by Leslie Stewart
Ville Voice Eats Correspondent

Here in the heart of bourbon country, even premium single malt scotch whisky can be a tough sell.  The natives – even those of us with Scots-Irish ancestry – have never really been brought up to fully appreciate the subtle nuances of heather and other such woodsy, grassy flavors that scotch embodies (the oak barrels in which the whisky is aged, of course, we understand pretty well).

Or maybe we just gave up on scotch with our first hideous taste of Usher’s Green Stripe, the absolute lowest common denominator blended version of scotch, which I remember upon first tasting surely being something akin to licking an ashtray.

Undaunted by such Bluegrass prejudice, Café Metro‘s Gary Byler, Jr., welcomed the opportunity of creating a scotch themed dinner with help from The Glenlivet Corp. and its delightful, kilted, knowledgeable and entertaining representative, Winston Evans.  I was privileged to be in attendance May 28 for this exclusive presentation, which consisted of a thoughtfully concocted, four-course meal designed to pair exquisitely with a variety of aged Glenlivet vintages.

We were greeted at the bar with a Rob Roy cocktail, which I never even finished, mostly because each successive course was accompanied by an even older, more distinguished pour.  Our caramelized onion and mushroom soup with bacon was served with a Glenlivet 12-year old scotch, which was a perfect match for the sweetness of the onion and the meaty taste and texture of the mushrooms.

An artful pork paté with dried fruit and green olives was served with a 15-year old French Oak Reserve, and our salad of roasted leeks in honey Dijon vinaigrette came with a 16-year old Nàdurra, which is unique even among single malts for its process.  The end result is a slightly more cloudy spirit than its more refined cousins, but it’s the closest one can really come to drinking the stuff straight from the barrel.

If they wanted a marketing slogan for it, it could be “Mother’s Milk for Those in Kilts.”  (You’re welcome; I’ll be sending the invoice soon).

There were four entrée choices – mine was the pan seared duck breast with red chile pear sauce, blue cheese potato cakes and Asian pear relish.  One of my dining companions opted for the orange glazed salmon with parsnips and gingered carrots, and the other two available choices were a scotch and cherry glazed smoked pork chop with creamed leeks and applesauce, and a seared filet of beef with a scotch thyme pan sauce over rice pilaf with cranberries and almonds.  All were presented with a Glenlivet 18-year old, and all of the ingredients and flavors were carefully considered.

Chef Gary’s menu was a masterpiece, even without dessert, for which I wouldn’t have had room, anyway.  As an impoverished student, I don’t really get out much these days, so I ended up spending more time drinking and talking than I did eating, and ended up taking most of my duck home with me.  Fortunately, I just live around the corner, so I could stumble home safely with my to-go box.  It’d been a rather long time since I’d indulged in any scotch . . . and yes, I felt it the next morning.

We were entertained in between each course by the aforementioned Mr. Evans, who has apparently never met a question about scotch he couldn’t answer.  If you have questions about scotch that you’d like answered, The Glenlivet website is packed with information including tasting notes, history, and a “society” for those who are already aficionados.

Given the enthusiastic response from Thursday night’s diners, I think you can look for more such adventurous pairing dinners at Café Metro in the not too distant future.