With a history that dates to just after the Civil War, the Italianate flatiron building that anchors Mass Ave’s southern end provides the perfect backdrop for sipping a pre-Prohibition elixir and pondering the city’s past. Prime Hospitality Group had exactly that in mind when it opened The Exchange Whiskey Bar on the second floor of the Hammond Block building last fall. Modeled after the original South Bend location, the high-ceilinged lounge outfitted with comfy, clubby furniture offers panoramic views of the skyline and a bar stocked with more than 450 whiskeys from around the globe. Brown liquors are de rigueur in such vintage shakeups as the Scofflaw, a 1920s Parisian mixture of bourbon, vermouth, and grenadine that taunted American tourists who couldn’t drink back home. 301 Massachusetts Ave., 317-943-5000, exchangewhiskeybar.com
