on the menu as W.L. Weller cask strength). It also had a number of rare scotches, which are featured in a central showcase area in the bar. (Tellingly, Weller and Stagg don't get that treatment.) These include some bottlings of Port Ellen and Rosebank, the long-shuttered but storied distilleries. Value: For London and Mayfair, this bar has great, or at the very least fair, prices. The Weller and Stagg pours were somewhere in the range of $25 an ounce (and bear in mind tipping isn't necessary in UK bars). Compare that to the price of either of those two bourbons in the US, where you'd be lucky to find them for $50 an ounce or more. (For instance, at Haymarket in Louisville, these are $70 an ounce!) There are also plenty of scotches, including some fairly nice ones, available for $10 or less. A pour of Ardbeg 10 was 5 pounds, Bowmore 12 was 4, and Springbank 10 was 4.50.
***
Salt wasn't the most unique or memorable bar in its decor, but it had a rich variety of excellent whiskies, and charged a fair price for them. That makes it a worthy bar in my book!