Belly Up: Where the whiskey flows for free

Tickets to Whiskyfest can be prohibitively expensive for young and broke booze enthusiasts. But Chicago’s bars have you covered this week, hosting enough free events to cobble together your own, free (albeit weeklong) Whiskyfest. One strategy would be to plunk down at Delilah’s for the week. They’ve booked a full lineup of whiskey events, starting with an Ardbeg Scotch tasting on Thursday at 7 p.m., a Maker’s Mark seminar and tasting on Friday at 8 p.m., a Jack Daniel’s tasting on Saturday at 8 p.m., and a Buffalo Trace Distillery tasting on Sunday at 8 p.m. If you’re going to do it right, though, head out on Monday or Tuesday nights for a fuller program. A different Kentucky whiskey (a.k.a. bourbon) will be poured every two hours on March 30 from 6 p.m. to midnight. Three Scotch whisky tastings follow on March 31 at 7 p.m. If you’re going to show up for one, then do this: Compass Box whisky, scheduled for 10 p.m. that night, is a boutique artisan Scotch whisky from a former Minnesotan now living in England. (More on him later in our official Whiskyfest preview.) If you’re a total whiskey n00b, you might want to hit up the Great Whiskey Debate taking place at Five Star Bar at 9 p.m. on March 31. The seminar covers the differences between bourbon, Scotch, and whiskey; reps from Canadian Club (whiskey), Knob Creek (bourbon), and Laphroaig (Scotch whisky) will be on hand to hash it out. And, of course, they’ll dole out samples of the booze to help educate the masses.

Fatsometer: 8. No better way to pack it on than with fine whiskey.