Chicago Pub Crawl_13July2008

[Streetcar]

The Duke of Perth! Boy, that brings back memories!!

(Brief thread hijack follows)
When I lived in Chicago, The Duke of Perth was my introduction to Single Malt. I remember I was there with my girlfriend of the time, and her brother. Neither of us knew much about whiskey, whisky, or scotch. We knew NOTHING of single malts.
We looked at the lengthy bottle list, and picked a couple of moderately priced drams – I don’t remember which. We picked solely on price.
At any rate, we got our drinks, toasted and were about to “shoot” them when we heard a voice tinged with a slight Scottish burr.
“Yer not gonna just drink that, are ye?”
I looked over and saw an older gentleman in a peacoat at the far end of the bar, standing by himself. I told him that as we paid for the drinks, yes we were going to drink them.
“Nah, ye cannae do that. First ye’ve got to smell it.”
I glanced at my companion and took a deep whiff from the glass.
The old man barked at us, “No, not like that! Put it right under your nose, then breath in through your mouth.”
I thought, “Let’s just humor the old bastard,” and did as he instructed.

A whole new world opened up. I couldn’t tell what all I was smelling, but it was rich, complex, floral and leathery all at once. I looked over at my companion and could see the surprise on his face as well.

We spent the next hour with this mysterious old man teaching us the Ways of Scotch, how it’s made, how regions are different, what influences taste, etc. It was like we stumbled on our very own Yoda of the Single Malt.

I never learned the man’s name – he slipped out while we were foxed. But I like to think that he’s still out there “schooling” initiates into the world of Scotch.

[McFarkus]

Probably few better places than the Duke of Perth to be "schooled" in drinking single malt. The even have a tasting menu where you get to compare three difference single malts (5 or 6 different tastings ranging from $16 to $80).

I'm getting thirsty, I'm not sure I can wait until the next kilt night.