Gojan-dong whiskey bar in Ansan with 500+ whiskies: Noir Lacquer Verre

What kind of whiskey bar is Noir Lacquer Verre?

Hello everyone.. The bar I'm introducing today is a classic bar in Gojan-dong with a seriously impressive spirit collection — an Ansan whiskey bar called Noir Lacquer Verre.

Where it is in Gojan-dong, Ansan, and where to park

Noir Lacquer Verre is on the 2nd floor of a shopping center near NC Department Store in Ansan's Sindosi 1-beonga Town, in the same building as a Sulbing and a shellfish restaurant. Accessibility is really good. For parking, just use the World Town shopping center lot.

• Address: 174 Gwangdeok-daero, World Town Bldg. C, Unit 219, Danwon-gu, Ansan, Gyeonggi (Gojan-dong 768), South Korea
• Parking: Free parking at the shopping center
• Hours: Fri–Sat 18:00–03:00 / other days 18:00–02:00
• Amenities & services: Birthday perks, wine pairing, group reservations, Wi-Fi, separate restrooms

Inside Noir Lacquer Verre: a classic, dimly lit bar

Inside Noir Lacquer Verre, the Ansan whiskey bar in Gojan-dong. It's dark, cozy, and upscale. They clearly paid attention to the music playing and the aroma in the air too.

A bar table that's great for solo drinking or a date. And across from it are two sofa tables, perfect for groups who come to order a bottle and drink together, right?

For reference, there's also a room table area for when you want to enjoy your drinks in a more private space. Solo drinks, dates, work dinners, gatherings — Noir Lacquer Verre, the all-purpose standard classic bar of Gojan-dong, covers it all.

The menu, the ₩5,000 cover charge and the snack plate

The menu at Noir Lacquer Verre, the Ansan whiskey bar. For reference, they carry over 500 kinds of whiskey, whoa. Since there's a basic ₩5,000 cover charge, the accompanying snacks come out really clean and nice too.

I couldn't photograph all the spirit menu prices, but my personal favorite, Aberlour A'bunadh, is about ₩22,000 — overall, the prices are quite reasonable.

Of course they also have cocktails including signatures, and the snack menu is pretty diverse if you look at it. I'm really curious about the assorted sashimi enjoyed with peated whisky here haha.

They also have independent bottlings you don't normally come across — some aren't even on the menu, so look carefully, go go.

Starting with even the basic still water they give you — it has kind of an Evian vibe, exuding a certain classiness.

The cover charge feels completely worth it with a well thought-out, satisfying basic snack setup. As someone living alone, fruit is hard to get around to eating, so I appreciated getting to have it as a bar snack, haha.

Signature cocktail: Daisy Sour, ₩20,000

Daisy Sour (₩20,000). Whenever I go to a bar, trying the signature drink is basically an industry obligation, right? This is the signature cocktail I ordered first, called Daisy Sour. I saw them add gin, St-Germain, lemon, egg white, and a few dashes of some bitters — but I forgot which one.

Thanks to the foam from the egg white, the texture is almost like a whiskey sour, but what I liked was that you could also taste the floral, refreshing scent of elderflower alongside it. St-Germain really is the cocktail cheat code. That flower garnish is actually chocolate, so you can just eat it. Overall it's sweet and refreshing, the kind of flavor everyone would like without much disagreement.

The second signature: Lacquer Verre, ₩16,000

Lacquer Verre (₩16,000). This was the second signature cocktail I ordered. It's rum and tequila-based, with mint and lime added, and I think they also put in some agave syrup?

Given the rum-and-tequila-with-lime combo, it feels similar to a gimlet or a margarita. But the fragrant mint that hits your nose at the end is really the kicker of this drink, yeah.

Independent bottling: Campbeltown Haven 11, ₩32,000

The bartender picked out a few independent bottlings that seemed to match my taste. While I was deciding which one to drink, I asked our AI friend, and it told me to drink Campbeltown Haven.

Campbeltown Haven 11 (₩32,000). As one of those AI-dependent humans, I listen well. So I ordered it right away and did a tasting. For reference, this one is an independent bottling made using Springbank spirit.

At first the nose was dominated by oak, but the more I drank, the more the honey notes grew. The taste felt quite smooth, with a bit of spiciness, but again the sweetness of chocolate hit the palate. On the finish, the honey feeling I noticed on the nose seemed to linger in the mouth.

What I liked is that the owner personally sources these various independent bottled spirits and even does tastings on them, which makes it really easy to find a drink that matches your taste! With that, I'll wrap up this Ansan whiskey bar recommendation and review of Noir Lacquer Verre, a hidden gem in Gojan-dong. Bye bye!