Wrong Side of the Tracks

 Cocktail Correspondent: Weldon Gardner Hunter

In mid-April, I was back in Calgary for a festive family occasion, and of course it was also a chance to try some drinks at places I didn't hit in my epic crawl of Cowtown cocktail bars last August. 

While staying at the usual hotel in the Beltline, my window view looked out towards the 9th/10th Avenue railroad tracks where I saw an RV parked right against the chain link fence - if there was a person inside, they would have been serenaded by an all-night freight orchestra. Strangely, I was a bit jealous imagining the experience. I've been watching too many train-hopping Youtube Channels, I guess.

Of course, Calgary's grand railroad hotel, The Palliser is situated by the tracks, nudging close to the - is it famous? - Calgary Tower. So I decided to cross the literal and proverbial tracks to hit up the lounge, The Hawthorn (133 9th Avenue Sw) for the first time.

The interior of the Palliser

The first drink I ordered was a Smoky Sakura:

Glenmorangie A Tale Of Ice Cream, Grand Marnier, Hibiscus

Glenmorangie is a Scottish distillery which is producing a series of limited edition specialty spirits, and A Tale of Ice Cream is a dessert-inspired single malt. It's the mildest Scotch I've ever tasted (the bartender, Matt, gave me a dram), but it still has a shadow of scotchburn. The Grand Marnier amplifies the vanilla notes & adds orange peel but overall this is a sweet drink. It's giving berries? The finish is where the ice cream comes in - it's very understated and pleasant.

I sat at the bar, which has about 12-14 seats, but next time I will try the spacious and luxurious lounge:

Drink #2: Pancake Breakfast

This one's inspired by the tradition of pancake breakfasts during Stampede. Local dignitaries and politicians jockey to flip flapjacks and vie for votes and good publicity, all while awkwardly donning a ten-gallon Stetson.

Bacon Infused Rupert's Whiskey, Maple Whiskey, garnish: mini-pancakes

A salty take on an old-fashioned. The bacon infusion is as subtle as it can be, and the maple whiskey gives it a liqueury and of course, syrupy edge. Synasthesia: the flavour produces an image of bacon grease on paper towels. It all works surprisingly well. The mini--pancakes were delicious. The pleasing sound of a king cube rattling in an empty glass to cap it all off.

Matt the Bartender is passionate about cocktails and he gave me a sneak peek at a "deconstructed" Jungle Bird that he's been working on, which he's calling a Smuggler's Run:

Romero Dark Rum, Pineapple, Campari dust (rim)

I'm familiar with deconstruction from my long sojourn in the humanities, but I can't really say much about this drink - I could not summon any words to describe the taste of the cocktail. It wasn't bland, it was just - invisible? A drink to leave even Derrida speechless. It's on the menu now, try for yourself and send me your report. Every cocktail deserves its laureate.

You might have to save up for a few weeks to afford the drinks - the Hawthorn uses top-shelf spirits, and you're paying for the spectacular ambience, too. I was on holiday, so I wasn't being frugal. As nice as the whole experience was, I was happy to go back over the tracks to my budget hotel room.  But when I returned, the van was not there!