The Library Journal – August 2021 | Vol. 06, Ed. 08
GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS
The AC is cool, and the summer cocktail list is on point – the Library is ready for you, August! However, if your idea of the perfect end to the day is lounging outside, we invite you to make a reservation on the Green Room patio. While away the evening with a Loose Ends – a fan favorite on the current Green Room cocktail list by Lead Bartender Cody Mulcahey.
Also in this edition of the Library Journal, get to know MWL Head Chef Robert Kelley in our Staff Spotlight. Plus, we share the specs for our Jack & Diane cocktail – a strawberry/scotch concoction dreamed up by MWL Education Manager Kyle Sanders as well as the story behind the newly-arrived Blue Spot 7yr Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey.
As always, thank you for your readership and we hope to see you soon!
Sincerely,
Your Friends at the Library
SHARING THE LOVE – THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEWS
We would like to take this opportunity to send a big thank you to all our members and guests who leave reviews, comments and suggestions after their visit.
As many of you have noticed, Sevenrooms sends out an email asking you how your visit to the Library was. Every morning, we sift through the feedback we receive, forwarding your kind words and thank-yous to individual team members, adding notes to member profiles and sending other feedback to the rest of the management team to help guide us in making plans and improvements.
While you can always share pertinent information directly with the host team or our Membership Manager, the Sevenrooms emails are also a great place to mention seating requests, favorite drinks, and other information that can help us tailor your visits to the Library!
STAFF SPOTLIGHT
Q&A WITH MWL HEAD CHEF ROBERT KELLEY
What’s your first memory of your love for cooking?
I remember watching Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home with my grandmother and just being fascinated. Then, when I was about 13, I would make these really tasty grilled cheese sandwiches for my friends when they would come over. I think this is when I really started to love cooking.
What’s your favorite dish to make for someone else, and what’s your favorite dish to make for yourself?
My favorite thing to cook for others is whatever it is they are hungry for or in the mood for. I love the collaborative process of engaging with the people I’m cooking for and coming up with something I think they’ll enjoy. For myself? Mac and cheese – no kidding.
How would you describe your cooking or creative style?
I like creating dishes that let the ingredients speak. I love arranging things on a plate in a really visually appealing way and maybe putting things together that you might not expect.
What is your favorite food/spirit pairing?
Right now I’m experimenting with using cocktail components to cure salmon. I recently made a mezcal and citrus cured salmon that was an interesting play on Margarita flavors. There’s also a cocktail on the menu in the Library called Opposites Attract that uses strawberries steeped in vermouth, gin and amaro. I’m repurposing the steeped strawberries and adding gin aromatics and herbs to recreate the cocktail’s flavor profile in the salmon over a 3-4 day curing process. It’s been a fun project.
Favorite kitchen equipment or gadget?
A rubber spatula. It appeals to my frugal side – you can save a lot of money in a year just by using a good spatula. I also love a good, sharp knife. I’m a big fan of the knives made by the Kikuichi family. They are a fourth-generation-owned company that historically made samurai swords (check out the video below to see one of their knives being made).
FEATURED SPIRITS
ARDBEG SCORCH
Single Malt Scotch, ck heavily-charred ex-bourbon, 46 abv
Isle of Islay, Scotland
BLUE SPOT 7 YR
Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey, ck ex-bourbon, sherry butts, madeira, cs 58.7 abv
Ireland
This light, fun, summery cocktail goes out to all the peated scotch lovers out there. If you’re not sure that peat is your thing, the Jack & Diane might just be the cocktail that changes your mind…
Ingredients:
.75 Ardbeg Wee Beastie or Ardbeg 10yr
.75 Bénédictine
.75 oz Giffard Crème de Frais des Bois
.75 oz lemon juice
To Make:
Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Add ice, shake and strain into a chilled coupe.
HOUSE POUR
NOBLE OAK DOUBLE OAK RYE
MWL has partnered with some of our favorite brands to bring our members the House Pour: a complimentary taste of a new, classic, interesting, or just-plain-fun spirit.
August’s House Pour is Noble Oak Double Oak Rye. Members who drop by this month can request a half pour of this spicy rye whiskey on the house!
UNDER THE SCOPE
BLUE SPOT 7YR SINGLE POT STILL IRISH WHISKEY
In the whisk(e)y boom of the last decade or so we’ve seen a lot of new whiskeys come out and a few old, old whiskeys come back.
Ever since Green Spot Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey arrived in the US in 2014, we’ve waited for more bottlings to come our way. Our patience was rewarded the very next year when Yellow Spot showed up on our doorstep. Next came the Green Spot Château Léoville Barton (the first ever single pot still Irish whiskey finished in Bordeaux casks). And now, we are excited to finally welcome the 7-year, cask strength Blue Spot Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey to the Library wall!
Here’s the back story: the Mitchells were a well-known merchant family in Dublin who specialized in baked goods and confections. In 1887, they expanded into the wine and spirits business. After purchasing new make spirit from the old Jameson Distillery on Bow Street, the Mitchells filled the various wine casks on hand at the distillery and carted the casks back to their warehouse where the whiskey was aged in the underground cellars below Fitzwilliam Lane.
Once they were settled in, the casks were marked with a spot of paint to identify how long the spirits within were to be aged – blue for seven years, green for 10, yellow for 12 years and red for 15 years.
The Green Spot, Blue Spot and Yellow Spot whiskeys now all come from the Midleton Distillery, home to some of the best Irish whiskies out there (think Red Breast, Midleton Very Rare, and the Jameson line of whiskies.) Weighing in at seven years old and 58.7% abv, the cask strength Blue Spot whiskey re-emerges from the past in a big and delicious way. We can’t wait to share this new, yet historic, dram with you at MWL.
Tasting notes:
Nose: Rich and fruity with pineapple, mango, apple, hint of apricots, freshly toasted oak and baking spices.
Palate: Rich mouth feel, fruity with toffee and vanilla, sharpened by cinnamon, pepper and a bit of clove.
Finish: Moderately long and damp with fruit and spice notes.
