Best-of list · World Lists
The 20 best whisky bars in the world for 2026 — from Tokyo's Campbelltoun Loch to Edinburgh's Bow Bar. Read the full editorial guide on barsforKings.
The short answer
10 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.
A great whisky bar is built around the back-bar shelves, not the cocktail menu. Eight hundred bottles minimum. A staff who can talk through Islay peat, high-rye Bourbon, and Japanese Yamazaki without becoming smug. A list that makes you reach for something you'd never have ordered. The 20 below all qualify. From Tokyo's Campbelltoun Loch (where rare Yamazaki sells out monthly) to Edinburgh's Bow Bar (the Old Town's quietest dram), these are the rooms where whisky actually gets discussed, not just poured.
Beyond the 10