Bibliotekbar

Bibliotekbar earns its name. The Grand Hotel's bar occupies a room lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves holding over 1,200 bottles, the amber and brown of whisky glass catching the low lighting at every angle. It is a place designed for concentration, which is exactly what the drink programme demands. The bar team here follows the pre-Prohibition canon with uncommon seriousness, and the results are among the best classic cocktails you can find in Scandinavia.

The whisky selection runs to over 400 expressions, with particular depth in Scotch single malts and Japanese whiskies. Norwegian aquavit features prominently: Linie, Lysholm, and smaller artisan producers are all available and recommended. The Martinis are made cold, dry, and with stirring times most other bars would consider excessive. The Negroni uses house-selected Italian vermouths. There is a formality to the service that some will find reassuring and others may find stiff; we find it appropriate to the room.

The Grand Hotel on Karl Johans Gate occupies a position in Oslo similar to The Savoy in London or The Ritz in Paris. Nobel Peace Prize laureates stay here. The Norwegian Royal Family has a suite. Bibliotekbar absorbs this history without making it the point of the visit. You come for the drink. The room provides the rest for free. If you have one serious evening in Oslo and you want to spend it somewhere worthy of the city's ambition, this is our recommendation ahead of anywhere else.