Single malt evening

Last night I went into Seattle to taste a few single malt scotches with my friend (and fellow fan of the malt) Bob. The original plan was to meet at FX McCrory's in Pioneer Square. But it was closed. Closed! That's outrageous. It's a Seattle landmark - how could it be closed? I was heartbroken. I hope it's just closed one night, and not permanently.

So Bob and I walked up the street to Fado, an Irish bar with pretty good food, fond memories of Pub Trivia nights past, and a small selection of scotches. Unfortunately, it was completely packed with Pittsburgh Steeler fans watching the AFC championship game and we couldn't find a table. I didn't know there were that many Steeler fans in Seattle, let alone in one bar.

So we continued our walk up First Avenue. We ended up at McCormick & Schmick's a little further north. They have a decent selection (20-25), including several I hadn't tried before. As I recall (the evening is a bit hazy), here are a couple of the ones I had:

Highland Park - very different from what I normally drink. Slightly sweet with not much of that smokiness that I like. But it was a nice beginning, and it went well with the mussels in marinara sauce. A little drop of water made it taste almost as sweet as bourbon.

Bunnahabhain - just TRY pronouncing that one (I think it's Boon-ah-hahben). One of those charasteristic smoky Islay whiskies. Yumm. A tiy bit of water opens it up. Now we're talking.

Isle of Jura - not quite as intense as the Bunnahabhain, but a nice, well-rounded taste.

Laphroaig - Another Islay whisky. Starts of slightly sweet and mild, and then suddenly hits you with all that smoke. Wow!

Talisker - My favorite. From the Isle of Skye. You can smell where it was made - salt air, kelp, seaweed, peat smoke. Incredibly intense. This was my last taste of the evening, because after that, everything else is like drinking water.

We headed back to the ferry and had (thanks to Bob and his portable humidor), a couple of nice cigars. It was a very nice evening!