Best Bars: A killer, just-sweet-enough bourbon cocktail on Queen West

The County General
936 Queen St. W., 416-531-4447 A good drink is in the details, and Aja Sax’s devotion to the little things borders on OCD. A simple garnish is weeks in the making: an Ontario cherry ferments in a mixture of brandy, orange zest, lemon juice and sugar before fulfilling its destiny in a drink. Bourbon and rum have their own menu—25 kinds of bourbon, 33 kinds of rum—and provide the base for most cocktails. A Flip the Switch, made with Bulleit, Grand Marnier, chilled Earl Grey tea and cinnamon, goes down like a comforting, but not too sweet, dessert.

Check out all 16 cocktail lounges, dives and speakeasies in our guide to the city’s best bars »