The Swan Song

Prinsep Place may be better known for its alfresco beer joints, but hidden on the second floor of a shophouse is a treasure trove of rare and vintage whiskies called The Swan Song.

Co-owners Kelvin Hoon, 36, and Arun Prashant, 37, are likely to pull out something that they hand-carried from Scotland, or an independent bottling acquired at an auction or from a private collector. “Sometimes bottles are so rare that there is only one available and once it’s gone, it’s gone. You’ll never get it back,” says Hoon. That makes it the whisky’s swan song or “final performance”.But the co-owners have no qualms opening a bottle — at a price — to share with customers.

“Maybe purchasing a rare bottle is too prohibitive for one person, but if we split it by opening it at the bar – yes, there’ll be a premium per pour, but it’ll be available to 35 people to partake,” says Mr Hoon. “Otherwise they would never splash out the cash for that one bottle.”

For example, a rare Port Ellen 1969 Celtic Label currently retails on the secondary market for about €15,000 (S$23,900) a bottle. At The Swan Song, you can get it at $300 per half pour. Its half pour is 20ml and not the 15ml at most whisky bars.

At this 25-seat bar, you are not going to find commonly available, big-brand whiskies. Instead, the co-owners will find you equivalents from their collection of more than 500 bottles. They add about 20 bottles a month.

The Swan Song

50A Prinsep Street, #02-01

Photos: ST/SPH

2. FOR THE NEW AGE WHISKY DRINKER: ROOM FOR MORE

Nestled in the quiet and lush surroundings of Dempsey is a sleek, sexy whisky bar that would not be out of place in London, with its pastel-coloured velvet sofas and burnished metal light fixtures.

Located on the top floor of the building that also houses French restaurant Atout, Room For More is the latest concept by restaurateur Beppe de Vito, 46, who owns the il Lido Group that also operates Aura restaurant-bar at National Gallery Singapore and Southbridge, a rooftop oyster bar in Boat Quay.

Room For More, which opened last month and can seat 50 persons, is the antithesis to old-fashioned bars with stuffy interiors and hefty, intimidating whisky lists.

Mr de Vito says: “Through the design, we want to demystify the drink and attract a more varied crowd. By giving it a touch of femininity, women can feel comfortable here.”

Here customers can take a quiz to help determine what whisky works best for them, based on their preferences.

The results offer two options – an entry-level whisky and a higherend one – from the bar’s collection of more than 200 whiskies.

Most of the whiskies are available in 30ml shots (from $10) and 60ml double pours (from $18).

Where: 40C Harding Road

Open: 3pm to 1am daily

Info: Go to www.roomformore.sg; e-mail book@roomformore.sg or call 6877-6977 for reservations; Facebook/Instagram: @roomformoresg

The Whisky Library

While most whisky bars are all hardwood and leather; The Whisky Library at The Vagabond Club is gets a slightly more whimsical bent, thanks to the gold animal sculptures and red-clad furniture of the lobby it’s situated in — the work of French designer Jacques Garcia, one of Architectural Digest’s top 100 designers in 2014.

They’ve got over 700 labels and counting, all ensconced in clear glass cabinets, away from the bar, so that guests and gawk at the bottles up-close. The collection includes rarities and oddities, including a peated single malt from Nagahama distillery in Japan — a 59% ABV whisky that’s uniquely clear as it has seen zero time in an oak cask. Other highlights include plenty of single-cask picks from independent bottlers like Signatory; highly in-demand Japanese whiskies; and their current crown jewel of the collection, a 23-year-old Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve Kentucky straight bourbon.

They’ve also got a membership programme, where for a $3000 annual membership fee, guests will receive 10 complimentary room nights at the hotel, a personal whisky locker to keep their bottles, 15% off whiskies from the collection; and a host of other benefits.

The collection started from the hotel’s owner and real estate developer Satinder Garcha’s interest in whisky, which manifested after a visit to Scotland’s distilleries.

Flights are also available, each featuring unconventional drams that showcase the vast possibilities of the liquid. Their World Whisky flight features bottles from different regions — like a Barossa Shiraz barrel-aged spirit (this particular label cannot be called a “whisky” because it wasn’t aged for long enough); and a peated malt from Yamazakura distillery in Japan.

The Whisky Library

39 Syed Alwi Road. Tel: 6291-6677

The Cooperage

The 60-seater resembles a traditional whisky bar with its dark wood interiors and brown leather Chesterfield sofas. Its name means the making of barrels and casks, an integral component of whisky-making.

There are more than 200 whiskies on offer, mostly from Scotland, with many entry-level and popular ones that are priced affordably. One of the six flights on offer features a dram each of Macallan Edition No. 1, 2 and 3, which are part of the Speyside whisky distillery’s limited-edition series released annually.

Another flight features expressions from the Glenfiddich’s Experimental Series, including the IPA experiment (whisky finished in casks seasoned with India Pale Ale beer), Project XX (made up of whiskies selected by the distillery’s 20 brand ambassadors) and Winter Storm (21-year-old single malt aged in Canadian ice wine casks). The owners plan to change the menu every four months as stocks run out and new whiskies are added.

With a minimum spending of $1,500, regular customers can store up to nine bottles in personal lockers. The bar comes with a kitchen and the owners have plans to roll out a limited menu of canapes, cheese boards and main courses to complement the drinks.

The Cooperage

42 Hongkong Street. Tel: 6535-0074

Photos: ST/SPH

La Maison Du Whisky

Spirits distributor and importer La Maison du Whisky has opened all of their bottles. Well, most of them. In a massive move to create a new retail experience, 800 bottles — comprising whiskies and other spirits like gin and rum — are now open for tasting.

It’s easy to be intimidated by the endless rows of bottles in the shop, although that is easily assuaged by the team of experts that LMDW has on hand to explain and give recommendations. Guests can mix-and-match drams to create their own flights, while half-pours of the more singular (and more pricey) bottles are possible.

Even experienced drinkers will find something to expand their palate with — many of the labels include styles that break the mold, like the intensely flowery, complex, yet light Compass Box Phenomenology, a blended malt released without a shred of information about its blend or tasting notes so that people taste it without any preconceptions. Other examples include the Kadhambam single malt from Indian distillery Amrut — which is matured in three cask types: brandy, rum, and Oloroso sherry butts.

Never one to prescribe ways of drinking, LMDW also offers cocktails made with a spirit of your choice (they make a mean Old Fashioned), should drinking things neat get a little overwhelming.

La Maison du Whisky

80 Mohamed Sultan Road, #01-10, The Pier @ Robertson Quay, Tel: 6733-0059