A few sips of this Willett bourbon had our faithful scribe struggling to keep her notes legible.

Hang around Chicago cocktailers and whiskey connoisseurs on a regular basis and you’ll hear the Maxwell Street name bandied about a fair bit. Maxwell Street Trading Company is to liquor distribution what Louis Glunz is to beer, supplying unusual, high-end spirits to bars and retailers all over Chicago. Remember the Zirbenz Stone Pine liqueur I tried at Weegee’s?  That’s one of Maxwell Street’s products, procured from Minnesota-based importer Haus Alpenz. Maxwell has become Chicago’s go-to distributor for single malt scotch, rare liqueurs, tequila, brandies, rum, bourbon, and more.

I met co-owner Brian Ciske last May, at the International Wine, Spirits & Beer event at McCormick Place, a happening best described as alcoholic Disneyland. In the middle of the drunken revelry, Brian handed me his card and said to call if I ever needed a bottle of whiskey. Five months later, we met at the Clark Street Ale House, a Maxwell Street client, where we were joined for an informal tasting by a haiku-writing professional poker player, a buyer from Binny’s, and a delightfully surly bartender.

Maxwell Street launched almost nine years ago, when Brian was working as a shoe salesman. Someone offered him a good deal on a case of premium Russian vodka at a shoe conference, an inauspicious start in liquor distribution. But under the mentorship of spirits specialist Joe Conguisti, Brian and his brother Bill built their business from the ground up, Brian working both jobs for the first five years. Maxwell Street has grown along with the demand for high-end spirits in Chicago and the resurgence of classic cocktail culture. Although their warehouse is located in Addison, the brothers named their company after Chicago’s Maxwell Street because it’s “Chicago and gritty.”

A self-described distillery geek, Brian has built one of the best whiskey portfolios in the city, due in part to yearly trips to Scotland. I had the pleasure of tasting the Edradour Grand Arome Rum Cask, an impressively potent whiskey he found at the smallest distillery in Scotland, where it’s finished in rum casks for 13 months. At 57 percent alcohol, Edradour doubles as a solid cold medicine: I thought I was getting sick but experienced a miraculous recovery after a few sips. The Edradour was followed by Willet Family Pot Reserve Bourbon (rated 90 points by Malt Advocate), Noah’s Mill Bourbon (lovely notes of chocolate and caramel), and 12-year-aged El Dorado Rum. My tasting notes were pretty much incoherent by that point, though I did manage to scribble down a poignant quote from the poetic poker player: “I’m the Optimus Prime of perverts.”

Welcome to Maxwell Street’s gritty Chicago world.

Check out Maxwell Street Trading Company’s portfolio at bars and liquor stores all over Chicago, or check them out online at maxwellstreettrading.com.