Bourbon Street
Kentucky whiskey? Yes, please!
Posted by: John Chandler on Aug 07, 2009 at 05:00PM
10 Comments
Just between you, me, and the potted plants, I’m burned out on vodka. It’s trite, flavorless, and it’s the key component in so many, frankly, juvenile drinks, that I’ve lost most of my respect for the stuff.
Tequila? Once in a while, but the very aroma takes me back to some very regrettable situations, like getting threatened and tossed out of the Blue Moon in Coos Bay for hurling on a pool table. I think my picture is still behind the bar with a note that says, “Shoot on sight.”
In an effort to cultivate a more civilized air (always a good idea when the big 5-0 is on the horizon), I’ve been dipping my toe in the whiskey river. I’ve acquired a few sumptuous single-malt Scotch standbys, but my knowledge of bourbon, the American whiskey made primarily from corn, is sketchy at best, other than the ubiquitous Maker’s and soda.
So I imagine I’ll be spending some quality time at Pope House Bourbon Lounge, located at 2075 NW Glisan St, the former home of the Brazen Bean, the gone-but-not-forgotten martini emporium.
I chatted with Pope House co-owner Kitling Lum, herself a Kentucky native, as she painted a fairly compelling portrait of a brown-spirit establishment with 39 different varieties of bourbon and 25 other whiskeys of the Canadian, Irish, Scotch, and Tennessee varieties. “But it’s a full bar,” she assures me. “People who aren’t fans of whiskey will have plenty of choices.”
The food maintains the Southern hospitality vibe with an array of tea sandwiches, bourbon-barbecued pulled pork, and the Louisville Hot Brown, a grilled sandwich with thin-sliced turkey, bacon, cheddar, and house-made parmesan aioli.
I’m just hoping the magazine will reimburse me for a shot of exquisite 28-year-old Hirsch bourbon, which goes for the princely sum of $70. “It’s a supply and demand thing,” Lum tells me. “Once that bottle’s gone, we don’t think we can find another one.”
Which means I’d better hurry. Who’s up for a taste of Kentucky’s finest in the next week or so? Or perhaps a pimento-cheese tea sandwich?
Tags: Whiskey
I’m in! I’ve spent the last several years cultivating a taste for whiskey and bourbon. I would also like to note that this fine-looking establishment opened for business on my birthday. Just don’t do it before Thursday of next week, as I’m out of town Monday through Wednesday.
Do they also serve rye whiskey? (And I am also in.)
@Hortense. I didn’t ask, but I’m reasonably certain that they do. Kitling Lum had a rye sense of humor, anyway.
While I can not be there with you, due to a previously scheduled trek to Alaska (the other white meat), I wish you good times. If they don’t spring for the $70 bourbon, you’ll have to try an “Old Fashioned” (1 Lump Sugar. 2 dashes Angastora Bitters, 1 Glass Rye or Canadian Whiskey). It’s a classic made for civilized cocktail drinkers. Bottom’s up!
@Hortense. Yes, they have rye whiskey. And you can come as long as there isn’t a repeat of “the incident.” You know what I’m talking about.
I am a whiskey enthusiast – I’ve drank my way through most of Micheal Jackson’s Single Malt Book, much to my liver and wallet’s dismay. I like offerings from all regions. I’m in!
Mr. Chandler, I turn your attention to a recent haunt of mine. The Brooklyn Park Pub serves some eighty or so different whiskeys: bourbons, irish, rye, scotch, canadian, canadian rye, et cetera and so forth. They have this whiskey club, wherein one must drink 60 different varieties. Doing so earns a free t-shirt and one dollar off whiskey for the life of the bar. I’m wearing that t-shirt as I type this.
@Tim,
Been there. Wrote that.
http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/eat-and-drink/find-a-bar/#/search:*/info:98/
@Tim. But the fact that you’ve earned the fabled t-shirt puts you in a league of your own. Jealous? That’s me.
I like Pendleton myself!! Thanks though, I will check this place out!!