Tu Lan and Raise The Macallan With Beth

The Macallan, one of our favorite scotch whiskys,  invited us to a tasting of several of their vintages at Bespoke in the Westfield Centre. We wanted to be able to appreciate the whisky without getting too much of a buzz, so we stopped at Tu Lan on 6th Street for dinner before the tasting event.

Tu Lan seems more "American" than Chinatown Vietnamese restaurants. The beef in the Lemon Beef Salad was cooked, not raw, although the menu warns that the dish contains raw beef. Maybe it just had to do with who was in the kitchen that night. We were a bit disappointed but the salad was tasty and we finished it with no complaints.

 To balance our meal, we had Sauteed Mixed Vegetables with Mushroom.

All entrees are served with a generous bowl of steamed rice.

Thus fortified, we headed off to the Macallan event. There was a long line, but we were entertained by images flashing on the outside screens.

When there isn't an event at Bespoke, the screens are different.

 If you move around in the circles in front of the screens, as this young man is doing, the image changes along with the movement.

The restrooms are very interesting. This is the entrance, with the Ladies' on the right and the Gents' on the left, after you get inside.

There was a very intriguing presentation by Kieron Elliott, who is quite entertaining and has a charming Scottish accent. The tastings are all small, and well spaced, so it was easy to concentrate on  each one. The vintages we tasted were all excellent, but the highlight of the evening was the final pour, a taste of their Rare Cask, which has a definite chocolate flavor. The only thing preventing me from buying a bottle is the $300 price tag!

Corn, Barley and Wheat

There was a large video display as well,
to underscore the presentation

Sláinte!