The Enlightened Traveler: Lasagna To Die For In New York

If the missus and I lived on New York's Upper Westside, we'd eat at Salumeria Rosi often. Make that very, very often.

It's our idea of the perfect neighborhood restaurant:

• Casual and upscale at the same time
• Reasonably priced
• Terrific by-the-glass wine selection
• Wide range of small plates, so we can order a little or a lot
• Cozy, contemporary atmosphere
• Friendly service

And did we mention that that the food is fantastico?

Salumi is the Italy's answer to charcuterie.* (Or maybe it's the other way around?) Salumeria Rosi's exquisite cured meats, sausages and other dishes are pretty close to what you'll find in the Old Country.

The Italian-trained Cesare Casella oversees the kitchen. While we've never dined at his two earlier New York restaurants, Maremma (now closed) and Beppe, both had undistinguished reputations. He seems to be hitting his stride with this latest incarnation.

Porchetta (oven roasted, spiced pork tenderloin), culatello (wine soaked proscuitto, rubbed with spices and massaged by hand), coppa (aged, salted pork collar) are just a few of about a dozen and a half housemade coldcuts on offer.

It's not all about meat, however. There are plenty of fresh salads, vegetable dishes, satisfying soups and delicate pastas, too.

Of these we especially recommend the Torta di Porri (an individual savory tart of leeks, pancetta and parmesan) and the very tasty Cavolini con Prosciutto (roasted brussels sprouts, prosciutto, garlic and red wine vinegar).

Not to be missed is their sensational lasagna. It starts with housemade pasta that is layered with pork and beef ragu and velvety béchamel sauce. Each portion is assembled, then cooked to order. What shows up at your table is lighter, more delicate, and more delicious than anything you've had before.

Except for the soups, portions are on the lighter side and range from about $4 to $8 per plate. While you can always stuff yourself if you choose, two can eat well on an assortment of six or seven dishes. (And as we say, if you're not very hungry, you can choose fewer dishes. Sweet!)

The restaurant offers an interesting selection of wines by the glass from small Italian producers of Montepulciano, Sangiovese, Dolectto, Neprica and other varietals and styles. All pair nicely with the food. At $10 to $16 per smallish serving, they seem to be not as good a value.

Soppressata (top); white anchovies on a bed of raddichio.
(Photos by Marc Whalen)

If you go, be sure to ask your server for food specials and wine selections not on the menu. They usually have several but don't make a point of volunteering them.

It should be abundantly clear by now that this isn't a checkered-table-cloth-and-chianti-bottles-hanging-from-the-ceiling kind of joint. The clever, dark, contemporary interior is the work of motion picture production designer Dante Ferretti, responsible for the later Fellini films and many Scorcese works. (Think Gangs of New York, The Age of Innocence, Casino, and the current Shutter Island).

According to chef Casella, a visit to the salumeria is considered an integral part of daily life for many Italians. Now that Salumeria Rosi is here, New Yorkers may feel the same.

After your meal, if it's a nice night, stroll to Lincoln Center to take in the water show at the new fountain and refurbished plaza. Or saunter a few blocks up Broadway to the bustling Fairway Market where you can browse the generously stocked aisles and pick up a few goodies for tomorrow night's dinner.

Salumeria Rosi is located at 283 Amsterdam Ave. (between 73rd and 74th Streets), (212) 877-4800

*The word salumi is not a misspelling or variant of salami. Salami is a specific type of salumi. But you knew this already!

The Annals of Luxury: AMC, Loews, Regal, and Cinemark Are the New Status Brands

Movies may be the next category to make the leap to luxury status. And cinema chains are doing all they can to make that happen.

Movie theaters are doing better than ever, even in these recessionary times.

What recession? Cinema owners are dancing all the way to the bank!

It's not that more people are going to see films – attendance has hovered in the 1.4-1.5 billion admissions range since 1998 – it's that they're paying more for them.

A movie ticket went for as much as $16.50 at some New York theaters, enabling the domestic boxoffice to reach $10.6 billion last year, up from $9.6 billion in 2008.

Filmgoers are going to see even higher prices, if cinema owners have their way.

Taking advantage of the unprecedented popularity of the 3D hits Avatar and Alice in Wonderland, exhibitors are imposing more price hikes to coincide with the opening this week of How to Train Your Dragon, another 3D animated divertissement.

The Wall St. Journal reported that an AMC theater outside of Boston raised its prices more than 20% to $17.50 from $14.50 a week earlier. A Seattle multiplex is now charging $11 for conventional films – up from $10 – and $15 for a 3D film, up from $13.50.

The price of a 3D Imax showing of Dragon jumped dramatically to $19.50 from an already not-exactly-a-bargain $16.50 at New York's AMC Loews Kips Bay.

None of this takes into account the cost of city center parking, babysitters, or popcorn – which, with 1,200 calorie and 60 grams of saturated fat for a large tub, isn't good for you.*

But wait! Exhibitors have come up with an even more effective means of separating you from your money.

Movie theaters offering gourmet food and at-your-seat service are springing up in Pasadena, Calif, the aspirational Buckhead section of Atlanta, Kansas City, and elsewhere across the nation.

These so-called "dine-in" cinemas offer full bars and meals prepared in on-site kitchens by trained chefs, a far cry from the high school kids who sling hot dogs at concession counters.

At the Gold Class Cinemas in Pasadena, the "seasonal" menu ranges from blue cheese potato chips and wagyu beef burgers to portabello sliders and house made beignets for dessert.

(Of course while you, beloved readers, know what a beignet is, how many regular filmgoers can describe one? And surely they mean American crossbred with Angus Wagyu beef, not the authentic, milder Japanese Wagyu. But we digress.)

Gold Class also features a cocktail of the month. Currently it's a Ginger Collins, consisting of Bombay Sapphire Gin and something called Canton Ginger Liqueur, plus strawberries and sour mix. (We're not making this up, we assure you.)

Dinner for two plus drinks, tax and tip costs around $75 and does not include tickets, which for How to Train Your Dragon are $22 or $29 each.

And you didn't believe us when we said that going to the movies is now a luxury item?

*According to The Center for Science in the Public Interest. Their recent study showed that the coconut oil used by Regal Cinemas, the nation's largest chain, and AMC Cinemas resulted in extremely high levels of saturated fat in popcorn. By contrast the non-hydrogenated canola oil used by Cinemark reduced calories by about 25% and saturated fat by a much healthier 90% per large tub.

Trend Roundup: Our New Feature

As there are more trends – micro, macro, and otherwise – than we can write about in this humble blog, we introduce our Trend Roundup, an occasional compendium of links to articles on other websites around the globe.

Today we take you from the runways of Paris and Milan to Las Vegas, London, and beyond. 

• Fur Is Fashionable Once Again, New York Times
• The Best Restaurants at the new City Center in Las Vegas, Los Angeles Times
• Massive Defaults Pare Down Consumer Debt, Clearing the Ground for New Growth, Wall St. Journal
• The East End around Stratford May Become the Happening New Neighborhood, as London Prepares for the 2012 Olympics, The Times
• The Hottest Trends for 2010, as Predicted by trendhunter.com

The Fine Print: An Amazing Gift for Those Who Love Books

If you're an avid reader, have we got a book for you!

Whether you use a Kindle or read the old fashioned way, the just-released Oxford Companion to the Book is an exhaustive compendium of all things pertaining to books from ancient to modern times.

Avid readers especially will delight in exploring more than 5000 short entries and 40 thoughtful essays written by some 400 scholars and experts.

At a generous 1,408 pages and $275, The Oxford Companion to the Book isn't for the faint of heart.  Its two volumes are gracefully slipcased.

Richly illustrated with reproductions, diagrams, maps, and examples of various typographical features, this is a monumental reference work that the egghead in all of us will consume and cherish for years to come.

Buy it now at Amazon

I.M. Pei: Last of the Lions

At 92, the architect I.M. Pei has lived long enough to see his major works – the Louvre pyramids, National Gallery east wing, the John Hancock tower in Boston, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, to name but a few – receive plaudits, then brickbats, then regain favor once more.

The Louvre courtyard with Pei's pyramids

Pei studied architecture in the late 1930s and early 1949s at MIT and Harvard with two other 20th Century giants,  Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer.

He and 102-year-old Oscar Niemayer possibly are the last two living links to the Bauhaus and its indelible influence on modern design.

National Center for Atmospheric Research at Boulder, CO

"For a self-styled 'western architect,' and one closely associated with the corporate end, Pei’s most elegant buildings have arguably been his two post-retirement, non-western projects," writes Edwin Heathcote in this weekend's Financial Times.

The buildings in question are The Museum of Islamic Art in Doha on the Arabian Gulf and a much admired melding of eastern and western forms at the museum in Suzhou, in Pei’s native China.

The Doha museum opened in 2008 to widespread praise. "The museum’s colossal geometric form has an ageless quality, evoking a past when Islamic art and architecture were a nexus of world culture," said the New York Times. "At the same time it conveys a hope for reconnecting again."

Opening of the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha

Earlier this month, Pei was awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects’ Gold Medal. On that occasion, The FT's Heathcote interviewed the modernist master, still lively and dapper in his ninth decade.

The full text is here.

Louvre photo by photoeverywhere.co.uk

The Right Gift At The Right Price

That's what we're all looking for, isn't it? We've put together a new lookbook of unique, nifty $85-$200 gifts that you won't see everywhere.

Just in time for the Oscar winners in your life, or for anyone you want to impress.



When you see what you like, call us at (310) 581-6710 and we'll get it for you. Don't see what you're looking for? Call us, we'll show you more gift suggestions.

The Annals of Luxury: Consumers Are Forsaking Pricey California Wines. Bad For Vinters, Good For You

California's winemakers could use a stiff drink.

In July we reported that the prices of premium California wines had dropped, as consumers abandoned expensive cabs and proprietary blends in favor of budget bottles from lesser producers.

Wineries had hoped that the trend would reverse itself during the holiday season. No such luck. Wine sales continued to spiral downward, leaving wineries and distributors with even larger inventories than anticipated.

The wine industry views 2009 as the worst year in memory, according to a report by the California Farm Bureau Federation.

It's a double whammy for producers of fine wines, those in the $50 - $150 range. Consumers are buying fewer premium bottles and expect to pay less for them. Half the bottles at the half the price. That's the predicament roiling the Golden State wine industry today.

As if this isn't bad enough, the state's wineries are facing increased competition from foreign producers, also suffering from the global economic downturn and changing consumer behavior.

Overseas vintners have seen a sharp fall in exports to the U.S., the world's second largest wine market. American imports of French wines and spirits tumbled 22.7% last year. Exports of French champagne plummeted an eye-popping 28%, according to the Associated Press.

It's not going to get better anytime soon. Experts predict that it will be a year or more before conditions start to improve. Others are fearful that consumer preferences may have shifted unalterably. Is a $150 cab really worth it when there are plenty of outstanding choices at one-third to one-half the price?

In the meantime, winemakers are preparing for the worst.  They are walking away from contracts they signed last year with grape growers, laying off staff, revising marketing and distribution plans, and pruning costs wherever they can.

Out of chaos comes opportunity for those with cash.

The best bargains are to be found on the Internet. Two websites offer daily specials of terrific wines at deep discounts.

Check winestilsoldout.com and cinderellawine.com frequently to see what's on offer.

(Example: WTSO recently listed the 2005 Roca di Castagnoli Chianti Classico Poggio Ai Frat, rated 91 by Robert Parker, for $24.99 a bottle. It's normally $45.)

Good deals are also to be found at wine.com and ambrosiawine.com. Sign up for their e-mails to be notified of sales.

For more on the plight of California vintners, see Corie Brown's article in the March issue of Entrepreneur and also this recent article in the Los Angeles Times.

The Enlightened Traveler: Venice With Julie Christie in the Winter

As we grew up and still live in Southern California – where it can be 80º on Christmas day – our idea of a winter vacation has very little to do with Hawaii, the Caribbean, or (with the exception of Rio de Janeiro) anyplace tropical.

What is more romantic than Venice in the winter?

Au contraire! We enjoy donning our toasty Loro Piano cashmere scarves and sweaters to go shopping and museum hopping in Paris, London, or New York during November or December.

We also like taking long afternoon walks on the deserted, gray beaches of Cape Cod, then snuggling by the fireplace on a long January's night.

Thus, it does not at all seem odd to suggest that now is a wonderful time to visit Venice, Italy. Or so we read in the estimable Financial Times.

Who can resist Venice when described like this?

Even on the dullest days the lagoon has an opalescent glow, and there are times in late February when the light has an almost African brilliance and a clarity you don’t find at any other time of year, when the snow-covered Dolomite peaks 100 miles to the north appear in the shimmering sky over the lagoon.

Or like this:

Venice becomes a different place [in winter]. The sense of this ancient, decaying city as a slightly sinister labyrinth – unforgettably captured in the 1973 film "Don’t Look Now" – comes to the fore.

Okay! We're checking the flight schedules right now. You can read the FT's article in full right here.

As for Nicolas Roeg's memorable movie, a '70s favorite, what wouldn't we have done back then to be in Venice with the incandescent Julie Christie?

Or with Susan Anspach, radiant and unattainable in Paul Mazursky's still enjoyable Blume in Love, a good deal of which takes place in a fog shrouded Venice?

Or with the ambrosial Daniela Bianchi (at right) in the great second Bond film, From Russia With Love, which starts in Turkey and concludes in Venice (with nary a stop in the Soviet Union) as the evil Rosa Krebb (the original Frau Farbissener, Lotte Lenya) gets the drop on Bond, and holds him at gunpoint, but the gun is knocked away by Romanova (Bianchi)?

Klebb releases her poisoned toe-spike (ouch!), but Bond pins her to the wall with a dining chair. Romanova grabs the gun and shoots Klebb. Riding in a gondola, Bond throws the compromising film of him and Romanova into the water, and they sail away. Whew!

There are many more memorable movies set in Venice: Summertime (noteworthy because Katharine Hepburn falls into the Grand Canal) and A Little Romance (starring the adorable, unknown Diane Lane and the much less adorable Laurence Olivier), to name just two.

And speaking of Laurence Olivier, remember him as Neil Diamond's elderly cantor father in the misguided 1980 remake of The Jazz Singer? Diamond, in the role of Yussel Rabinovitch (we kid you not!), utters this memorable line of dialogue on the phone to Sir Laurence: "I can't go to synagogue tonight, Pop. I have to cut a record." (Oy!)

All of which brings us to something called The Maori Merchant of Venice.

We discovered this unlikely gem when researching this post. It's a 2002 New Zealand film adaptation of Shakespeare's play in the Maori language, utilizing mostly Maori actors. The film recreates the costumes and settings of 16th century Venice.

Incredible as it seems, the picture got impressive reviews. Alas, it's not available here even on Netflix.

Fortunately, we'll aways have Venice in the winter.

For more winter trips, read our post on Paris at the holidays.

Black and white photo of Venice: Beetle

The Enlightened Traveler: New York Is Now The Meatball Capital

There's a store for everything in New York. Add meatballs to the list of Manhattan's specialty outlets.

The Meatball Shop will open on Wednesday in the Lower East Side, reports today's New York Times.

Choose from beef and spicy pork as well as chicken, vegetable, salmon and a weekly special. Sauce, cheese, starchy accompaniments and some vegetables round out the menu.

For dessert? Housemade ice cream squashed between freshly-baked cookies.

Prices start at about $3. Take the F train to Delancey Street, then take a number!

The Meatball Shop, 84 Stanton Street (Allen Street just below Houston), (212) 982-8895

You can make your own delicious meatballs at home.

Use a combination of meats, fresh (not dried) breadcrumbs, and don't overmix or handle the meat too much.

For a spicy twist, try Spaghetti and Meatballs All'Amatriciana, the cover recipe from the January 2010 issue of Bon Appetit magazine.

Photo of meatballs: New York Magazine

Gray = Timeless

We've always wanted a gray watch. We thought we were the only ones, until we saw this piece in Details magazine.

Now, these timepieces aren't cheap. The A. Lange & Sohne is a superb example of the watchmaking artistry. At $108,000, it should be.

The Piaget will set you back $18,300.

The least expensive, from the venerable American firm Hamilton, seems like a bargain at only $1,495. Sad to say, it's not as elegant as the others shown here.

We tried to find affordable gray watches. There just aren't many to be had.

One option: the Toy Watch Oversize Plasteramic at $225.

You might also like Movado's classic Museum Watch with gray face and dark gray sharkskin strap. It's $695 and available at amazon.com.

Things Not Available in the U.S.: Muji Houses Are Elegant, Simple, Affordable

A few years back, Muji – the Japanese chain that offers cleanly designed, inexpensive fashions, furnishings and home wares – started producing pre-fab houses.


The homes embody the company's holistic philosophy: conservation of natural resources, low prices, simplicity, anonymity, and an orientation toward nature without placing disproportionate emphasis on any one attribute.

Designed by Japanese architects, the homes are minimalistic, almost zen-like in appearance. Accordingly, they cost only about $200,000.

Contrast this with the $2.8 - $4.8 million price of the Daniel Libeskind pre-fab home we wrote about last year, and you can see the value the Muji homes represent.

While the Libeskind promises to erect his home anywhere in the world, Muji sells its home kits just in Japan.

If you're not planning to relocate to the Far East, you can get a taste of Muji style by visiting one of Muji's new stores in New York or throughout Europe.

If you want to see one of the Muji houses in person, there's a full-sized installation in Muji's main store in Tokyo.

One Historic Hollywood Restaurant Thrives. A New York Counterpart Quitely Fades Away

Los Angeles restaurants, even famous ones, come and go. The Brown Derby, Chasen’s, Mike Lyman’s, the Seven Seas, Fog Cutter, the Cock and Bull, Scandia, Nickodell’s, Perino's, Romanoff's – all were popular in their day and now are long gone.

We're still crazy about Musso & Frank after all these years

Not so for Musso & Frank Grill, a favored hangout for several generations of Hollywood power brokers and celebs. The fabled eatery, opened in 1919, is undergoing something of a regeneration, reports the Los Angeles Times.

While far short of a thorough overhaul, the changes include extended bar hours until 2:00AM on Friday and Saturday and an upgraded wine list.

In October, Jordan M. Jones, 29, a fourth-generation descendant of one of the early owners, assumed full control of the restaurant.

"All over nowadays you see new places trying to re-create history," Jones told the Times.

"They try to make them look old because that's something everybody appreciates and loves, even the younger generation. Vintage is cool. All these places are trying to re-create it, and we don't have to. We have it right here."

Charlie Chaplin, Rudolf Valentino, Raymond Chandler, F. Scott Fitzgerald and countless others routinely dined at Musso's.

Indeed, today's regulars, who include Johnny Depp and Keith Richards, don't want to see too many improvements made.

The restaurant interior – dark wooden booths with red upholstery – has remained largely untouched for nine decades. So has the menu. Let's hope they never do away with the flannel cakes, chiffonade salad, or roast beef hash.

We expect Musso to thrive another 90 years.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for New York's romantic Cafe des Artistes, which closed without fanfare in August.

It was an elegant hideaway for generations of musicians, Broadway performers, cabaret artists, and socialites.

“If ever a restaurant had fine, aristocratic bone structure it is Café des Artistes,” William Grimes wrote in a review of the restaurant for The New York Times in 2003.

Gone after 92 years!

“Diners have only to take one step inside, and the tumultuous New York world outside disappears in a flash, replaced by lush floral displays, flattering lighting and Howard Chandler Christy’s pastel murals of naked beauties prancing through romantic landscapes.”

The restaurant opened in 1917. Christy, one of the artists who lived in the apartment building above, the Hotel des Artistes, began painting the murals in 1934.

George Lang took over the W. 67th St. establishment in 1975. Now 85, he quietly decided not to reopen after his summer vacation.

The fate of the historic premises and famed murals is unknown.

Cafe des Artistes' website is still online, offering menus, history and photos. Musso and Frank Grill's website also provides a history through the decades. Click here to read the full report on Musso and Frank Grill in the Los Angeles Times.

The World Welcomes the New Decade

The Enlightened Traveler: What's On In Paris And Why You Should Spend The Holidays There

Are you planning a cozy Christmas holiday week at home with friends, family, lots of good food and movies? Or are you joining the legions who already have decided that the holidays are going to be no big deal this year?

Either way, you could do better.

We recommend heading straight for Paris, which, while magnificent at any time of year, seems most magical at Christmas.

(Hey, if it's too late for this year, there's always 2010. So, read on!)

By day you'll have your pick of dozens of wonderful museums and exhibits, sans the long lines and crowds of summer.

The Grand Palais is currently running an ambitious exhibit that explores the work and influences of Spanish cubist painter Pablo Picasso. Whether you're an expert on Picasso's work or are encountering it for the first time, "Picasso and the Masters" promises to give a solid overview of the artist's development and early influences, from Goya to Renoir and Manet.

The exhibit showcases some 200 works and should allow even those who are very well-versed in Picasso's creations to gain new perspective. Through February.

An exhibition devoted to Louis Comfort Tiffany is at the Musée du Luxembourg. This show brings together some 160 works (stained-glass windows, vases, lamps, objects, jewels and mosaics, drawings, watercolours and photographs), to reveal Tiffany’s outstanding contribution to the glass industry as well as to decorative arts in general. Through Jan. 17.

Other tantalizing exhibits on now include, "Renoir in the 20th Century" at the Galeries Nationales, "Venetian Rivalries: Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese" at the Louvre, and "Louis XIV: The Man and the King" at the Chateau de Versailles.

Plan to spend some quality shopping time at our favorite grand magasin, Au Bon Marché on the Left Bank. Even if your budget prevents you from loading up on designer duds, you will find affordable, memorable gifts in the store's La Grande Epicerie, a showstopping agglomeration of gourmet foods, sweets, and spirits.

Save some time to explore the charming boutiques – laden with gifts, tabletop items, and antiques – on the several streets that lead from Au Bon Marché through the Latin Quarter to the Seine.

A this time of year sometimes testy shopkeepers will be happy to see you. (In this economy, they'll be positively ecstatic.)

After an afternoon at the galleries, restore yourself with a cup of rich hot chocolate at one of the numerous patisseries to be found in every neighborhood. You'll enjoy it all the more in the crisp air of December than in the sweltering heat of July. If in doubt, head for the famous Ladurée or Angelina. (For more ideas, see David Lebovitz's Hot Chocolate Address Book.)

During Christmastime, Paris is breathtaking at night with dazzling light displays on the Champs-Elysées and other major thoroughfares.

Many fine restaurants and theatres remain open and welcoming throughout the holidays. Waiters normally are convivial, not brusque, owing to the season and absence of tourists.

Still, it may be difficult to find a place to dine on Christmas Eve or Christmas Night.

Our choice for Christmas eve: the famous patisserie Ladurée also operates an elegant restaurant with excellent food at their Champs-Elysées location.

We once chatted with a French couple seated next to us who boasted that they dine at Ladurée every Christmas Eve. Turns out the the husband is executive chef for Air France first class; he knows what he's talking about.

Sleep in on Christmas morning, then eat a hearty late lunch at your hotel and plan to skip dinner. Instead, reserve tickets to see the Nureyev staging of "Nutcracker" by the Paris Opera Ballet at Opera Bastille.

On another evening, see the company's new Ballets Russes de Dhiagilev program at the historic Palais Garnier, magnificently restored to its original splendor. The original choreography and stage settings for Spectre of the Rose, Afternoon of a Faun, Three-Cornered Hat, and Petroushka are on offer. Not to be missed!

At 4p.m. on Christmas afternoon, there's a free concert of organ and choral music at the Church of La Madeleine.

You'll also get a kick out of the Parisian version of the Broadway musical "The Lion King" at Théâtre Mogador. It's in French, of course, but that won't matter as you've already seen the show in the States, right?

Go for the enchantment, sheer spectacle, and fun of watching a French audience clap and stamp their feet in time with the music. As the show has been running for two years, it's likely to still be there next Christmas.

Looking for more amusement? How about outdoor ice skating until 10p.m. (midnight on Fridays and Saturdays) at the Hotel de Ville?

There's lots more to do in Paris at the holidays.

Even if you don't follow any of our suggestions, go anyway. Whatever you end up doing, you're sure to have the experience of a lifetime.

Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année à tous!

(For more Paris travel tips, click here.)

Make It A Double: Scotch You Don't – But Should – Know

David Wondrich, Esquire magazine's resident "cocktail historian," writes often and knowledgeably about Scotch.

By reading Wondrich regularly, you'll learn not only what to look for in a fine Scotch, but also what's in a Rusty Nail and why you shouldn't drink one.


Wondrich explores seven lesser known but impressive single-malt whiskeys in Esquire's November issue.

If you think there's more to life than Glenlivet, Glenfiddich and Johnny Walker, but don't know where to turn, Wondrich will introduce you to the likes of Old Pulteney, Ledaig, Auchentoshan, and four others worth seeking out.

Here's his full selection.