Best Place to Get?Japanese Whisky: Mrs. Fish

Stationed in the bowels of the building that houses Perch and adjacent to historic Pershing Square, this reinvented club offers a refined dining experience with a focus on cocktails and Japanese victuals, plus a massive array of Japanese whisky. Here you truly can go down the rabbit hole of whisky exploration with everything from inexpensive rice-based distillates from Kikori to rare finds from Suntory. Expect to see stateside rarities including Yamazaki 18-year Mizunara cask and Hibiki 21-year, as well as a $500-a-shot Komagatake 30-year single malt.

Director of operations Alex Reznik has been a whiskey connoisseur for years, traveling the country to Tennessee and back sampling everything the United States had to offer. He fell under the spell of Japanese whisky while researching the curation of?Mrs. Fish's bar, which he says has the best whisky collection on the West Coast.

The passion of the Japanese whisky distilleries put into it, the attention to detail, is an artistry, ? Reznik tells?L.A. Weekly, who also says that L.A. can be credited with starting the Japanese trend.

We've been doing it hundreds and hundreds of years; the tradition is ingrained in our culture. Japanese whisky is relatively new. Every year the master distiller changes it up. They don't have as many restrictions. In the U.S., our whiskeys are bourbon. We use brand-new American oak every year. In Japan, they're not restricted by the same kind of methodology because of the heritage. They use all different kinds of barrels ? sherry casks, old Scottish, port or cabernet casks ? to get the specific balance they are looking for. Every year it's completely different. They're not mass-produced, so every year it's a different batch, and that's what makes them so rare.??Janelle Bennet

448 S. Hill St., downtown; (213) 873-4444,mrsfish.com.

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A: Best Asian Bistro (Nomad);?Best New Restaurant (Auburn)

B: Best Brewery (Imperial Western Beer Company);?

Best Brunch Bowl (Mar Vista Cranked Bowl)

C: Best Bakery Cafe (El Carrusel Bakery)

D: Best Donuts (Trejo's Coffee and Donuts)

E: Best Eggs (Egg Tuck)?

F: Best Fried Chicken Sandwich (Preux & Proper)

G: Best Gelato?(Gelateria Uli)

H: Best Hotel Bar?(Poolside at the Hotel Figueroa's Veranda)

I: Best Indian?(India's Tandoori)

J: Best Place to Get Japanese Whisky (Mrs. Fish)

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L: Best Lasagna (Viale dei Romani)

M: Best Middle Eastern (Bavel); [/column]

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U: Best Udon (Marugame Monzo)

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Y: Best Yakitori Bar (Hatch Yakitori + Bar)

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