I wish I were at my favorite steakhouse, Keens ,right now, sipping some Irish Whiskey and eating a steak. Keens has a long and glorious New York history that started in 1885 when it was part of an actors club. I like to take non-New Yorkers there for dinner. I like the pipes hanging on the walls, the art, the armor, the old wooden seats, the iceberg wedge. Keens Steakhouse owns the largest collection of churchwarden pipes in the world. People (read men) would check their pipes because they were considered too thin to travel. “The hard clay churchwarden pipes were brought from the Netherlands and as many as 50,000 were ordered every three years starting in the early 20th century. A pipe warden registered and stored the pipes, while pipe boys returned the pipes from storage to the patrons,” according to their website. While never a pipe smoker, my Dad smoked one all my life and so I have watched someone enjoy the pleasures of it all my life.

Keens was a wonderful place to go to study for my exams on spirits for the Wine and Spirits Education Trust Diploma which I got back in 2008. They have a huge and important single malt collection of scotch but they also have everything else. I used to go with my friend from the program, the bartender would lay out all sorts of whiskeys and whiskys from Scotland, Ireland and even Japan. We would taste blind and discuss them.

It was immensely helpful and fun. I haven’t been in a long time, I’m due for a visit. I think Irish Whiskey is often overlooked for its more famous cousin but I think that’s a real mistake. Irish whiskey tends to undergo triple distillation. It is lighter than Scotch in my view but do feel free to disagree with me but raise a glass today.