GREENWICH VILLAGE — A new whiskey bar on Eighth Street aims to educate New Yorkers on the watering hole's namesake spirit.
Whiskey Social opened at 35 W. 8th St. barely a month ago and already hosted its first "Whiskey U."
Whiskey U will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. every Wednesday, featuring a specialty cocktail and a new whiskey each week off their expansive menu of approximately 100 brands separated out by regions. Happy hour starts at 6 p.m., and the "educational" portion of the evening begins at 7 p.m.
Usquaebach, a Scottish distillery that purports to date their particular blend back to the 1700s, sponsored the inaugural event, which brought in the women's whiskey-drinking club, Women Who Whiskey. Attendees got to try Usquaebach scotch, with a lesson from an Usquaebach "ambassador," as well as a specialty cocktail named "Sticks and Stones."
Women Who Whiskey is free to join, and open to men as well (on special occasions).
Whiskey Social sells whiskey by the glass and by the bottle, with bottles ranging in price from less than $150, such as the $140 Powers Irish Whiskey or $145 Maker’s Mark bourbon, or more than $600, such as the $620 Johnnie Walker Blue scotch or the $615 18-year Yamasaki Japanese whisky.
Imbibers can also try regional "flights," featuring whiskeys from Kentucky, the “Wild West,” Scotland, the South, Canada and Japan, with three brands featured per flight, ranging in price from $20 to $30.
The bar's Whiskey Social Club offers "bottle keep service" and personal lockers, which are available for $100 with the purchase of any bottle of whiskey. If the bottle is $250 or more, the locker is free.
Members can access their bottle whenever they want it. When they leave, it goes back into their locker. Membership also grants invites to special events, 10 percent off of all food and preferred seating in the dining area.
The food menu includes appetizers, from a $7 house-smoked fish dip with pickled hot peppers to a $16 charcuterie and cheese board, and entrees, from a $10 grilled cheese to a $26 steak frites.
There's also a brunch menu of mostly southern fare including shrimp with cheddar grits ($13), duck fat confit chicken wings with hot sauce and blue cheese ($13), crispy fried chicken with corn bread and apple slaw ($14), and a “Southern burger” with fried pickles and barbecue sauce ($17).
Along with whiskey, the bar offers draft beer, wines, and a cocktail menu of $13 drinks made from various spirits.
Whiskey Social, 35 West 8th St., (646) 726.4476. Open daily at 4 p.m., until midnight Sunday through Wednesday, 2 a.m. on Thursday and 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
