The Day After St Andrews Day
It was a busy week: the culmination of months of preparation along with St Andrews day and the start of advent. I met up with my Language teacher at the exhibition on Friday and ended up in a Scottish bar. Actually it was her friend who had booked it and I had never met her before. It was a bizarre coincidence, triggered as we went through the door as I spotted the name Deeside which set bells ringing. The soltaire bar mats made concrete the thought.
It was my first time in a Scottish bar in Japan and this was no Gaijin haunt - this was in kitashinchi where you find high-level hostesses in kimonos and it was visibly dripping with cash: a bit like Ginza in Tokyo. Nanba this is not. The place smelled of the bubble - wealthy business smoking Cohibas and being informally lectured on the finer points of a 25 year old, export only, sherry casked, Bruichladdich.
Typically, the place had about ten low seats at a deep, low bar. It occurred to me that these guys probably knew whisky better than most Scots: they probably knew more about Islay than their childrens' hobbies. I ordered a Talisker, a Dalwhinnie and a Caol-ila: very well-known but tasty malts. The bar tender altered the order slightly, pulling out some unusual 18 year old versions with rare labels I'd never seen before. It reminded me of how Italians usually drink cheap, local wine at a few euros and Scots usually drink fairly ordinary whisky, day to day. I know it's the same for sake in Japan but it's nice to have a treat now and again. It was nice to discuss the finer points of peat too - something not generally available in terms of coverstaion topics. Whisky, it should be noted, is markedly cheaper in Japan than Scotland.
We finished our plate of sekihan, it being the first of the month, and headed back into the bright, thriving streets and down toward Shinsaibashi where young alcohol casualties were being comforted by friends at the side of the street. My new aquaintance had had a brief exchange with the owner and it appeared her boss would sort our damage. Suited me. I left my older, female friends and headed to 'Absinthe' in Kita Horie where the younger, if far less attractive design duo of Dan and Sean were fortunately not getting 'mad with the paint stripper'. It was nice to slip back to English and drink some Guiness before getting the last subway home.