Scotch whisky has been a popular drink in Asia since it arrived in the 19th century with British traders and colonists. Only recently, however, has Scotch – and whisky (or “whiskey” as it’s spelled in the US and Ireland) from numerous other countries now producing the spirit – become a focus for serious connoisseurship throughout the region.
In 2014, Singapore was the third biggest market in the world by value for Scotch whisky, with Taiwan fourth, South Korea eighth, India 11th and Japan 16th. Singapore is a re-export hub for the spirits trade, and much of the whisky going there is assumed to travel on to other Southeast Asian countries and to China. Collectively, the market is huge.
Whisky culture took off first in Japan, and one reason the country is not further up the list is that it produces excellent spirits of its own. Distillers, following a broadly Scottish style, have been active in the country since the 1870s, and in the last 30 years have finally produced whiskies that have achieved international recognition. In 2015 Jim Murray, the author of a widely circulated annual “Whisky Bible”, pronounced Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask 2013 “the world’s best whisky”.
Taiwan – the only market in the world where consumption of single malt Scotch whiskies exceeds that of blends – is also making first-class spirits, although so far in much smaller quantities. Tasted blind against competitors from around the world, including Scotland and Japan, Taiwan’s Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique was named the “Best Single Malt” at the 2015 World Whiskies Awards.
A CENTRE FOR CONNOISSEURS
From being on the fringes of the world of whisky, Asia is now right at its centre, with producers in Europe, Scandinavia, the Americas and Australasia all keen to break into the market. In the region’s smarter bars a good selection of whiskies is now viewed as a minimum requirement, and venues with a specialist whisky focus, which were until recently a rarity outside Japan, now proliferate.
“Every city in Asia now has a small coterie of decent whisky bars,” says Martin Newell, Hong Kong brand manager for the Diageo’s Reserve range of spirits, which includes Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Platinum Label and Gold Label Reserve Scotch whiskies. “A lot of them are in the small, intimate Japanese style, where you often sit at the bar and choose from a generous selection of whiskies.”
In many countries the term “Japanese-style whisky bar” is regarded as shorthand for “good whisky bar”, but Newell argues that the Australian bar scene has also had a significant influence on the new generation of temples to the spirit. “You can’t talk about whisky bars in Asia without referring to the Baxter Inn in Sydney (thebaxterinn.com). It’s one of those bars that is often copied. They have a tall back bar with ladders going up it, and the bottles are impressively displayed. That has had a big influence on places like Stockton (stockton.com.hk) in Hong Kong. The other trend that’s happening with whisky bars comes from the Boilermaker House in Melbourne (boilermakerhouse.com), which also has a bar in New York. They’ll have 500 whiskies and about 150 craft beers, and they will pair a dram of whisky to a beer so you drink them concurrently and they complement each other,” he says.
FROM HIGH-END CHIC TO BACKSTREET HIDEAWAY
Perennially popular is the clubby, classic style of whisky bar that reflects Asia’s colonial history, one example being the Long Bar at the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund (waldorfastoriashanghai.com). Once the bar of the Shanghai Club, it is now noted for a connoisseur’s collection of rare whiskies.
“I think when people come in, if they see the right glassware and they see the bottles displayed properly, they get a good feeling about the place and confidence in the drinks,” says Charlene Dawes, owner of the traditionally styled The Angel’s Share whisky bar and restaurant in Hong Kong (angelsshare.hk), one of the few bars in Asia to serve whisky from the cask. “People like that sense of order.”
But for some whisky lovers the less formal the environment the better. “One of my favourite bars in Shanghai is Constellation [86 Xinle Road, French Concession],” says Newell. “It’s not particularly fancy, but I think that’s one of the nice things about whisky bars. They are about the enjoyment of the whisky. It’s a humble spot – just a narrow bar with an eclectic range of Japanese and Scottish whiskies.”
The visitor to Tokyo – or indeed to any other major Japanese city – need only consult his/her hotel concierge to get a long list of recommended bars with fine whisky menus. Top picks include Bar High Five (barhighfive.com), a world-renowned cocktail bar that has just reopened in a new location with a much bigger whisky selection, and Star Bar (starbar.jp), which is famous for the quality of its ice carving – creating perfect spheres of ice to cool the spirit without diluting it is a Japanese speciality – as well as for its fine whisky collection.
The New York Bar at the Park Hyatt Tokyo (parkhyatttokyo.com) has an iconic significance for movie buffs and Japanese whisky fans, because it is where much of the 2003 movie Lost in Translation was shot. The whisky list there isn’t that long, but you certainly can emulate Murray and nurse a glass of Hibiki 17 Year Old while you take in the fine city views from the 52nd floor of Shinjuku Park Tower.
Taiwan, as you would expect, also has its fair share of bars that take whisky seriously, although they often seem to have relatively short life spans. Alchemy (2/F, No.16-1 Hsin-Yi Road Section 5), owned by star bartender Angus Zou, is well established and considered to be one of Taipei’s top cocktail bars, but also has a fine range of artisanal spirits, including American bourbons and rye whiskeys.
When going out to drink whisky himself, Zou heads for Backyard (also called L’Arrière-Cour, No.4, Lane 23, Anhé Road Section 2, Da’an District), a dark but welcoming bar with an extensive “ library” of around 400 whiskies at any one time. The list changes regularly however, and thousands of different expressions have been served in the bar since it opened in 2000.
STEEPED IN HISTORY
Elsewhere in Asia, independently owned fine whisky bars are thinner on the ground than in Japan and Taiwan, but quite a number can be found in international hotels. Maintaining an inventory of high-cost spirits, which may take a long time to move off the shelves, is more affordable to those operations than to most independents, which depend on faster turnover to pay the rent.
The Hyatt group has made a particular point of maintaining good whisky collections in its bars in several hotels around Asia (in addition to the Park Hyatt Tokyo), including Brix at the Grand Hyatt Singapore (singapore.grand.hyattrestaurants.com), The Timber House at the Park Hyatt Seoul (seoul.park.hyatt.com), and Chin Chin Bar at the Hyatt Regency in Hong Kong (hongkong.tsimshatsui.hyatt.com).
In Thailand, the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok’s iconic Bamboo Bar (mandarinoriental.com) is noted for its whisky collection – as well as famous historical guests, often in combination – while Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong’s The Chinnery (mandarinoriental.com) was the pioneering bar in promoting single malt whisky in Hong Kong around a quarter of a century ago. Others have overtaken it, but with its old-fashioned gentleman’s club atmosphere and iconic “whisky wall”, The Chinnery remains one of the pleasantest places in town for a quiet dram. “Rare bottles we serve include Macallan 30 Sherry Oak, which is the most premium whisky in The Chinnery, priced at HK$1,900 [US$245] per shot,” says assistant bar manager Dominic Chu. “We also have a collection of Macallan Fine Oak and Sherry Oak, and as Japanese whisky became popular, in 2014 we added Japanese whiskies to the list. In 2015 we added Kavalan, and we also offer regular whisky dinners.”
SPIRIT SPECIALISTS
Butler Bar (5th floor, Mody House, 30 Mody Road, Tsimshatsui) and Executive Bar (executivebar-com-hk.blogspot.hk) are discreetly hidden away on the upper storeys of commercial buildings, and have no street level signage – rather like many of the Tokyo bars on which they are modelled. Both are owned and run by dedicated and fastidious Japanese bartenders who take their whisky and their ice very seriously.
The city’s largest whisky selection however is to be found at a relatively new bar, Safe Bubbles & Malt (facebook.com/safebubblesandmalt), which has a list of more than 1,000 whiskies, mostly from Scotland and Japan, and in many cases rare old bottles which are generally no longer commercially available. “People come here to enjoy whisky but also to learn,” says whisky consultant Eric Huang, who curates the collection. “Maybe you like a particular whisky but you haven’t tried it from the 1960s or 70s, or even earlier.”
Singapore has two particularly noteworthy whisky bars – The Auld Alliance (theauldalliance.sg) and La Maison du Whisky (whisky.sg). La Maison du Whisky is a branch of the famous whisky emporium in Paris; it’s a retailer during the day but in the evening becomes a popular bar.
The Auld Alliance is also French managed, and recently moved into new premises at the Rendezvous Hotel, allowing it to expand what was already one of Asia’s largest whisky collections. “We now have around 1,500 whiskies in the bar,” says director Emmanuel Dron. “The library room is much bigger, and the whole bar is more open than before.”
There are bars dedicated to other hard liquors – gin, tequila, cognac and rum for example – but no other spirit offers quite the same breadth of choice. In the words of Hong Kong-based wine and spirits educator Ron Taylor: “You can have 400 whiskies in a bar. You can’t do that with vodka – or it would be pretty boring if you did. Whisky has got cachet. There’s a lot of history behind it, but primarily I think single malt whiskies, along with top-end rums, are the most complex spirits out there.” We’ll drink to that.
In Thailand, the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok’s iconic Bamboo Bar (mandarinoriental.com) is noted for its whisky collection – as well as famous historical guests, often in combination – while Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong’s The Chinnery (mandarinoriental.com) was the pioneering bar in promoting single malt whisky in Hong Kong around a quarter of a century ago. Others have overtaken it, but with its old-fashioned gentleman’s club atmosphere and iconic “whisky wall”, The Chinnery remains one of the pleasantest places in town for a quiet dram. “Rare bottles we serve include Macallan 30 Sherry Oak, which is the most premium whisky in The Chinnery, priced at HK$1,900 [US$245] per shot,” says assistant bar manager Dominic Chu. “We also have a collection of Macallan Fine Oak and Sherry Oak, and as Japanese whisky became popular, in 2014 we added Japanese whiskies to the list. In 2015 we added Kavalan, and we also offer regular whisky dinners.”
SPIRIT SPECIALISTS
Butler Bar (5th floor, Mody House, 30 Mody Road, Tsimshatsui) and Executive Bar (executivebar-com-hk.blogspot.hk) are discreetly hidden away on the upper storeys of commercial buildings, and have no street level signage – rather like many of the Tokyo bars on which they are modelled. Both are owned and run by dedicated and fastidious Japanese bartenders who take their whisky and their ice very seriously.
The city’s largest whisky selection however is to be found at a relatively new bar, Safe Bubbles & Malt (facebook.com/safebubblesandmalt), which has a list of more than 1,000 whiskies, mostly from Scotland and Japan, and in many cases rare old bottles which are generally no longer commercially available. “People come here to enjoy whisky but also to learn,” says whisky consultant Eric Huang, who curates the collection. “Maybe you like a particular whisky but you haven’t tried it from the 1960s or 70s, or even earlier.”
Singapore has two particularly noteworthy whisky bars – The Auld Alliance (theauldalliance.sg) and La Maison du Whisky (whisky.sg). La Maison du Whisky is a branch of the famous whisky emporium in Paris; it’s a retailer during the day but in the evening becomes a popular bar.
The Auld Alliance is also French managed, and recently moved into new premises at the Rendezvous Hotel, allowing it to expand what was already one of Asia’s largest whisky collections. “We now have around 1,500 whiskies in the bar,” says director Emmanuel Dron. “The library room is much bigger, and the whole bar is more open than before.”
There are bars dedicated to other hard liquors – gin, tequila, cognac and rum for example – but no other spirit offers quite the same breadth of choice. In the words of Hong Kong-based wine and spirits educator Ron Taylor: “You can have 400 whiskies in a bar. You can’t do that with vodka – or it would be pretty boring if you did. Whisky has got cachet. There’s a lot of history behind it, but primarily I think single malt whiskies, along with top-end rums, are the most complex spirits out there.” We’ll drink to that. 
