A Look Inside The Aladdin Sane at Detroit’s Book Tower

This intimate cocktail bar with a David Bowie namesake specializes in Japanese whiskies.
10
The Aladdin Sane is located on the sublevel of the Book Tower. // Photograph by Matthew Williams

There鈥檚 a soft open, and there鈥檚 a whisper-soft open. The latter is the approach taken by , the Japanese cocktail bar on the sublevel of downtown that pays homage to David Bowie. Named after Bowie鈥檚 spectacular follow-up to his first major record success, The Aladdin Sane opened without a single bit of fanfare in January, then quietly perfected its service and menu over the next several months. Now, it鈥檚 ready to shine in the spotlight and show off its confident, eclectic vibes.

The Aladdin Sane鈥檚 intimate, cozy space 鈥渇eels like a room to drink whiskey in,鈥 says Patrick Jobst, beverage director at and the Book Tower. It seats 31 guests in a room centered on a low, leather-lined bar. The atmosphere is 鈥70s chic with a strong Japanese flair, with custom wallpaper created by Detroit artist Reverend Michael Allan and Method Co. Creative Director Daniel Olsovsky. oversaw the design in collaboration with Method Co., the team behind the Book Tower鈥檚 other projects.

The horseshoe bar is unusually low in height and surrounded on three sides by fabric chairs that swivel. The bar is staged like a proscenium, with the bartenders performing their cocktail ballet in the spotlight for the delight of front-row guests who can watch their every move. Flanking the sides of the room are a series of plush, olive-colored velvet benches with tables, designed to seat large parties.

The Sake & Strange Divine is made with rice- infused gin and paired with caviar. // Photograph by Hayden Stinebaugh

At The Aladdin Sane, drinks are divided into two main categories: cocktails and whiskey. Classic cocktails like the old-fashioned and the margarita get the Starman treatment (fancy and bedazzled). The Sake & Strange Divine is a fresh riff on a new classic, the sake martini. Gin infused with sushi rice adds a divinely silky texture that plays against the sharp botanical notes of the sake and gin. The drink, served chilled with a large ice cube, is meant to be savored slowly and is paired with a generous dollop of caviar wrapped in a shiso leaf.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a long and storied cocktail tradition in Japan,鈥 Jobst says. The bar program he designed with Jeremy Oertel, creative beverage director at Method Co., is 鈥渞eally aimed at taking that tradition and building upon it and progressing it, rather than just staying super classic and traditional.鈥 The Aladdin Sane cocktails, he says, 鈥渇ulfill the character of whatever track we鈥檙e associating from the [Bowie] album.鈥

More clever twists on classics include the Show Me You鈥檙e Real, a modified old-fashioned with Toki whiskey, Cognac, miso, and pecan and orange bitters. There鈥檚 also the popular spicy margarita, which adds to the traditional tequila and citrus a dash of vanilla and yuzu kosho, a common Japanese condiment that blends spiciness and umami.

The whiskey menu at The Aladdin Sane is vast and centered on Japanese and Scottish selections. Oloroso sherry-aged Highland Scotches like Dalwhinnie Distillers Edition join peat bombs like Lagavulin. The familiar but still tough-to-find Japanese whiskies like Yamazaki and Hibiki Japanese Harmony are also on offer. For a real indulgence, you can
ask for unicorn whiskies like the Hakushu 18-year 100th Anniversary and Glendronach 21-year Parliament. Then there鈥檚 the Glenfiddich Grand Yozakura 29-year whisky, a single-malt Scotch aged in American-oak casks and finished in awamori casks. Like the bar where it鈥檚 found, the drink is the perfect combination of daring and delicate, Scottish and Japanese, Detroit meets Bowie writ large.


This story originally appeared in the November 2024 issue of 糖心vlog安卓版. To read more, pick up a copy of 糖心vlog安卓版 Detroit at a local retail outlet. Our will be available on Nov. 6.