Dead Ringer

It’s no secret that the team behind Sydney’s Bulletin Place are something of a supergroup. A series of old friends and successful solo artists, bought together by a creative endeavor they truly believe in. The raw impact hits you on entry, hospitality done well for the cities weary drinkers.

So then, what to expect when the group goes to ground for months in the creation of second offering? Would they be one-hit-wonders? Would this be full of experimentation and the things that simply couldn’t fit upstairs in their diminutive city haunt? Would Tim end it all by insisting that a pygmy orchestra be trained and flown in for the launch party?

It was with all, and none of these thoughts crowding my head as I visited Dead Ringer last week.

Built on the bones of other bars in Bourke Street, Dead Ringer is not Bulletin Place. Just the sort a solid second album you’d expect from a group of this caliber, things are noticeably more refined this time around. The boys are smart enough to have not wasted their money here but the finishes feel refined and well produced. Food is very much on the menu here, with twice as many dishes as there are cocktails. The pig jowl terrine and the chicken liver parfait are early fancies of the instagram crew, but even Tim’s signature $27 dollar olives (real price $7, but we all are watching Yelp for some outrage) are worthy of note, warm and textured, perfectly salty and demanding of the next drink.

And what drinks they are. The self-titled mainstay  Yuzu Breezer is set to be the most instagrammed drink in Sydney. The refreshing, yuzu and grapefruit acid nestles down with the rum and a little fizz. This update to the love-hate alcopop format is everything an RTD should be, the only conceivable improvement would be a hashtag on that label to try and keep track of the spread. The sherry cobbler and pineapple adonis showcase the soft spot the group has for sherry. The fresh elements that gained them fame are all present, but presented in ways that show the benefits of spending some time in the studio while the finer points of this opening were worked out. The cheek and chat can be more than seen in the nod to its Surry Hills environs, the obligatory – an old tequila, cold rip coffee and maple concoction which proves sarcasm can indeed be made to taste like heaven. The track-listing lends the drinks to be paired along with dining, I’ll be back to see how that works.

I’m not sure it leaves me as giddy and excited as the raw charm and refreshingly refined drinks concept on show each night upstairs at the original BP, but that said DR is probably better on many measures. Hands down my favourite feature is having more seats around the bar, with all the more chance to interact with the talent that resides behind it.

Early fans are like that though, always chasing the thrill of that first discovery, clinging to the fact they discovered it early as a way to stave of the personal and publicly identifiable madness that comes with fond obsession. For the bright eyed crowds walking the Hills of Surry, discovering the second one first will be as intoxicating as it was for those of us lucky enough to be there at the beginning. They’ll be blown over by the things that have become the signature sounds for this group, wherever they ply their trade: True hospitality and a feeling of welcome and enough staff to make sure everyone is looked after, really well made drinks that stand up to classics but showcase fresh local ingredients.

Keep rocking boys, I’ve put you on repeat.

413 BOURKE STREET

SURRY HILLS, NSW, 2010

02 9331 3560

deadringer.wtf 

Props to @callanboys @cocktailgirl @mixingdrinks @thedrinkbubble and @urbanchicguides for the pilfered instasnaps. Follow them on instagram for more drinks than you could ever imbibe on your own.

One more night for this pearl

 

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m late to the party on this one.

For the past six days the crew at Black Pearl have been part of a collaboration with Bacardi, leading up to tonight’s Legacy Cocktail competition final.

What it means for you is a list of 10 Bacardi cocktails, including Fred Siggins’ excellent Empire of Dreams, are up for grabs from one of the most talented bar teams in the country.

Get down there tonight to try some of these great drinks and stick around for the party when the Australian winner of tonights Legacy comp is announced.

In case you’ve never been, the Black Pearl can be found on Brunswick St in Fitzroy, number 305.

Melburnians. Forget the Cup and put your money down on this.

Turns out that #baxterchef isn’t the only person from Masterchef willing to turn their hand to pairing dishes with cocktailian creations.

Bombay Sapphire are stepping things up a notch with MasterChef judge Gary Mehigan, matching 10 dishes with each of the botanicals which give Bombay Sapphire its world famous taste. The ‘Urban Turban’ Raj Nagra has put his head together with Sean Forsyth on the cocktails and will be returning to his homeland to celebrate and invigorate the trade.

35 smacks gets you 2 dishes and 2 cocktails, with the option of buying more should you be hungry, thirsty or just greedy.

The event is running at 64 Sutton, a new warehouse venue on the cities upcoming Northern fringe. Places are limited, and it is all only going down between the 10th of November and the 6th of December.

www.projectbotanicals.com.au for all the details and tickets.

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE PROJECT BOTANICALS POP-UP BAR//

Cocktail	Paired Dish
Almond Swizzle	Pacific Oysters
Lemon Thyme Collins	Crisp Tostaditas with Cured King Fish
Juniper Sublime G&T	Blue Swimmer Crab Toasts
Liquorice Hanky Panky	Liquorice Grilled Quail
Angelica Negroni	Tartine of Field Mushrooms
Coriander Chinese Lantern	Vietnamese Rolls with Yellowfin Tuna
Cassia Blackberry Fix	Sticky Braised Pork Ribs
Cubeb Berry Fizz	Crunchy Chicken Slider
Grains of Paradise Flip	White Chocolate & Pepper Berry Cheesecake
Orris Root Aviation	Strawberries & Cream

DISCLAIMER: My team and I are working with Bombay Sapphire to bring this idea to life.

Fair enough.

Grab your fixie, sling your pug in your backpack and pedal uphill to your nearest bottle store Bondi Hipsters.

You can buy vodka made from nature’s ancient grain superfood, Quinoa.

Double bonus if you’re still claiming to be somewhere on the celiac scale too, this bad boy is gluten-free to boot.

Seriously though, the liquid is worthy of your lips and the story really does stack up.

The Fair story starts some nine years ago, before the breakfast du jour was an organic quinoa porridge with roof foraged honey and house cultured yoghurt.

Nine years ago breakfast sophistication was a Four’n’Twenty and a strawberry Oak for most Australians. The Frenchman behind Fair Spirits choose quinoa not for its achingly contemporary credentials but because it was the only grain available in sufficient volume that actually provided a reasonable return 1200-sum small landowners who farm the grain.

The liquid comes from an Armagnac still and the taste has real depth because of it. Bigger mouthfeel and flavour than you’d reasonably expect from a vodka, delicious.

Most of the distribution is in the smaller independents, but keep an eye out for this tasty vodka and it’s beautiful packaging.

Get in touch with the Australian distributor if you’re looking for a deal. Gregoire Bertaud is a cool dude.

If you’re looking to design a cocktail steeped in hipster madness, they also do a Goji liqueur.

Totes amaze.

A really tasty appointment

The extremely welcoming welcome drink, Joe McCanta’s Le Fizz.

Most brands lead with their credentials.

Most brands spend a long time talking about themselves, how their artisanally sourced ingredients are transmuted in branded gold in specially designed hand-packed mud houses by indigenous banjo players.

Most brands  spend so long talking about themselves I’m too thirsty to truly appreciate the first sip.

Most brands are not Grey Goose.

A couple weeks back, I was deemed sufficiently influential to attend #tastebyappointment, the elegant branded consumer experience being rolled out around the world by Grey Goose.

Tucked carefully upstairs in a private room at Gowings, the world’s best tasting vodka™ decided to talk not about itself, but about taste and its very personal nature.

I commence with a flute of Le Fizz.

Frustrated by guests reaching not for vodka but for Champagne at events, Global Grey Goose Ambassador Joe McCanta devised this elegant twist on a French 75 to satisfy the style choices of his guests while also driving depletion. The mix of St. Germain, lime juice and Grey Goose is bought alive with a dash of soda. The pleasing result is further proof that everything does indeed taste better for the addition of the beautifully bottled elderflower liqueur. My only complaint is that the first three glasses must have had holes in them, given they seemed to be drained very quickly.

Almost too soon I am ushered into a beautifully arranged room and shown a place at the well-set table.

Cue Joe McCanta.

In the galaxy of global brand talent, McCanta truly shines. His easy Californian charm holds the rooms attention as he introduces the evening and bids us all to try what turns out to be a yeasty and somewhat average piece of bread adorning our side plates.

It turns out, the trick of taste is intentional, McCanta has asked the kitchen to omit salt from the mix. A smear and a sprinkle transforms average to outstanding.

Salt rocks, if you’ll pardon the pun.

Our second lesson arrives as the entree.

Three morsels epitomise sour, sweet and bitter. This exercise is about determining our own, unique personal taste preference.

Unsurprisingly, things turn out bitter for me.

The lesson is reinforced by some cut crystal cocktail making. Building our very own vodka old fashioned tweaked to match salty, sour, sweet and bitter is surprisingly engaging distraction.

There is vigorous agreement around the table of our own flavourful superiority.

My bottle seems emptier than most.

I make another.

The main is placed before me.

Steak.

The third lesson is about umami.

Not a large wave that crushes coastal villages, but the flavour that enhances everything else.

Potentially a little  je ne sais quoi.

The steak comes paired with a truffle martini.

$600 worth of black truffle, sous vide’d into the Grey Goose. James Marcel Bernard Wynn-Williams mentions other ingredients but my head’s too full of truffle to truly take it in.

My mind wanders to thoughts of geese stuffed for Christmas.

If you want to know what cocktail pairing with food is about, this is a great example. a mouthful of food and a mouthful of cocktail add up to something bigger.

Something better.

Something umami.

Unctuous, in the best possible way.

The meal finishes with a little pear-on-pear action.

A pear tart with some chilled Grey Goose Poire.

The buttery custard and almond crunch saves me from cloying sameness, but it is a hard landing after the tropospheric truffle.

I adjourn to the members lounge to pursue my bitter tastes.

Choice words and battle stories are shared by the gathering throng.

Something about cocktails in space.

Good times all round.

I try another.

and another.

and, responsibly, another.

 

All too soon I am in a cab atop the Anzac Bridge, peering West across the inky water at Glebe and my home beyond.

I am struck by the presentation of a vodka comfortable with who it is.

Comfortable to let me connect their brand to my experience.

Comfortable enough to let the passion of its people shine brighter than a neon POS display.

Most brands simply talk about themselves.

Most brands are not Grey Goose.

 

Yes to Scottish Independence

A while back I had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours with Iain Macmillan, master distiller at Tobermory and Ledaig, amongst a handful of other independent distilleries producing unchill filtered treasures off the West coast.

He was a smart and hilarious companion, and thoroughly (hopefully) eclipses my many ums in these four videos for Dan Murphy.

The Illuminati exist, and they’re buying up all the really good whisky

Jonathan Driver, the erudite global ambassador for all things both Blue and Johnnie Walker is in Sydney town again this week, with a $200,000 bottle of whisky in his rollaboard.

Driver has both the responsibility and privilege of being the public and private face of Johnnie Walker Blue Label, and the expressions above that. It’s the stories from the pinnacle of planet blue that caught my attention while sharing a table with the man himself and a curated culinary experience from #baxterchef.

“There is a world that is invisible, that exists behind closed doors that normal people just don’t have access to.” Driver expounds “You’ve got to bring something like this (Johnnie Walker Diamond Jubliee,) it is the price of admission.”

The Diamond Jubilee project has opened plenty of cloistered doors for him around the world these past few months. If you’re lucky enough to be spending time with him, make sure you ask about a man with a penchant for rock hard food, and the wisdom of informing at elast a few close friends of your whereabouts while moving in the most rarefied circles.

 

The pineapple is an international symbol of hospitality

and that’s really your first clue that something rather special is going on down the immaculately thatched stairs that lie beyond these doors.

The Papuan dancehall that is The Cliff Dive has long had a reputation as a place not so much to end the night as a place to push the night in a ditch, steal the night’s wife and shake it for hours on the dancefloor.

Much has changed in Sydney’s most urbane drinking precincts. An ill-considered policy of locking punters out of clubs in an effort to curb idiots punching one another left Alex and Jeremy, owners of this tiki gem and perennial tequila masterpiece Tio’s, with a hole in their cashflow.

Faced with such a change many would have gone to the wall, complaining bitterly of forces outside of their control. Some might have even marched, petitioned or tattooed slogans.

What these boys did is even more bold. They looked at what they could change.

Sitting beside them at the bar, you can’t ignore their creativity.

The chatter between the two is constant. Testing, asking, confounding and even occasionally congratulating. Theirs is the stubborn kind of creativity that just won’t take no for an answer, the kind that sticks to the plan of having a hand roped wall behind the DJ, even when it turns out to be a much bigger job than first thought.

What they’ve done is taken a space that already worked well late and given it some early evening legs. Booths and flexible seating options abound, there are stools at the bar. Grouper swim, at leisure across the dancefloor. It’s always been good here,and they’re constantly making it better.

Behind the bar is where the big changes have happened.

First, there’s food. Yurrippi has sprung from the left hand end of the bar. The skewers have been written about plenty by everyone else, they’re tasty.

Second, the drinks are rocking. The pair have partnered with Michael Chiem to lift the bar to what are now world class levels. The list provides a lesson to the tiki-curious with references to and drinks from some of the leading lights in tiki around the world.

The Zombie is excellent, existing at a point where strong, sweet, spicy and sweet coalesce in the best possible way. Served in an idol, the drink looks as good as it tastes and the stance on the mug foreshadows the effects of drinking too many of these wondrous serves.

Miss Cavendish is an example of what happens when tiki comes downunder, tequila mixes up with rum and citrus, the pebbled ice giving texture, the roasted bananas everything else.

For me though, the Jungle Bird is where it is at. This campari forward tiki classic is served almost as a slurry over a huge sphere. It’s got balance, style, texture and flavour. Easily the best version I have had anywhere.

I’ll be back soon to try the rest. You should too.

16-18 Oxford Square.

DISCLAIMER: You might have seen the odd mention in print of The Cliff Dive in recent weeks. I’ve been adding pleasure to my work helping the boys tell their story, along with members of my more beautiful and more talented team at Hill+Knowlton Strategies. They remain our only client with a Jungle Bird on their list.

Drinks marketing – inception style

I love this idea.

San Francisco restaurant the Burritt Room has a secret drink, off the menu.

Ordering the Wingtip Vieux Carré Me Away will see a fine concoction of Glenfiddich 15, Remy, Benedictine and two types of bitters festooning your table with a custom copper coaster.

On completion of your dinner, and the drink an uber will be waiting for you outside the front door, ready to whisk you and 3 guests away to a secret club. The Wingtip sounds pretty boysy, but given the booze forward entry price, it is probably a self selecting audience.

More at Thrillist, which is where the image came from as well.

 

 

 

 

This Bourbon’s just not kosher.

Launched just in time for Australian Bacon Week, I present to you, drinkers of the world, Smoked Bacon Bourbon.

The first of a series of releases from the Experimental Spirits Company, Smoked Bacon Bourbon packs the rendered goodness of 35o grams of the finest Australian cured and smoked pig into each bottle.

The Experimental Spirits Company  brings a measure of something special to the local spirits market here in Australia. The concept hinges on the application of studied, refined and perfected technique to create something unique, rather than the distillation of the spirit itself. I think I know which bourbon they’ve made use of in this release, but I’ll let you have the pleasure of guessing as well.

This porcine release is a really excellent example of a technique called fat washing. Borrowed from the perfumers tradition, the technique takes advantage of the unique molecular structure that ethyl alcohol possesses, with allows it to connect with both water soluble flavours (the more standard infusion) and fat soluble flavours. I’ll write in more detail soon about the process, but suffice to say it is a tricky beast to get perfectly right.

The liquid in the bottle is a perfect balance between the flavours of bourbon and bacon. It is beautifully filtered and lovingly packaged. Hand labeled and wax sealed in Sven’s kitchen, this really is a bottle full of love.

It really shines in a manhattan, or simply in a glass of its own. Delicious.

The Pozible campaign launched today. You can support it here to get a bottle of your own for A$70 if you’re quick, or A$80 if you’re not. In true crowdfunding fashion there are a bunch of excellent rewards if you want a truly unique experience or the simple pleasure of buying Jacob Briars a magnum of bacon whiskey.

The next cab off the rank for the ESC will be the salted coconut spiced rum that forms the soul of the coco-banana old fashioned the team at Eau de Vie released last year.

Check out my man Sven in the video below too.

Pozible Campaign Video. Smoked Bacon Bourbon by Experimental Spirits Co. from Sven Almenning on Vimeo.

 

Bloody Delicious

The bloody mary garden

Bloody Awesome

Blood Mary’s are Bloody Awesome. Some of you might have noticed a few more peeking out of menu’s lately, thanks in no small part to the team at Ketel One and their rolling competitions and commitment to bringing this drink back to the centre of attention.

The savoury beverage is a favourite of any bartender worth their salt, a canvas on which they can project their own approach to making drinks and perhaps the only beverage platform where you can acceptably garnish a drink with a burger, or more.

The photos in this gallery are from an exceptional night almost 5 months ago, but the reason I am posting them now is that you can head down to Rushcutters on Saturday between 11-3 to forage your ingredients for a Bloody Mary and then have the only man in Australia with a skull more massive than mine, make yours up bespoke, as part of the World Class World Cocktail Week festivities.

Mojo Records

Mojo Records Moody Mary

Shady Pines

Shady’s present a brunch drink with a breakfast garnish

Vasco

Any drink with a syringe, if I’m honest. Boudin Noir slider on the side.

Low 302

A refined and delicious mixup of michelada and mary from Low 302

Doing it right

great little giveaway stunt from Stolen. Love.

Ledaig. Aged 10 years.

 

More than 200 years before whisky was first distilled on the Isle of Mull, San Juan De Sicilia exploded off the coast of the hebridean island.

The ship was rumoured to be the treasure laden flagship of the Spanish Armada’s Levant  Squadron. Under the terms of this legend, gold spilled from the ship and spread across the bay.

Countless expeditions have found nothing more than the wreckage of a press-ganged merchantman and not a skerrick of shining gold. The colours seem to have run across the bay and settled in the stills of the Tobermory Distillery over time.

The whisky is a non-chill filtered expression not a million miles away from what most people will consider Islay’s style. Further investigations will show that this is peat of a different ilk. The smoke is sweet, and beautifully balanced. In the mouth you’ll find it oily, salty, spicy and sweet. There’s fruit but not like the Tobermory 15.

Over ice or with a drop you’ll get a much longer and smoother experience.

$80 will get you a bottle of the true golden treasure of Mull. I highly recommend you do.

Mezcal Amores

 

First things first.

This is a bright and smooth 100% Espadin Agave Mezcal. It’s currently the number 3 selling brand domestic brand there.

Bottled at 37%, the fire many associate with agave is restrained, but the earthy creaminess follows through in abundance. Pure, smooth, smoky goodness.

I defy anyone to drink it and not fall in love.

That alone should be enough for you to want to seek out this nectar and devour it, but the story, in Australia gets even better.

The guy that is importing Mezcal Amores (and Los Azulejos Tequila) is quite simply, one of the good guys. A young Mexican, Jorge Cervantes is passionate about his country and the products to be found there. He’s also committed to working with companies that remain locally owned, to the benefit of the economy. Forget your fair trade coffee and chocolate, this is social justice you can really feel good about.

He is Mextrade, and you should invite him to your bar, try his great products, implore him to break out the gusano and enjoy the company of a guy who is doing it for love and money.

Sydney bartenders should get on board the contest Jorge has put up on Facebook. A trip to Oaxaca with all the trimmings is up for grabs for someone who falls in love with Amores and creates a new cocktail.

Jorge, salud.

Old Pulteney 21yr Old

Today was marked by a rare pleasure, the chance to taste a range of whisky from a place called Wick in the far north of Scotland. Called the Maritime Malt, the marque is a big supporter of seaborne adventure and Sydneysiders will see their 70 foot clipper clear the heads and turn right for Hobart this Boxing Day. I’ll admit I hadn’t heard it mentioned much before today.

Jim Murray scored the Old Pulteney 97.5, a score that has never been exceed and only a handful of other crafted whisk(e)y has made the grade. Now, I’m not entirely sure you can fully trust the palate of a single individual, even one as experienced and indeed descriptive as Mr. Murray, but here he makes a fine point.

Anyway, the liquid.

In your glass you get an oddly darker whisky than the 30yr old from the same distillery. It is an excellent whisky to smell; complexity and fineness of flavour that will have even the most ebullient of whisky describers searching for a thesaurus and flavour map. All the Old Pulteney drams have a enchanting seaside flavour to them, a salty backbone that spice, sugar and malt cling to on a seemingly everlasting slide to a delightfully distant finish in this expression over all the others.

The 21 is rested in a Fino cask, and the dry nuttiness it lends takes this from a fine drop to a truly memorable one for me.

Often described as the most Northerly Distillery in the UK, Old Pulteney actually has lost this distinction with the restoration of distilling at the Wolfburn still in Thurso at the start of 2013. Thurso is only another 20km towards Father Christmas from the stills in Wick, but there’s not much of Scotland left for a leapfrog attempt.

Freed from their unique geographical burden, their still is a unicorn. It has both no head nor swan neck, a legacy from their initial delivery to the site many moons ago. The stills that were delivered to the site were too tall for the stillhouse, and obviously keen to get on with the making of some truly excellent whisky, the executive decision was taken to cut them down to size. The result is called by many a smugglers still, a throwback to the delightful history of whisky, freedom and sticking it to the ruling classes. They also use a 90 meter long set of pipes to cool the spirit, a practice left in the past by most, but you cannot argue with the result of a worm tub finish.

This is the perfect whisky to buy your dad or know-it-all best friends who insists their brand is the pinnacle.

Not cheap at $200 from Nicks, but worth every penny and you’ll get free delivery at that price. For those of you unwilling top trust this special liquid to the hands of Australia Post, you can also find a bottle at the Oak Barrel, World of Whisky, Camperdown Cellers on Parramatta Rd and Liquor on Oxford here in Sydney.

No. 3 London Dry Gin

Packing wise, this gin is a winner from the start. Packaged in a fine white box, beautifully printed, I’ve got a feeling of anticipation usually reserved for the premium end of the whisky and cognac spectrum. The bottle slides out, hand wrapped in a custom printed tissue map of the home of Berry Bros. & Rudd wine merchants. The bottle itself is adorned with the key to the premises at No. 3 St. James Street and closed with a great piece of lead foiling stamped the the merchants Royal Warrant.

Uncorking the bottle you get a massive hit of juniper. The theme of threes is more than just packaging. Three fruits; juniper, grapefruit and orange lie down perfectly with three spices; angelica, coriander and cardamom. Designed as the last word in Gin for a Dry Martini by a man with a doctorate in distillation, the liquid certainly doesn’t disappoint.

46% abv makes it a pleasure in a G&T, particularly when you pair things up with a quality Quina Fina tonic and a decent squeeze of lemon. The juniper is a standout in a super Dry Martini, and I liked a 5:1 ratio with Dolin that I’ve just sucked down too.

This is the perfect gin to supercharge your Gin classics for the holidays. The spirit of cricket might have taken a beating these last few days in Australia but you shouldn’t think that everything English has gone past date. London Dry Gin defines a style as old as modern drinking for a reason, as a category it is great and this is its epitome.

Brandwise, this is a beautifully conceived and executed example. The story is inextricably welded to an authentic history. The paper hand wrapping of each bottle, like the proprietors have been turning out of St. James St more than 300 years. The spirit is distilled in the copper pots in Schiedam, Holland, where the original gin the British stole improved upon came from.

$80 a bottle from Nicks. Not the cheapest of juniper liquids in this country but a delightful change up to the citrus driven English and more floral craft gins on the market.

An excellent gift or treat to any lover of Mother’s Ruin.

The Eau de Vie cocktail book is here

Last April I wrote about a cocktail book that was an idea looking to be realised. Well now it’s here as the latest addition to the crowd funded cocktail library.

It looks fantastic. You’ll have to visit the bar in Melbourne or Sydney to pick yourself up a copy.

$45 will get you the book. Best take along $100 so you can have a few drinks while you’re in.

Well played lads.

 

Bunnahabhain 12yr old.

There’s one thing better than the completely awesome way this whisky spells its name, and that’s the way it tastes.

Nestled at the end of a long road in Islay, the Bunnahabhain Distillery has roots going back to 1881. Putting it in perspective, the Northern Territory was part of South Australia in 1881 and there were just 2.25 million people living in the lucky country.

An Islay providence makes some sippers turn up their nose. The heavily peated expressions from the southern shore: Caol Ila, Lagavulin and Laphroaig tend to define the style. The whisky that comes from the mouth of the Margadale river is different. Delightfully brassy amber in colour, the peat is sweet in this one, with the restrained seaside smells Islay has made so famous. Nutty caramels and sultanas with vanilla. Sherry, cocoa and salt on the finish.

The 46.3% abv gives a bright mouth feel that will bring me back to it again. Tastes a lot like it has spent some time in a Sherry cask. Probably won’t charm the Islay purists, but I think it’s a fine way to finish the day (or start a new one)

$89.99 from Nicks. Delivered to your door anywhere in Australia, free if you’ve spent $200.

The Backstairs Inn.

Not by any means the newest bar on the Sydney drinking scene but one that pour hospitality in good measure across their bar.

They will serve you fancy drinks, but for me at least this bar is about whisky. If you get bored, have a beer, then move back onto whisky. They have many whiskies here, different people have different stories. The only place you’ll find more of the aged liquid in one place is at a distillery.

My favourite seat is at the end of the bar near the door, the bar kinks and allows these two special seats a view down a bar. Keep watch as the drams are poured and you’ll see what a professional at work really looks like. They lean into a conversation, share an education or a friendly remark and pour.

Peruse the lists for a favourite, or feel free to drop your brand or your favourite style and let them be the firm hand on your tiller as you navigate their whisky sea. I’ve found that often the whisky I’m after isn’t available, but they do have a age above it, or some rare expression to gulp down. It’s enjoyable upselling, and the bar is a truly great place to go and drink with a good friend.

Head down the alley towards what looks like certain doom for the first time visitor. To your right at the end you will see the door in the picture above, if you’ve come drinking at the times that everyone else does, you’ll probably spend a time in the queue.

Head down the Backstairs and find a non-descript door that opens in onto drinking heaven.

An early mark from work will be rewarded with a swift entry. Stay until they carry you out.

The Baxter Inn. Basement/152-156 Clarence St. 4pm-1am.

Glen Grant 10yr Old

This is a good entry to the world of single malts, while you’ll have to put up with a rougher mouth feel than you’d find in a blend of the same price, there is more interest on the palate and the finish.

Hazelnuts and stonefruit, with the creamy vanilla that comes from a rest in ex-Bourbon casks. This is a tasty standard for your shelf or drinking cabinet.

In perhaps the best piece of marketing outreach I’ve seen thus far, the box came with a note mentioning the distillery edition. A cask strength bottling available only to those willing to make the long trek up to Spey. A tantalising reward, worthy of such a long road, in the imagining at least.

The 16 yr old is worth tracking down, they’ve a bottle hiding behind the bar at the Baxter Inn here in Sydney.

A gateway whisky in price as well, five cents back from $40 here.

Poorly veiled innuendo employed in the selling of whisky

Just joking, this is actually pretty hilarious. Nice bit of content marketing from Monkey Shoulder, backed up up with a highly covetable telescopic spoon.

Four Pillars Gin

Four Pillars Gin launched last night in Sydney, a few days after bottles of the 1st batch began to drop into the mailboxes of Pozible funders around the country.

An obvious passion project between two lovers of the juniper spirit, it is a worthy addition to the current crop of homegrown spirits producers starting their journey around the country. They’ve made their home on the edge of the wine producing Yarra Valley in Victoria, sourcing water and a measure of inspiration from their locale.

Distilled to epitomise a modern style of Australian gin, juniper and citrus take a back seat to more subtle cardamom, star anise, coriander seed and cinnamon. Australian botanicals, namely the Tasmanian pepperberry leaf and lemon myrtle also make an appearance. Lovers of a London Dry will be disappointed with the lack of up front in this gin, but you’d be wrong to assume that a lack of juniper dominance signals a lack of complexity in the taste. There are classic matches, with orange, cardamom and cinnamon passing over the palate in an elegant fashion.

This gin is softer than the English batting line up. It will provide an elegant stage for the country’s bartenders to experiment with and will bring many Australians claiming not to be gin drinkers into the fold. The toned down citrus notes come alive when a squeeze is added to your gin and tonic. In a martini it can get lost a little in the vermouth, but I’m hanging out for a homegrown Australian version with Four Pillars and the Regal Rouge. It is good in a negroni, settling down into a unique, if slightly floral take on the drink.

It’s an elegantly designed package, with foiling on the label and and individual batch numbering beneath the foil closure and cork. The copper foiling is a well planned allusion and story starter for the center of the brands universe, a gorgeous Carl still named Wilma. Copper is a key brand element again in the extremely covetable cocktail shakers the team have produced for launch.

With only 420 bottles in each release, this is unashamedly small batch and craft in every imaginable way. There are plans afoot too for a barrel aged Old Tom, calling on the local vineyards for some ancient aging stock, whispers of a fresh take on Sloe and a series of seasonal releases based on local botanicals, like the unbelievably delicious native finger lime. Plenty then to get excited and keep an eye out for.

You should buy a bottle to enjoy over the Christmas period, it’s a local passionate project that will be the perfect foil for long, lazy afternoons watching the Australians school the English on something they took to the world. Something of a metaphor for the ambition of this gin.

Look for this on the back bars of anyplace small, or at Camperdown Cellars Parramatta rd, Elizabeth Bay Cellars, Salt meats Cheese in Sydney. Trade distribution again through the team at Vanguard. RRP in the high sixties.

Facundo Profundo

The sugar spirit supremos amongst you will have already caught this news, but a few in the lucky country may have missed that Bacardi chose to memorialise the transition of two of their ambassadorial sons, Jeremy Shipley and Martin Newell, with a spectacularly distilled and designed set of rums.

The fame and following of these two special individuals notwithstanding, the line was commissioned for the Cataln progeny of bricklayers, one Don Facundo Bacardi Massó. Escaping from Stiges to Cuba, Facundo established and grew the Bacardi brand from obscurity to lay the foundations of one of the most recognisable alcoholic products on earth. It’s a nice piece of symmetry too, that the current controller of the company also bears the name Facundo Bacardi.

What they’ve bought to market are a suite of four rums, set to elevate the category and help brand loyalists ladder up into the lofty heights now on offer.

Details are a touch thin, as they’re not on offer yet in Australia and I won’t speak to taste until I’ve had lips on the product myself, prices are RRP in US dollars, expect to pay more if they come to Australia.

Here’s what I’ve been able to glean. Neo ($45) is an up-to-eight year old white rum, more oak and complexity than the Bacardi you’re used to. Next is Eximo ($60) an American Oak finished rum with an up to 10 years age claim. Exquisito ($90 steps things up again with 7-23 year old rums blended and finished in sherry casks. At the top of the mountain is Paraiso ($250) 23 yr old rums from the family reserve, blended and finished in ex-Cognac barrels.

They do sound delicious. I hope we get some downunder soon.

Monkey Shoulder

You will have had a blended scotch before, but fewer will have run into a blended malt. Purists will be quick to point out that every malt not marked Single Cask is, in fact, a blend but Monkey Shoulder were one of the first to the party in marketing it as such. At around $40 a bottle, it is a worthy addition to my Spirits of Christmas recommendations and an attractive entry point for a present for a friend or relative that likes a scotch.

What you get in the bottle is a blend of three William Grant’s Speyside malts. There is reference online to them being Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kininvie but given they’re released in batches of 27 casks and there is no statement other than dufftown provenance it might be that, but could also be different.

The flavour is smooth and rich, characteristic of its ex-Bourbon cask resting. There’s complexity there if you’re really willing to go looking for it amongst the creamy, buttery middle. The finish is quite impressive given the price point and you’ll also be well rewarded chucking this round in any whisky cocktail, with a more complex than a blend but more rounded than a malt kind of result ending up in the glass.

The bottle looks great, with the metal monkeys perched on the shoulder and that weighty base.

The liquid gets its name from a condition afflicting the men of the malt house. A lifetimes toil shoveling grain can leave you with a mightly painful arm, neck and the joints between, called the Monkey Shoulder.

Pick a bottle up online here.

A Proper Tonic

It seems like forever ago when I first wrote about Quina Fina. For Australian drinkers though, there is big news afoot, Quina Fina can be found lurking behind some of the best bars in Sydney (as well as at my house.)

Why should you care? Because you should really be drinking more tonic, and in sugar-obsessed Sydney, this is a much better choice than your stalwart Schweppes.

Most of you will be familiar with the traditional Gin & Tonic but you should also be considering pairing up a selection from the aperitif or vermouth sections of your drinking options. I’m loving Campari Spritzers right now. dress up a wine glass at home with a handful of ice and herbs from the garden, a measure of Campari and a splash of Quina Fina. Serve it up with a bottle so your guests can alleviate your heavy or light handedness as required.
You might also like to try the Queena Fina, equal measures gin and Dubonnet, tall over ice, topped with tonic and a lemon slice.

From the cavernous mind of Jacob Briars, the drink references HRH and her mothers preference for the delightfully frolicsome interplay between the two core ingredients. Again, typically for a Briars drink it comes with it’s very own historical conundrum over what sort of gin to use. While Tanqueray holds the Royal Warrant (a purchased peerage, rumour has it) the Queen Mother would have developed her taste for the beverage on Gordons, albeit at a higher ABV than currently ships around the globe.

Trying both seems the only sensible solution.

Talk to Vanguard if you’d like this in your bar in Australia, if you’d like this at home you’ll need a friend in the industry or to be willing to endure some Dad jokes. or go to Camperdown Cellars Parramatta rd, Elizabeth Bay Cellars, Salt meats Cheese in Sydney (thanks James)

Ron does not mean Rum (this time, it means Scotchy Scotch)

This just in, the biggest news in drinking this year.

Riveria Imports in the States has released Ron Burgundy Scotchy Scotch Scotch: Great Odin’s Raven Special Reserve, just ahead of the film’s theatrical release this month.

It is bound to be bold, brash and occasionally inappropriate. Luxuriant to the touch, with the scent of rich mahogany.

While the movie might be comedy it appears that the product isn’t (at least entirely.) From the Press Release:

Ron Burgundy Blended Scotch Whisky is not a novelty —it is a fine Scotch product more than comparable in quality to other blended Scotches at its price point. It is crafted and bottled in Scotland from a 60% malt and 40% grain blend by Old St. Andrews Distillery, featuring whiskies from Speyside, Highlands and Islay. Not just for Anchorman fans, Ron Burgundy Blended Scotch Whisky is produced for budding Scotch connoisseurs and traditional Scotch enthusiasts alike. 

Ron Burgundy Blended Scotch Whisky sells for approximately $25.00 a bottle and is available in 750 ml size only.

Stay classy.

 

Bacardi Legacy: 5 most promising in Australia

Great to see Bacardi bringing their global comp to Antipodean shores, with the countries top 25 contestans being whittled down to five for a shot at glory and a trip to Mother Russia.

David Nguyen-Luu, Fred Siggins, James Irvine, Marco Nunes, and Niall Maurici were selected from the 25 shortlisted semi-finalists in a search for five incredible cocktails able to emulate the legacy of great drinks like the Original BACARDÍ Daiquiri and the Original BACARDÍ Mojito.

One of the greatest aspects of the Bacardi Legacy competition, aside from its presence in Australia and New Zealand, is the focus on creating a drink that has the potential to be a classic. While it could be all brand wank, the drinks that have won are usually simple, balanced and clean.

Like many comps these days, they’ve added a commercial element to this one. With the top five each getting $5k to market their offers, hopefully we’ll see some innovation here too. Get in before March to try them out.

1. David Nguyen-Luu from Rockpool Bar & Grill – Perth
2. Fred Siggins from Black Pearl – Melbourne
3. James Irvine from Hinky Dinks – Sydney
4. Marco Nunes from Papa Jack’s – Brisbane
5. Niall Maurici from IXL Long Bar – Hobart

The finals are in Sydney on the 4th of March, with the winner winging his way to Moscow for the global final.

A Vodka for Rum Drinks

This is the first of my Christmas Spirits buying guide for 2013.

When you love the flavour, finish and variety of distilled spirits as much as I do, there is no response more annoying than “I won’t drink anything but vodka.”

If you don’t like the taste of alcohol, you should probably be looking for a different drug.

This Christmas though,  there’s hope. Think of Ciroc Coco as a gateway to the world where the taste of booze is an integral part of the overall experience. This towering white hued bottle will open up a world of Tiki drinks, releasing your alcoholic handbrake and sending your careening down the hill to Hunter S Thompson country.

I can almost hear the battle hardened whisk(e)y lovers out there scoffing at my prose but there’s joy in these Frenchman’s tears for you as well. Think of this as liquid childhood, a chance to hark back to a world when you didn’t know or care what a mash bill was, or the relative merits of Quercus alba over anything else that grows in Europe. I dare you to drink some and not grin a little.

This is no whipped Cream flavoured number, the Coco is fresh and clean, plus the abv is pared back to a just 35% and that means this is the sort of fun that you can just throw back and start getting involved with.

Ciroc Coconut

Expect to part with about $70 for a bottle.

Stolen Coffee and Cigarettes

The world’s most rock and roll rum brand just turned the volume up to 11.

On the back of their illegal muling operation that saw bottles of SX9 crossing the Tasman from regional airports, the team from New Zealand are breaking the law all over again.

In Australia, expect an adulterated product. The offending label ships with built in censorship to get around the ban on the word cigarettes in any retail environment here. The abv too will  come down to 37.5%. You could be forgiven for thinking that this is just to preempt the alcohol fueled violence that seems to trouble the majority of young Australians, but in reality it will mean a break in tax and duty which means this tasty looking bottle will be there or thereabouts in terms of competitively priced spirits, a couple of red bills should see a bottle tucked safely in the back of your moped.

Out of the bottle, the liquid is good.  A nose of cakey spices, the morning brew and the guy on the next table smoking full-tar Marlboro Reds. When it hits your tounge you get a smooth feel with a smoky finish, less than scotch lovers will want but more than many will have experienced. The roasted coffee rolls into and amplifies the characteristics of the Trinidad and Tobago spirit. Hints of leather, chocolate, trade spices and sugarcane sweetness. A lingering finish that reminds me of waking up on New years Day after too many cigarettes and not enough restraint the night before.

This is by no means a liqour of dressed up finery. It sits moodily in the corner, ready for anything and waiting for no one.

Build it up with too much ice, not enough coke and a squeeze of lime. Luxuriate with it up in a Manhattan if you must, or let things get all bitter and twisted:

Lou Reed’s Last Dance
60 mls Stolen Coffee and cigarettes
15mls Fernet Branca
15mls Quick Brown Fox Coffee Liqueur

Stir over ice and strain. Put “Vicious” on the gramophone and sink into it.

Time Out Sydney Bar Awards Winners

Nothing says Sydney like an Englishman in a pastel coat

BEST BARTENDER
Charlie Ainsbury – Eau de Vie

BEST BAR FOOD
Mary’s

BEST ENTERTAINMENT
Frankies

BEST FIT OUT
Lobo Plantation

BEST PUB
The Union

BEST COCKTAIL BAR
Bulletin Place

BEST NEIGHBOURHOOD BAR
Vasco

BEST NEW BAR
Earl’s Juke Joint

BAR OF THE YEAR
Bulletin Place

HOT TALENT
Jonathon Carr – Wild Rover

BEST WINE BAR
Monopole

PEOPLE’S CHOICE
Lobo Plantation

HALL OF FAME
The Courthouse