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I'm Shikayama, the owner of BenFiddich.

If it's a great cocktail,

I'll dress it in a great outfit (glass).

Because that's the world of luxury goods.

That's where beauty and value are born.

I love glasses.

The old ones range from 19th century antique glasses

to modern glasses.

BenFiddich has a wide variety of glasses.

I recently asked one of our employees to count them, and there were 160 glasses in a bar that seats 16.

There are too many glasses for the size of the bar.

Antique glasses at BenFiddich.

When I was a budding bartender in my 20s.

I had no money at all.

But I wanted to be independent and have my own bar someday.

To achieve that, I slowly collected antique glasses with the little money I had,

and often dreamed about what kind of cocktails I could make with these wonderful antique glasses in the bar I imagined.

Yes,

There was an antique glass shop in Ginza that I used to visit often in my 20s. It was called

[Ginza Glashütte].

The owner closed the shop over 10 years ago due to old age.

When I was in my mid-20s

The owner was already around 70-80 years old.

I don't remember the owner's name.

Even though I had no money, whenever I went to look, he would always tell me the history of the glass in detail.

I remember that made me very happy.

Even though I didn't buy anything, I often went there just to enjoy the sights and learn about glass.

Even so, I occasionally bought antique glass that was within my salary at the time.

The owner also knew that I didn't have money, so he sometimes gave me a discount.

Time passed and in 2013 I became independent

Opened Ben Fiddich.

At that time, Ginza Glashütte

had gone out of business due to the owner's old age.

When we first opened, the antique glasses we bought at Ginza Glashütte were very useful.

Before I went independent, I was the manager of a bar in Nishi-Azabu, and we couldn't use antique glasses, so I remember really enjoying making cocktails.

It's been 10 years since then, in 2023.

After nearly 10 years of business, there are almost no glasses left that were there when we first opened.

Yes, they've broken.

There are various reasons for this, such as us bartenders breaking them ourselves or customers breaking them in an accident.

The other day, I suddenly wondered how many glasses from when we first opened were still left.

Yes, there were only six.

① From the left: Thistle from Edinburgh Crystal

② Paula from Moselle

③ Rohan from Baccarat

④ Saint-Louis style liqueur glass

⑤ 2 Baccarat style Harcourts bought at a flea market in Paris before BenFiddich opened

Although BenFiddich has only been around for 10 years, I have been making cocktails here for 10 years.

I am very proud and fond of the glasses above that have survived these 10 years without breaking.

None of the current employees at BenFiddich know about the opening, but these surviving glasses have been there since the opening.

They are veterans, so to speak.

They have spent 10 years at BenFiddich with me.

The other day, the famous French bartender

Remmy Savage came to visit us.

Those who know him will know him.

Although he is young, he is one of the people influencing the bar industry around the world.

He is the pioneer of the Mizuwari cocktail, which evolved the Japanese style of whiskey and water a few years ago.

He is the creator of a style of clarifying long drinks with various ingredients so that they can be drunk casually like water.

He systematized a style that had never been seen before.

He was the world champion of the Bombay Sapphire Gin cocktail competition a long time ago.

I think it was in 2014.

He came to Ben Fiddich a long time ago.

Apparently, I made a martini with the Bombay Sapphire gin that made him the world champion.

The other day, Remmy Savage came back to Ben Fiddich and ordered a martini as usual, and when I brought out the martini, he remembered this glass.

"The martini you made a long time ago came out of this glass! I remember it. The martini in this glass was so beautiful."

An antique Baccarat Lohan glass that has survived since the opening without being broken.

Yes, this glass has been there since the opening.

I was very happy that a customer remembered the cocktail I served in this glass in 2014 when I returned in 2023.

Glasses have souls too.

There are only a few glasses left from when we first opened, but I want to treasure them.

Remmy Savage and me