Imagine you’re walking through Kyoto… the rich tapestry of sights and sounds from the warm brick corridors to the welcoming glow of a small bar with something unique to offer. You’d absolutely love a dram right now and the Society logo catches your eye. The familiarity of of quality and reminder of cask strength adventures you’ve had before, so you walk in. The feel is right, the lighting, the smell, and most importantly, the service and range are just perfect. Now take that feeling, take that experience, take that venue in your mind and transplant it into Melbourne!
Since 2012, Whisky & Alement have been carefully curating and pouring the best Society has to offer for members and guests to sample. Truly a process of hand-selecting the best panel-approved casks for the bar over the last five years has built up a reputation at Whisky & Alement as not only one of the best Partner Bars in Australia, but also one of the best worldwide I would argue! I’m not alone either, it was only last week that TimeOut handed them top gong for Bar of the Year.
Since then, they launched Bar White Oak, the world’s first ‘Consumable Japanese Whisky Exhibition’, and now we welcome the Melbourne Whisky Room. By Brooke and Julian’s own admission, it was a trip to the Park Hotel Tokyo Society Bar which impressed them so much they were certain Melbourne deserved a similar footing and experience. They were right! Located upstairs from the existing Whisky & Alement at 270 Russell St, we’re officially launching the Society there this coming Tuesday & Wednesday to two completely sold out sessions (sorry!). An intimate setting for the discerning Society member or guest who wants to discover what all the fuss is about. The Melbourne Whisky Room is essentially an extension of Whisky & Alement and is the opening of the archive they have been building over the last seven years. This is a collection of owners Brooke & Julian’s favourites and rarities, where you’ll find historically significant bottlings and hidden gems usually relegated to collector’s shelves. As they say, whisky was made to be opened and enjoyed, and that includes their Society wall that will be building over the next few years of rarities and long-forgotten gems of single cask, cask strength, unique casks from the widest range of distilleries on earth.
So join me on this new adventure with Whisky & Alement with the Melbourne Whisky Room, come and taste some absolute piece of history, and if you’re not almost instantly transported to a being at a well-put-together Japanese bar, but actually in Melbourne, the next round is then on me.
Melbourne Whisky Room is now open and is table service drinking at it’s best for Society members and guests. Remember to show your green Society member’s card!
[Photos courtesy of Alex Moores]
