When you tell someone in Prague you are on the lookout for Czech whiskey, you get a lot of curious looks. On occasion, someone will tell you where can go for a decent selection of Scotch, but they will insist that Czech whisky does not exist.
This is no conspiracy or act of malice. The days of whisky from somewhere other than the US, UK, and Canada being thought of as oddities are gone. Finding it, however, can be a chore, even in a big city like Prague. Unfortunately, the United States does not trust Czech airport security, so passengers to the US are banned from buying anything larger than ml, even in duty-free.
So the bottle -- Hammer Head, it was called -- remained frustratingly out of reach. When I found myself in Prague sometime later, procuring a bottle of Hammer Head was among my top priorities. Or if not a bottle, then at least having a dram. Most bars, however, stock only the barest of basics when it comes to whisky -- your bigger blends, a Macallan here and there, and nothing from the home team. Bars dedicated to whisky are few and far between. And then one day, as I made my way to Wenceslas Square, I sauntered past a large, medieval-looking tower with a banner proclaiming that within its walls was a whisky shop and bar.
And I soon further discovered that, within that bar, was the chance to sample not just one, but three Czech whiskies. The bar has a whisky selection that would rival any whisky bar in the US or UK. Bruichladdich seems a particular passion of theirs, but they cover the gamut from Scotland to the US, Japan, and continental Europe, with a large selection of oddball independent bottlings. It was the Czech whisky that I was keenest on. There are a at least two versions of Gold Cock: a young, three-year-old blend nicknamed "Red Feathers," and the year-old single malt dubbed "Green Feathers.
Something to do with noble rot or Tokaji wine. The palate follows suit. Maybe the bitterness of dark chocolate, but not particularly high-quality dark chocolate. There is also Hammer Head, an altogether different experience from Gold Cock. The Pradlo Distillery had been making pot-still spirits for years when they decided to try their hand at whisky. Under the Communists, only a few foreign imports were available, and those at high prices only affordable by the Party elite.
