Rating
In A Word
WHISKEY
Cuisine
Booze (is this a cuisine?)
Appeals To
Spirited spirit drinkers. Whiskey aficionados especially, and people who enjoy expensive things drunk neat, on the rocks, or with minimal additions. That’s not to say that they don’t ‘do’ cocktails – but it’d be a crime to even contemplate mixing some of the amazingly premium stuff they have in here (think the bottle of Laphroiag at £200 a glass)
People who like cool, dark, secluded subterranean spaces. Alco-moles? Human bats? Goths with a very highly developed palettes? People escaping the hustle and bustle of London?
Those who would rather feast on drink than food (liquid dinner, instead of liquid breakfast?) – I’m not sure that they even serve food here, since the default menu is a drinks menu…
All Revved Up
What I first hear about 5cc is that they’ve got whiskey. And not just regular whiskey, but the kind of stuff that people trudge down to Fortnum & Mason or The Whiskey Exchange to get their hands on. The stuff that people drop hundreds, and sometimes thousands of pounds a bottle on. Or spend hours arguing/discussing about age statements on forums about.
Luckily, Tasting Britain has access to a man capable of appreciating 5CC’s selection, my old friend Adam. He comes along to 5cc to help us really put them through their paces. And we do. I hit saturation point around glass number 5, but Adam, as is his way, keeps going – methodically making tasting notes as he sinks deeper and deeper into single malted transcendence.
5CC City Of London is, by it’s own description, a cocktail club, and one of three other 5cc venues. Our barman, who we’ll later get to know much better, tells us that they’re setting up another one in Shoreditch soon. Each either lives above or below a pub. I think each one specialises in a different spirit, so whereas this one is a temple to whiskey, another worships rum. I might be a bit wrong there.
Inside, cool, dark and secluded – lit by low light filament lightbulbs and a big brazen neon sign. The venue itself is compact – giving it a feeling of being snug and hidden away.
We arrive and there is initially no signal (we are underground afterall) which prevents from me posting anything on Facebook about ‘the arrival of the gains train’. This is important, though I’m pretty sure nobody really reads the end to end stupidity that passes for my wall on Facebook.
The musical selection starts as punk and post punk (delivered ironically?) before eventually evolving into Motown, and 90s dance music. Always Motown. Motown everywhere. Motown always. What’s the deal with Motown and bars anyway?
We’ve got a table booked, but the place is empty, barring an older couple in the corner eating food and drinking wine (how inappropriate!). This is because it’s Monday (people don’t want to drink yet), and it’s summer (people can’t drink here because they are in another country). We end up in front of the bar where we can better get to know Andre, the barkeeper and a generally excellent, whiskey savvy guy.
At the bar you’re given a chilled glass of water with a cucumber as a palette cleanser.
Andre is Romanian/Hungarian. Like most barmen, he’s got a intricate backstory to compliment his alchemic understandings of the wee dram in it’s multitudinous manifestations. He’s eagerly anticipating a trip to Japan, where he’ll be visiting distilleries and bars – his girlfriend has even managed to get them a spot at Sukiyabashi Jiro, which if you didn’t know is a bit like Mecca for people who love sushi.
From Andre we learn many things – including the difference between using and ice block and an ice machine for bar usage (apparently the block provides better results in cocktails…).
The Drinks
And how about that drinks selection? Well it’s not the biggest, but it’s extremely well curated – seeming to be aimed at a very discerning kind of customer.
The menu starts with a relatively limited selection of cocktails (that said, they add and remove bottles and recipes pretty regularly, up to the point where the menu can barely keep up).
After the cocktails comes the whiskey selection, which absorbs most of the menu. 5CC have got whiskey from places I didn’t even know did whiskey, like India and Australia. The section for Scotch is by far the hugest, divided by the traditional regions. So you’ve got your peaty Isla whiskeys, your ever popular Highland whiskeys and so on.
From there you can move on to a selection of rare gins, some rums, (many of which I have not heard of) and some premium Tequilas and Mezcals (danger). There’s also a tiny wine menu, with a Shiraz that tastes awesome after 6 glasses of whiskey.
Anyway, it’s time that we put 5CC to the test whilst trying to preserve as much liver function as possible. This is what happens…
Port Charlotte, 50%
Hakushhu 18
Copper Fox Rye
Ardbeg Galileo
Caol Ila
Yoichi 20
Lark Distillery – Cask Strength
We don’t get to try any of the cocktails, but we do notice a younger couple who arrive much later come and sit by us at the bar. They order some cocktails, do the public display of affection thing and at some point disappear. Probably to go and have lusty, cocktail inspired sex, somewhere in Farringdon.
Meanwhile, Adam and I remain anchored to the bar, continuing to drink :3
The Verdict
You know you’re really enjoying a place (or that you’ve probably had too much) when the barman asks you politely if it’s OK to close up the bar now.
5CC not a wine bar, or a restaurant, and doesn’t pretend to be either. It is a deep, dark place for drinking rare and strong things in comfortable surroundings. Unquestionably, if a wee dram is your passion, or something you’d like to learn more about, then you owe 5CC Cty Of London a little visit.
I’d also recommend it to people who enjoy other varieties of the hard stuff, and cocktail aficionados seeking a new spot for new kinds of cocktails (for the variety of cocktails is surely endless?)
Do they do food too? Who knows..
The Details
A: 26 Farringdon St, London EC4A 4AB
P: 020 3714 2497
W: www.5cc-london.com
T: @5ccLondon
