La Venencia

Sherry is the only thing they pour, and it comes out of the barrels behind the bar: fino, manzanilla, amontillado, oloroso, palo cortado.3 There is no menu and no beer, the tab goes on the bar in chalk, and an enamel sign asks you not to take photographs.1

Why go

Nobody has refurbished this bar. Old sherry posters peel off the walls, the barrels sit behind the counter and the paint has gone gold from decades of cigarette smoke.1 Lori Zaino puts it at nearly a hundred years old.3 The city's tourism site files it as a Jerez and manzanilla specialist in the Literary Quarter, a few streets from Sol.5 You order by shouting, briefly, and you get what you asked for.3 Locals take the dry end of the range and leave the sweet bottles to the visitors.1

Order this / avoid

Fino or manzanilla to start, which is what the regulars order.1
Amontillado, oloroso or palo cortado if you are staying, by the glass, the half-bottle or the bottle.3
The mojama, salt-cured tuna, which is the tavern plate this bar puts beside the glass.5
Cecina and manchego if you want more than a snack.1
Avoid the phone. An enamel sign asks you not to take photographs and the staff enforce it.

What locals & experts say

Time Out Madrid, on the state of the place and why it works: Totally unrefurbished, La Venencia is gloriously shabby, with old, peeling sherry posters, barrels behind the bar and walls burnished gold by decades of tobacco smoke. On the etiquette: Orders are still chalked up on the bar, and an enamel sign asks customers not to spit on the floor or take photos. No tips accepted.1
Lori Zaino, for The Infatuation, on how to order: Be prepared to shout to get the bartender's attention—don't bother with drawn-out, over-polite, or complicated orders. She adds that there are no menus, just a small sign with the sherry and snack options like chorizo or cheese.3
On the olives, which nobody asks for: You'll invariably be served some excellent olives with the first round.1
esmadrid.com, the city's own tourism site, on the plate that comes with the wine: "The wines are usually accompanied by a small plate of mojama (dried tuna), olives, anchovies or pickles, in classic Madrid tavern-style."5
The Hemingway story travels with the bar. The Infatuation repeats it; I have not found a primary source for it.3

Good to know

No bookings and no tipping.1
The door is Echegaray 7, and Salmon Guru is further up the same street at number 21.5
It gets crowded and stays crowded, locals and visitors around dark wooden tables.3
Hygiene: I have not read a Spanish inspection record for this bar, so I have nothing to report either way.

Verdict

should-visit — Walk in, ask for a fino or a manzanilla, and let the olives arrive. Bring cash and put the phone away, because they chalk the tab on the bar and they will stop you photographing it. Nowhere else in Madrid pours sherry from the barrel and nothing else, and the room has not changed in the six years between Time Out's review and The Infatuation's.