The post The World’s Best Scotch—According To One Of New York’s Top Whisky Experts appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Yakitori and smoky scotch, a timeless pairing. Photo illustration: Brad Japhe As the general manager and beverage director for Kooth Hospitality, Louis Andia oversees one of the most impressive whisky libraries in all of Manhattan. He doesn’t just pour the juice in question, he helps curate it, personally. Under his purview is Kono, the top-rated yakitori counter in the country–according to North America’s 50 Best Restaurants. Behind its back wall it hides a reservation-only Japanese inspired HiFi listening lounge called Beatbox. Next door is Yamada, a Michelin star kaiseki that recently collaborated with Suntory Global Spirits on a limited menu in which dishes were prepared with the company’s premiere portfolio of whiskies. On the opposite end of a block-long promenade is the Bar at Nakaji, where Andia has amassed one of the largest commercial collections of rare Japanese malts anyone on earth. Thanks to these venues – occupying a nondescript arcade between Elizabeth Street and Bowery – this small section of the Lower East Side exists as a food and beverage destination to compete favorably against any other in Manhattan. Andia is instrumental in that success. He didn’t just happen into that success. The longtime F+B vet has spent decades developing a passion for hospitality…And whisky, of course. Which is to say, if you’re a fan of the category, you ought to take his bottle recommendations seriously. So, we asked him to name his all-time favorite whiskies–ones that you can currently find on shelves, anyway. There’s vintage Japanes stuff he offers at Beatbox, by comparison, that you’d never see anywhere else. But we were somewhat surprised that his preferred pick for everyday drinking was a scotch (don’t worry, he has a pair of Japanese whiskies to share as well). “Laphroaig Cairdeas is my favorite for its sweeter tones: coconut, fuller…

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Filed under: News - @ January 25, 2026 10:24 am