From the moment you walk through the automatic doors at Dundalk’s Drug City, it’s clear this is not your average pharmacy. Sure, it has endless aisles of medical and beauty products, like every CVS or Walgreens. But there’s also an on-site liquor store, featuring a front display of bourbon bottles and, in old-school style, a soda fountain, selling everything from deli sandwiches to ice-cream floats to something unexpected: house-made, old-fashioned craft cocktails.

Slowly but surely, a theme emerges, with the pièce de résistance found through a door in the back left corner. There, a staircase leads to a dimly lit hallway that seemingly dead-ends at a stately bookcase. But here, Drug City owner George Fotis pushes an inconspicuous black button that reveals a hidden room beyond it.

“It really doesn’t have an official name,” says Fotis, 50, walking into the pharmacy’s second-floor speakeasy—a sort of sumptuous Bat Cave equipped with leather armchairs, rustic wooden tables, and a bust of Shakespeare. “It’s more of a community than a club.”

The Drug City speakeasy, as we’ll call it, might be North Point Road’s best-kept secret—a local whiskey club that happens to be known by aficionados around the world. There’s no cost to join and anyone can patronize it, with one main caveat: The room only fits 40 people. So its monthly events—first-come, first-served, and announced via the GroupMe app—typically sell out quickly.

“We’ve had whiskey royalty here—the top people in the industry,” says Fotis, who started at Drug City as a cashier in 1996, before becoming a pharmacist in 2000, and taking over the business in 2016. It was around this time that the Greektown native first got interested in liquor. With the rise of the craft cocktail movement, brown spirits were experiencing a boom across the United States.

“IT’S MORE OF A COMMUNITY THAN A CLUB.”

Here in Baltimore, a Scotch-loving friend suggested that Fotis meet the moment by enhancing the pharmacy’s liquor store offerings. Soon enough, he became a fan himself, partnering with other enthusiasts to form the Maryland Bourbon Society group on Facebook, and, with a “tavern license,” it wasn’t long before Drug City was slinging drinks itself.

Today, it not only carries a wide variety of bottles in its liquor store, from the local Sagamore Spirit to the well-known Maker’s Mark to world-renowned labels like W.L. Weller, Willett, and Pappy Van Winkle, but also pours hard-to-find bourbons at The Fountain. For brown-spirit aficionados, says Fotis, pictured above, “We are now a destination store.”

(For the uninitiated, whiskey is an umbrella term for a liquor distilled from fermented grain, whereas bourbon and rye are types of whiskeys—one made from majority corn, and majority rye, respectively, typically made in Ireland or America. The latter has deep roots in Maryland, with Baltimore being an epicenter of its production well into the 20th century. Meanwhile, whisky, spelled with no “e,” hails from Scotland, Japan, or Canada.)

Of course, Drug City’s hype is due in large part to the upstairs club, which Fotis runs with his friend Justin Jarvis, who owns Allview Liquors in Howard County. Not only do they draw devoted drinkers, but also the master distillers behind many of those beloved brands, who often pop in to host talks and tastings on their way through the Mid-Atlantic. These events are what set Drug City apart from other well-stocked bars in Baltimore, with each special guest offering historical anecdotes and insights into how spirits are made today.

“This is what makes us different—we share the stories with people, and that’s something special,” says Fotis.

And for those just passing through, there’s always a pour at The Fountain for reasonable prices. For him, that’s half the fun—allowing the public to try rarities they might not otherwise be able to find, let alone afford.

“I like giving people that opportunity,” says Fotis. “I get a customer for life.”

Unlike most speakeasys, Order of the Ace isn’t hard to find. Connected to The Ruxton, the Atlas Restaurant Group’s swanky new Harbor East steakhouse, it fancies itself a “secret society” where “mysteries unfold.” But it need not manufacture a backstory; it is without question a cocktail bar worth seeking out.

The intimate bar and lounge serves some of the most creatively conceived drinks in the city. The menu’s signature cocktails are divided into four categories based on price, ranging from $20 to $36 (with one outlier we’ll get to later).

The libations stem from the mind of Andrew Nichols, Atlas’ head of mixology. “A lot of cocktail bars nowadays focus on the flavors that they’re putting together in a drink first and then find spirits that will work well with those flavors,” he says. “We wanted to take the opposite approach, so we picked out the spirits, then designed around those.”

Among our favorites is the popular Eyes Wide Shut, Nichols’ riff on a paloma. Made with an additive-free Mexican tequila called El Tesoro blanco, grapefruit and lime juices, green peppercorn, Thai basil, and pandan, a plan native to Southeast Asia, it has a pleasingly earthy flavor.

Many Paths Up the Mountain is an incredible combination of Takamine koji-fermented whiskey, Mugi shochu, Madeira (a fortified wine), Wagyu, yuzu, ginger, and black garlic. The drink, which pairs well with Wagyu sliders, one of a few small bites on the menu, is served in a beautiful glass with an image of Mt. Fuji in the base that is handmade by Kimura, a Japanese company.

At the peak of the menu, both literally and figuratively, sits the Holy Grail, a $72 jewel made with 50-year-old Jacky Navarre cognac. Nichols worked on it for months.

“There’s a transformation that happens in really old cognac,” Nichols says. “[At first] you might get chocolatey notes.

As it progresses, you start to have flavors that are more complex. I get passion fruit in this particular bottle “We took the spirit and surrounded it by small measures of ingredients that shared those flavors,” he continues, “and combined it with an old oloroso sherry, lychee liqueur, and then two infusions, one of Osmanthus flowers as well as Lapsang souchong,” a Chinese black tea smoked with pine.

Two of us split one and we’re here to say that if any drink can be worth $72, this is it. The notes of tea are evident, as is the smooth warmness of the cognac. Each sip produces a different, subtle flavor.

There may not be a more stylish place to drink in the city. Designer Patrick Sutton created an alluring yet understated feel. Tables surround a piano in the middle of the room making watching, not just listening to the jazz that’s performed every night especially pleasurable. The highlights of the décor are large portraits of an eclectic mix of luminaries, including Billie Holiday, Albert Einstein, and Frank Sinatra painted by local artist Beth-Ann Wilson.

Their faces are vibrant, and they seem to be looking out of their frames as if to say, “Mind if I join you for a cocktail?”

Though Prohibition ended nearly 85 years ago, there’s still something enticing about speakeasy-style bars—those furtive, candlelit spaces adorned with vintage touches and punctuated by boozy cocktails.

Enter The Elk Room (1010 Fleet St., 410-244-5830), Atlas Restaurant Group’s new concept in the former Ten Ten space in Harbor East. While this speakeasy is a more Hollywood version—with its peephole entrance, crystal chandeliers, servers costumed in flapper dresses, jazzy covers of Top 40 tunes, and period bric-a-brac, including a massive elk head and grandfather clock—it succeeds where it matters. Namely, in the drinks department.

Back in the 1920s, barkeeps had to get creative to cover up illegal swill, and that spirit of invention plays out here. Bartenders Shaun Stewart, formerly of Gunther and Co., and Rob Vogel from Ten Ten crafted a seasonal menu that excels at classics with a twist. Our visit included a mojito made with liquid-nitrogen frozen mint and a Manhattan with coffee-infused bourbon. Another inspired elixir was the elegant Honeysuckle Rose with rhum agricole, lavender honey, and lemon juice. 

As you’d expect, The Elk Room’s selection of whiskey is quite impressive. To further the underground feel, there’s a passageway leading to a members-only cigar bar in the old Oliver Speck’s location. There’s a private poker room, as well as paid lockers for guests to store bottles and cigars.

The bar is also adjacent to Atlas’ new Italian chophouse concept, Tagliata, which means executive chef Julian Marucci runs the kitchen for both spaces. There are options like meat and cheese plates, but our favorite snacks were the boar nachos with Oaxaca cheese and jalapeños or the Brussels sprouts (a welcome holdover from Ten Ten) with peanuts, Fresno peppers, and sweet chili sauce. 

The menu spells out eight house rules including “no standing at the bar,” “no flash photography,” and “speak easy.” And you should pay heed because if you quiet down all the noise of the splashy décor and campy soundtrack, you can focus on what’s really important—the stellar cocktails and cuisine.