Keens - a Retrospective

One of the most enjoyable aspects of CA Scotch Chick's second evening at Keens was the bartender. Her first experience with Keens' service, the night of the Rockefeller and Great Scott's Flights, had been extremely disappointing. While the bartender wasn't exactly cranky, he was so impersonal waves of frigid air radiated from him. Moreover, while he knew a little about Keens' single malt whisky collection, he knew nothing about tasting whisky. When CA Scotch Chick asked for a tad of water for the whisky, he poured from the bar's dispenser. When she queried as to whether what she was being served was New York tap water, she was given a curt, "Yes," as the bartender turned away. 

Now, CA Scotch Chick has a confession to make, she loves the taste of NY tap water. It is the sweetest water of an municipality in which she has ever lived, and yes, she is well aware that the sweetness is due to the abundance of chemicals used in it. Both the sweetness and high chemical content make NY tap water unsuitable for placing a drop in the dram, however. Consequently, on the night of the Rockefeller and Great Scott's Flights, CA Scotch Chick and her client sampled their single malt whiskys as they came, a disappointing state of affairs, since it would have been wonderful to have been able to just a drop of water after the first tasting to see how it opened up such magnificent scotches.

CA Scotch Chick's experience that second time around was wholly different, however. This time she was served by a budding Scotch Gent. He had just started working at Keens, and didn't know a whole lot about whisky or their collection, but he was a willing pupil. He showed CA Scotch Chick his crib sheet of tasting notes he was compiling – what his patrons had that they liked, what he had that he liked, what the most common scotches ordered were. He worked his packed bar (this was a Friday night) like a pro, checking on his patrons, inquiring about their backgrounds, and buying drinks on the house. He even noticed that CA Scotch Chick had imported the most neutral bottled water that she could find, and inquired as to whether Keens' wasn't appropriate. When she told him she doesn't use tap water, he reached below the bar and brought out a bottle of quite suitable flat bottled water. Hmmm, now why hadn't the other bartender alerted CA Scotch Chick to its presence?

This enthusiastic young man treated CA Scotch Chick and her client to a sample of Middleton Irish Whiskey 2007. It was a wonderful gesture and earned the budding Scotch Gent high marks. This young man is an asset to Keens – long may he serve.