The Chicagoist will be launching later but in the meantime please enjoy our archives.

The 100-Bottle 'Wall Of Malort' Is Back & May God Help Us All

By Stephen Gossett in Food on Aug 8, 2017 8:33PM


Take it as a warning, or take it as a welcome. Either way, we're tickled to learn that the 100-bottle "Wall of Malort" is officially back—and so too are the frequently hilarious "tasting notes," left behind by brave drinkers at the scene of it all, Nisei Lounge, one of Wrigelyville's last, great dive bars.

In case you missed the heart-warming(and face-puckering) sight earlier this year, the good folks at Nisei lined their bar with the "official art installation" back in June. (Chicagoans duly dove in, often jotting down their tasting impressions on napkins, which bartenders wisely decided add to the liqueur monument.)

It only took exactly 40 days for Chicagoans to dismantle the massive wall, as it were. One Nisei bartender bought the last three bottles of the original, rather than allowing the Monday crew "the honor of finishing the wall off," Nisei's Director of Beer and Baseball Operations, Patrick Odon, told Chicagoist via email.

But fans of the notoriously bitter wormwood drink (and local rite of passage) can now dive into Part Two, which was officially christened late last week—although this one will probably be depleted even more quickly. The bar co-hosted a wedding between two bartenders this past weekend, so "we're all highly confident this latest Chicago Wall will last less than 40 days," Odon said. Nisei will bring back the new tradition-in-the-making one more time after this latest installation before putting it into semi-retirement for the near future, ahead of the dive's annual "Malortsgiving/Malortmas celebration." So the liqueur love affair will roll on in a way, just in a less visually perfect display.

But if you can't make your way to Nisei Lounge, you can always live vicariously through other courageous boozers' comments. Nisei has been sharing some of those tasting notes on their Facebook and you can sample a few of the less NSFW-y ones above. As one reads, "Malort makes my mouth cry, but my heart happy."