Bar Ben Fiddich, located just minutes away from the busy area of Shinjuku, is one of the most notable bars in Tokyo, especially since winning World’s 50 Best Bars in 2017 and also again in 2018 and 2019.

The bar might be hard to find as it’s located in a covert multi-tenant building. Even when you think you’ve arrived at the right place and head into the elevator, there’s only an indistinctive sticker indicating that Bar Ben Fiddich is located on the 9th floor. As you step out of the elevator, into the barren hallways, there are still no signs of reassurance that you’re at the right place, you reluctantly enter through a huge wooden door, only to walk into a rustic, wooden room with more darkness, illuminated by a few candles.

Image Source: Bar Benfiddich

The interior, rather intimate with only 8 seats at the bar and two tables behind, is decorated with endless shelves of vintage bottles of liqueurs and spirits from centuries past. Behind the bar are homegrown herbs, fruits, and spices that find their way into many of the drinks the acclaimed bartender, Hiroyasu Kayama, concocts.

Hiroyasu Kayama is the star bartender behind Bar Ben Fiddich. Kayama’s specialty comes from his fixation with blending natural herbs, spices, and fruits – that he grows on his own family farm just on the outskirts of Tokyo – with liquor he’s collected from all over the world.

Since we were visiting late on a Wednesday night, there was only a party sitting at one of the tables and a couple at the bar. We were escorted to seats at the bar and one of the waiters asked what we would like to drink. There’s no menu at BenFiddich and as clueless I am with ordering cocktails, I simply asked what do they recommend. The waiter asked if I liked watermelon, and I was very amused and said, “Yes, of course!”. Bear went with his favorite drink, the Old Fashion.

After the waiter jots down our drinks, Kayama, himself emerges from the back, behind curtains, carefully jots down additional notes on the notepad the waiter hands him and gets to work. We watched in awe as he takes out all sorts of spices and fruits from behind the bar and slowly works the ingredients together with poise and precision. In the end, two wonderful drinks are placed in front of us in two very stylish glasses, both of different characteristics that highlights the essence of the drink.

With the Old Fashioned, Kayama did a mixture between two different types of Rye Whisky for this drink – the Woodford Reserve Rye Whisky and a Rittenhouse Rye Whisky. Traditional Old Fashion was originally crafted with Rye whisky, but over the years, people have been substituting Rye with Bourbon. Rye tends to introduce a peppery, spicy flavor, whereas bourbon tends to be slightly sweeter and rounder. Kayama’s version of the Old Fashioned was spicier and drier compared to the other Old Fashioned Bear has tried before. Whereas fruits tend to be give old fashioned a more gradual change in taste over time, Kayama’s herb brought a flavor that is quite distinct to the original, giving it an earthy and grassy taste.

Bear’s second drink was a Green Negroni, which is a Japanese twist from the traditional White Negroni. Kayama uses Monkey 47 gin – a type of gin made with 47 botanicals – mixed with suze, lillet blanc and finished off with rosemary distilled water to add aroma. It’s a rather strong drink with very wood/ herbal taste that matched very well with the herbal taste from the gin and rosemary.

My watermelon cocktail was such a unique taste that I’ve never experienced before. I never knew freshly blended fruits could create such a heavenly flavor that I fell in love with after the first sip. It was so good that I nursed the drink for half the night, not wanting the delightful taste to end. Kayama has such a craft that he produces cocktails on the fly after understanding the drinker’s taste palates. For my second drink, he blends together melon, vodka, herbs and a spoonful of honey (also homemade from his farm!) and it was another drink that has won our hearts over in a heartbeat.

Our Verdict: Must try, can’t wait to visit again

You don’t have to be a big drinker to enjoy yourself at Bar Ben Fiddich. Star bartender, Hiroyasu Kayama really knows what he’s doing behind the bar. He elegantly knows how to fuse seasonal fruits, herbs and spices to perfectly complement each other in drawing out the flavors of each ingredients based on the preferences of his customers. Aside from being a renown alchemist, Kayama is also a huge fanatic of whisky and has an extensive collection from all over the world, perfect for any whisky lovers out there.