I think that it's unpleasant, but found that its reputation is greatly exaggerated. There are much worse liquors available if that's your jam.

By far the worst tasting thing I've had was Norwegian moonshine.

Don't drink Windex.

As a former Chicagoan I'd have to agree. I always thought Malort was just a running gag to play on visitors.

Without the purchase-to-fulfill-a-gag market, it probably would have shut down decades ago.

The new owners are a serious distillery, and doing the best job possible with the recipe. This will lead to people drinking it for reasons other than a gag, but will that grow to be enough to leave the joke behind?

It pisses me off, because there's no reason for it to exist. There are good products with the same flavor profile Malort attempts (and fails), but Malort swamps them in the market. There's even non-Jeppson Malort now. It's all a stunt.

My first thought exactly! I have never heard of Malört outside of the cryptography/security industry, where offering it is seemingly used as a hazing ritual.

Just chase it with an Old Style or twelve and whatever Malört tastes like to you will soon be only a nostalgic memory from your one trip late at night to Logan.