Flight of Whiskeys
Donna Byrne jazzes the lounge with her quartet at The Mad Monkfish on Saturday, 23 March 2024.
Are you allowed to drink Japanese whiskey before dessert?
Of course you’re allowed to drink Japanese whiskey before dessert. You’re a goddamn adult. Do whatever you like as long as you’re not hurting anyone.
So take advantage of the Japanese whiskey flight at The Mad Monkfish any time you like, featuring four spirits: White Oak Akashi, Nikka Coffee Grain, Mars Shunsu Iwai, and Nikka Taketsuru.
Of the four, the two Nikkas were tied for most expensive at $16.50 per glass, if you ordered them as a standalone drink. What do you get for the money?
With Nikka Taketsuru, a Scottish experience. Understand that Japanese whiskey takes a lot of pointers from Scotch. You could taste the lineage in a profoundly peaty way. You might as well have been taking a deep inhalation at a campfire on a highland (or lowland – we don’t discriminate) bog. The smoky notes were powerful and smooth. Intense but never acrid. The liquor dematerialized in your gullet like golden aether.
As for the Nikka Coffee Grain, the name is no misnomer. Each sip had a sweet nose and striking coffee flavor. You have to be in the right mood for it. Japanese whiskey is for any part of the meal, but having this one after a meal is a no brainer.
While almost all the whiskeys in the flight land on the far side of smooth, the Mars Shunsu Iwai was mellow to the point of personality erasure. Very mellow. But full bodied, nonetheless, from the front to back of the sip. There was a light caramel flavor, like flat cola minus the sugar, and maybe a faint melon accent? Your tongue forgets it very quickly.
The favorite of the bunch was the White Oak Akashi. Not the most expensive, not the smoothest. A sweet front end followed by a boozy taste with moderate burn and balanced flavor. Sips like the workhorse whiskey with enough bite to remind you it's there no matter what you're eating or mixing it with. This is what whiskey should taste like and feel like.
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Donna Byrne Quartet
There was a jazz show happening on Saturday night at the light and lively sushi spot in Central Square. Two of them; one session around 7PM and another just before 9PM.
Who was playing? The Donna Byrne Quartet.
Who’s in the band? You know, names come and go so quickly. If the credits are correct for the next performance at The Mad Monkfish on 4/13, then the band membership is as follows:
Donna Byrne, vocals
Tim Ray, piano
Marshall Wood, acoustic bass
Les Harris, Jr., drums
Donna Byrne, the dusky blond jazz singer, said she was married to one of them.
But that came later in the set. What came first was the non-singing lot spinning out jazz instrumentals for two or three songs, warming up the room. A trio with the piano, bass, and drums.
You need a room full of the restaurant crowd to warm up slowly to the idea of diverting their precious attention from their sushi roll, to the band on stage. Some patrons take the hint when the music starts, and some don’t, gulping, and belching, and farting, and loudly asking the waiter about chicken through the whole set. That’s just how it goes with these types of gigs, and it’s part of the charm.
Donna Byrne
When the moment was ripe, an eager emcee introduced Donna Byrne onto the stage and asked for everyone’s best behavior. Which went down as well with a crowd of well-groomed adults as it does with a preschool full of toddlers with their pants half full of shit.
Again, that’s just how it goes with these types of gigs, and it’s part of the charm.
What does the Donna Byrne Quartet sound like? Lounge jazz, with no attention-seeking solos, and a voice that brings a humanity to the proceedings no matter the amount of raw tuna that’s stuck between the patrons’ teeth.
Have another whiskey, pal.
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