Meet Me in Beverly Hills. (You Do Have $300 or so Just Lying Around, Right?)

[EssJaySea]

Just came across a story on an LA-area food/restaurant blog about a new cigar bar in about the fanciest part of Beverly Hills. Story link but the best parts:

In its previous life as Ten Pound, the bar was definitely more focused on the booze front. The bar was even branded one of the only official Macallan-approved bars in the world, the other being in Dubai. But now the Cigar and Whiskey Bar is less focused on name-brand scotch and instead offers a wide array liquor from across the world. The scotch choices are still impressive, with highlights like Highland Park Thirty-Year-Old priced at aa cool $315 a serving, or Laphroig Twenty-Seven-Year-Old for $165, though everyday picks can still run in the sub-$20 range. Cocktails focus on classics like the Martinez, Boulevardier, or Rusty Nail, each available with standard or luxury booze. Expect a $50 minimum to enjoy the space, though with a drink and a cigar that hurdle is easy to achieve.

And:

Overall, the new Cigar and Whiskey lounge is a commitment to a specific kind of upscale nightlife that feels even more particular when in Beverly Hills. The city itself banned smoking in public places a couple of years ago, and even prohibited the sale of tobacco outside of four specific lounges that received grandfathered permits: Nazareth’s, the Grand Havana Club (which is a member’s only club), the classic Buena Vista Cigar Club, and the Cigar and Whiskey Bar, which retains its paperwork from the previous tenant. It’s a good thing the Maybourne thought it was important to reopen this lounge.

I feel like $315 could buy a lot of tobacco or even bottles of scotch or bourbon.

 

[shanez]

I would have thought Beverly Hills would get more than $315 for that particular Scotch.

In general $300-$500 for expensive and/or rare drinks is not uncommon in upscale establishments.

 

[philobeddoe]

Laphroaig 30yr. is nectar, I assume 27yr. would be also.

 

[Servant King]

This venue obviously has no interest whatsoever in trying to lure in sufferers of PAD/TAD. No such folks would ever plunk down three C notes for a scotch when they'd be perfectly content to hang onto that dough for the next Esoterica drop...

 

[weezell]

F#@kin crazy in my book! ...

 

[SmokeClouds]

Prices are up to par with other establishments of the same kind. Most likely their bread and butter will be the sales of cocktails. These old Highland Parks can be delicious depending on when the whisky was distilled, 60's and 70's stuff usually being exemplary if bottled by the distillery. Newer bottlings unfortunately are a little disappointing, not bad by any means but definitely not great by any measure.
The older Laphroaigs are one of a kind, too bad that we'll never see stuff like that again due to changes in production methods.
$315 can buy a few great bottles if you know how to pick and have a proper selection.

 

[johnnyreb]

It’s all about the profit margins & the IRS entertainment write off.