It bills itself as "an upscale lounge dedicated to the art of the craft cocktail," and for a long time it was the one people pointed to when they wanted to know where Charleston's serious cocktail scene started. The list is still strong - the house classic, the Double Standard, runs on a house-infused serrano gin with cilantro and lime, and the Old Fashioned is the one reviewers keep coming back to. There's a rooftop terrace up top and the occasional live show, which is the part most people don't know about until a friend tells them.
The crowd skews older and more established than the college set spilling out of the bars next door, which is doing a lot of quiet work for the room. It's the kind of place locals know about: Wednesday is bourbon happy hour at half price, and it's a common before-show stop at the Charleston Music Hall a block away. It's on the pricier side of upper King, and on a busy night it's easy to wait a while for a drink, but the glass that shows up is worth the pause.