What a merry month
From gin festivals to new whiskies, here is a round-up of what’s been happening this month in the Malaysian beverage scene.
THE month of October has been a pretty busy month in the beverage industry, with new spirit launches, gin festivals and cocktail competithick tions coming in and fast. And that was just the first half of the month!
Here is a quick round up of what’s been happening so far in the Malaysian world of drinks:
Royal Salute launches 2 new expressions
Royal Salute recently released two new whiskies into their core range along with a refreshed look to its packaging. The two new whiskies – The Malts Blend and the Lost Blend – were revealed at an intimate dinner hosted by Royal Salute ambassador, Torquhil Ian Campbell, the 13th Duke of Argyll at The Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur. The Malts Blend is the first
chan with her winning drink for the east Imperial Gin Jubilee KL 2019’s best Gin and tonic competition, curious PJ. — NZ Phang/wholly
Spirits blended malt from Royal Salute, containing more than 21 single malts and aged for a minimum of 21 years. On the nose, there is a sweet burst of candied orchard fruits, followed by a silky smooth sensation on the palate that gives way to a soothing, fruity warmth that coats your tongue and ends with a velvety, slightly smoky finish.
Meanwhile, The Lost Blend, which is only available on travel retail, is Royal Salute’s first ever peated whisky. Don’t let that fool you though, the signature fruity and silky style of the Royal Salute is still very much prominent on the nose and palate, lots of oranges and peach flavours accompanied by a smouldering waft of smoke in the background.
The two new creations are now part of Royal Salute’s core range, which also includes The Signature Blend, which was first created in 1953 as a gift for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
KL’S best gin and tonic
The East Imperial Gin Jubilee KL 2019 happened last week, and Curious PJ, a gin and tonic by Shirmy Chan of 61 Monarchy was voted KL’S Best Gin And Tonic, beating a field of outstanding drinks from the other 25 partner bars.
Chan’s drink, which features East Imperial Old World Tonic and Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin, was voted the best based on scores from a mystery panel of judges and social media votes.
“With so many outstanding partner bars, the competition was especially close this year,” said Shawn Samuel, co-founder and managing director of Wholly Spirits, which organised the Gin Jubilee and distributes East Imperial Tonic Water in Malaysia.
“Shirmy has created a drink that best embodies the simple yet complex nature of a gin and tonic, while also highlighting the importance of using a good quality tonic water like East Imperial in a GNT,” he added.
This year’s Gin Jubilee was the biggest one yet, with over 3,000 attendees flocking to Gin Lane, the grand finale that took place last Saturday at Sentul Depot.
More than 8,500 gin and tonics were served at Gin Lane, with Felicia from SOMA bar serving the highest number of drinks that night. Her entry, Do You Remember?, featured East Imperial Grapefruit Tonic and Hendrick’s Gin infused with Rose and Vanilla tea.
All 26 bars will be serving their Gin Jubilee drinks until Oct 31, so you still have time to try them all! For more information, visit fb.com/ whollyspirits.
Johor rules La Maison Cointreau again
What is it with Johor bartenders and the La Maison Cointreau compétition? Joe Naik of Haiiro Usagi in Johor Baru won the Malaysian leg of the international cocktail competition last week, following in the footsteps of fellow Johorean bartender Justin Tay, of Cabinet 8 by JWC, who won it last year.
The competition, organised by French spirits group Remy Cointreau, took place over a period of two days, and consisted of two themed challenges at Sofitel KL Damansara and Purple Cane
Enterprise respectively.
Naik now goes on to represent Malaysia in the La Maison Cointreau 2019 International Finals in Bangkok, Thailand.
Now into its fifth edition, La Maison Cointreau features a robust curriculum of training and activities for bartenders, including an international bartending competition with a series of challenges specially curated to encourage bartenders to learn, explore and develop new skills and techniques.
The Bar Awards
It’s that time again, when the Malaysian bar scene comes together to vote for the industry’s best bars and bartenders of the year.
Now into its third year here, The Bar Awards is now open for public nominations, which allows anyone and everyone to nominate their favourite bars and hospitality professionals working in KL and Penang.
There are 14 categories for this year’s awards, including Bar of the Year and Bartender Of the Year categories.
Public nominations will close on Oct 27. Cast your nominations for your favourite bars and bartenders at this link: bit.ly/2h9u5sj. Michael Cheang is very much looking forward to the second half of October. Contact him at the Tipsy-turvy Facebook page (fb.com/mytipsyturvy) or follow him on Instagram (@Mytipsyturvy) or Twitter (@Michaelcheang).