Ask anyone in Melbourne, and dare we say Australia, where the best whisky bar is in town (or country for the matter) - and you're more than likely to hear "Elysian" and probably a string of affection directed at its owner and operator Kelvin Low.

They're of course referring to The Elysian Whisky Bar, opened in 2016, located in the Fitzroy area of Central Melbourne. The cosy hideout finds itself at the lower end of Brunswick Street, and once you pop in, you're greeted with friendly smiles and a backbar lined with incredible whiskies, from Scotch bottled by independent bottlers from all over the world, to highly sought after Japanese whiskies, and of course, Australian fares, some sourced from microdistilleries run by one-man shows.

The bar regularly introduces new whiskies and has an emphasis on getting drinkers to expand their whisky vocabulary and palate by constantly trying unique bottlings hard sourced by Kelvin and his team. 

  

Kelvin is the owner and operator of the Elysian Whisky Bar.

  

Kelvin is a well-dressed, smartly looking man - something you might find familiar if you've visited the best Japanese bars where barkeeps maintain a high level of professionalism that manifests even in their dressing. His heritage stretches back to (relatively) nearby Malaysia, and unassumingly holds a degree in Biotechnology - not your typical qualifications for a beloved bartender. He's also amassed years of experience starting out humbly as a front of house staff spanning cafes and fine dining restaurants, to eventually working his way up to running a bar, and of course finally, his own bar.

Along the way he's picked up several principles, like making sure each customer has the bottle of whisky they are enjoying in front of them so that they can see, touch and soak in all that the labels and bottle has to offer - after all this was all intended by the producer or bottler as part of the experience and inspires a tinkle of curiosity; he's also regularly hosting distillers, bottlers and producers at the bar to peel back the labels and have his drinkers meet the makers themselves.

And if you're into cocktails, well you're in luck, Elysian's bar manager Yao Wong makes a mean cocktail, whether it be classics like the Espresso Martini with a little twist of Scotch whisky as the base, topped with Milo, coffee and condensed milk (a little nod to their Malaysian heritage), or the Purple Mist, made with Bombay Sapphire Gin, grape syrup, lemon juice and a dash of absinthe.

 

Elysian also makes some mean cocktails with their take on the classic Espresso Martini (left) and Purple Mist (right).

 

Visitors are welcome to join Kelvin, Yao and the team for jazz music, great drinks and even better conversations. 

Today, we're fortunate to have Mitch from Singapore's M&E Drinks, who took some time off from a work trip to visit the famous, must-visit Elysian Whisky Bar. Who better to talk whisky and life than yet another wonderful personality whose life is closely entwined with the spirit.

On this brisk day - it's early June, just entering Melbourne's winter - Mitch finds Kelvin walking down Fitzroy's sidewalk on the way to a local pub for their catchup. Kelvin's beloved status in the neighbourhood becomes quickly evident, with no fewer than five people coming up to say "Hi!" along the way as they exchange pleasantries, along the short one-block stroll.

 

"I think it comes to, you know, just providing good service, and obviously having exciting bottles as well... Ah, too many places around… it’s a lot of show."

  

Kelvin passionately wizzes around the Elysian bar.

 

Join in and huddle up as they talk about how it all came to be, the whisky scene in Australia and who Kelvin would share a dram with and what that dram would be - these are true stories from Elysian Whisky Bar's Kelvin Low's adventures thus far.

The Early Beginnings Of An Accidental Bar Owner

Starting and operating a bar is no easy task - it requires constant hardwork and dedication, and even then it's not enough - you'll need to maintain a revolving library of new and exciting spirits, ensure customers are attended to and enjoy the ebb and flow of a spirited conversation, as well as figure ways to bring new labels - before they've hit astronomical prices - to a customer's glass and get them to see the value before it becomes one of the most difficult things in the world to find.

It is not easy. And so you might wonder what kind of person can stand up to that challenge and perhaps such a person might have visualised this from his or her childhood - the dream to run one's bar... surely some of you reading this might harbour that very dream.

 

Kelvin and Yao with the good fellas from North Star Spirits. 

For Kelvin, it seemed to have happened almost accidentally... here is his story,

Mitch: Hi Kelvin! Thank you so much for accepting my interview, it is so great to see you. I’m going to have a few things to write afterwards, about my whole experience meeting you, it is very funny indeed!

I’m sure it’ll be something to do, but on to this interview, we are really to happy know of your success in quite a few publications. You are usually GOAT-ed as one of Melbourne’s best bars.

Could you tell us how you started out the bar?

Kelvin: The year was 2008, I came to Melbourne from Tasmania,  where I did my undergrad degree which included a research stint looking for genetic causes of prostate cancer, and came to Melbourne looking for a research job with one of the medical institutes here.

But there were no jobs available actually. I applied for so many, and never heard back from any of them. And, you know, I needed to pay my rent. So I started to branch out, and did not just apply for biomedical stuff.  I applied to cafes and fine dining restaurants, but at that point of time, I had zero prior experience in F&B. I’ve never held a tray in my lifetime. So I applied for a bunch, and the craziest thing is, on the very same day, I got accepted for a fine dining restaurant job. I heard back from a cafe as well.  

  

Kelvin has since carved a name for Elysian to be the place to be for both drinkers and producers where they can converge in a melting pot over a shared passion. 

 

Mitch: And you mentioned that it was a Japanese  fine dining restaurant?

Kelvin: Yes. It was called Shoya in Chinatown. Did my interview there with the manager, and as mentioned, I applied for a kitchen hand job. Because I had an interest in learning how to cook as well. He then asked the chef at the time, if  a position was available, but the chef replied there was no space in his kitchen!

Nonetheless, the manager was very keen to keep me, so he said “Why don’t you try for a frontline role?”, at the very same day I got a reply via email from the cafe, saying “Hey, we’re opening the cafe, we’ll like you to be part of the opening team”.

I decided to do both. I thought it was good for someone fresh in, to see two sides of the industry. One was fine dining, up-market, dealing with premium stuff, and the other was cafes, fast paced, selling coffee and cakes and stuff. But it’s a casual, friendly service.

 

 

"[I] came to Melbourne looking for a research job with one of the medical institutes here. I applied for so many, and never heard back from any of them. So I applied for a bunch [of hospitality positions], craziest thing is, on the very same day, I got accepted for a fine dining restaurant. I heard back from a cafe as well."

In a heartwarming story of turning life's lemons to lemonade, Kelvin would take the opportunity to excel and grow tremendously.

Kelvin: I think I saw an opportunity to learn from both sides. Within two weeks, [the cafe] promoted me to barista, and sent me to coffee school. A month in, I was lead supervisor of the cafe already, they even put me into an "Intro to Business" course fully paid!

A few more months in, I was the assistant manager. It was very good growth for me, and obviously, I had a great time as well.

Several years in, it seemed like Kelvin had committed to the hospitality industry and so began the early innings of what would become Elysian Whisky Bar.

Kelvin: Years later, I decided I do like hospitality and I was going to do something with it. I was thinking, should I stay in the food industry? The restaurant industry? I could, but it was going to be very competitive.

Melbourne is very competitive when it comes to F&B. If you want a restaurant, you either need a very strong meal concept, or you need to , you know, do an old concept but make it really really good.

And it’s about the same time I fell into whisky. Maybe about 2010, my managers at the restaurant,  loved whisky. Every night after we finish work, whiskies would come out, sakes would come out.

 

Today Elysian represents a blend of independent Scotch bottlings, local Australian whiskies and Japanese whiskies, all of which informed through Kelvin's many adventures along the way in his journey in hospitality.

 

[We would do this] to just have fun and do blind tastings, test each other to see who had the shittier palate. But I thought whisky was really fun. In 2010, I got serious about whiskies, and then in 2011, I met another guy, his name was Andy, we would go to other whisky bars in the city, every week without fail. And we would do that for like 30 weeks straight, every week. Just to try all the different whiskies.

 

"Maybe about 2010, my managers at the restaurant, they loved whisky. Every night we finish work, whiskies would come out, sakes would come out. 

[We would do this] to just have fun and do blind tastings, test each other to see who had the shittier palate. But I thought whisky was really fun."

 

Kelvin's forays into hospitality introduced him into the world of whiskies. And today, here he is hosting a tasting session!

Things Got Crazy In Japanese Whisky World

Kelvin's forays in whiskies seemed almost serendipitous for his next leg of growth,

Kelvin: [As mentioned] In 2011 and 2012, I was hitting the bar so frequently, that I think at some point of time around 2013 , I approached the owner and said “obviously I’m at my wit’s end, you know, I’m thinking, should I do a restaurant? A bar? If you’re going to do another bar,  maybe consider me as a partner.”

And you know, it’s crazy, I think a few days after that, they called me and said “let’s sit down and have a chat.” Went for this meeting, and they said “we are actually thinking of opening another bar and we would love for you to join.” But you know, the concept was going to be a Japanese whisky bar, and this was before the Japanese whisky explosion.

It was going to be a bar that only stocked Japanese whisky.

    

Heirloom had likely the largest collection of Japanese whiskies in Australia.

Coincidentally, Kelvin had up to that point been working at a new modern Izakaya concept named Heirloom that sat on a massive treasure of Japanese whiskies.

Kelvin: ... And in the middle of this restaurant, there was a huge bar, and I thought “what a waste!” we were pretty much putting our backup stock of glasses, wines, spirits, whatever.

And I thought we should make it a centerpiece, a focus. And there’s when I took away the wines, and I replaced it all around, 360, you could see, two or three layers of just Japanese whisky. 

Mitch: Amazing. Do you happen to have a picture of that?

Kelvin: I should have a picture. 

Before I knew it, I had the largest range of Japanese whiskies in Australia pretty much. 

To be really honest, it was just a nice way for me to try out these different things. The company obviously didn’t know much about Japanese whisky, but I said “look, more and more people are asking about it, it’s super interesting,  they’re tasty, I had access to this thing that many people don’t have access to.” 

 

Most folks don't even remember a time when Japanese whiskies were still largely overlooked, but Kelvin knew he was on to something.

 

Mitch: At that point of time, 2011, there was no explosion of Japanese whisky. It wasn’t really popular-

Kelvin: A few names were popping up, a couple of Yamazakis, a couple of Yoichi maybe, Akashi... They were starting to come up as well. They were just launching their 12-year-old's at that time. Then the 14-year-old's. When they released the 12 year old, nobody knew, nobody cared, and it was really unique flavours as well. Robust, rich, dirty.

I was very lucky at the time.

I had to show the owners of the restaurant at that time, that this made sense. Why I’m using company money to buy all these whiskies. So every week, I printed out the sales report, and you could see, from 10% whisky sales, then 15%, then it went to 20%, 25%... per week! So there was a growth, and there was an interest. And plus we were pushing it as well.  

At this point of time, I had a lot of contacts in Japan, I could get pretty much any bottles, no kidding.

You know, Hakushu was still doing heavily peated editions, every year. Hakushu Sherry [Cask], Yamazaki Sherry [Cask], you name it, I could get it. And this was 2011, 2012, 2013; I could still get Mars 28. I was getting Mars 25, 24, single casks...all the pre-closure stuff.

 

Kelvin remains connected with the Japanese whisky scene, having recently hosted fast reviving Fuji Whisky. Fuji Whisky's Master Blender Jota Tanaka pictured second from the right, next to Yao. 

 

2011, 2012, 2013... I could get pretty much any bottles,... [then] around 2014, 2015, suddenly my supplier was saying “I’ll be lucky if I can get you one bottle”.

The answer to the perennial question "why don't we open a 100% Japanese whisky bar"...

Kelvin: [Going back to talks of opening a Japanese whisky bar] So yeah, it was meant to be a bar with this crazy Japanese collection. But no one saw how crazy the industry was going to be, the Japanese whisky was going to be. 

So it was at that point of time when Whisky + Alement saw that I was doing this at the restaurant, and I had my contacts as well, and Japanese whisky was getting popular, they also saw it. And they thought “let’s do something together.” 

[Up till that point] my background was in restaurants, and so before opening a bar, I needed to know how a whisky bar ran. I needed to know the clientele as well. So I eventually gave up my managing job at the restaurant, and I went and worked casually for Whisky + Alement for a year and a half. 

In a small way, yes [that was how I came to start a bar]. Unfortunately, things were kind of not meant to be, I guess. Japanese whisky exploded, as you know. We had all these talks already, we were going to do this bar, and then we realised, supply was drying up. It disappeared. Things I could get a case, suddenly my supplier was saying “I’ll be lucky if I can get you one bottle”. So around 2014, 2015, one of the partners decided “let’s pull the plug” before it’s too late.

 

This was a time that preceded the likes of the new crop of Japanese distilleries that have gone on to become highly popular such as Kanosuke, which Kelvin visited early on in their establishment, when they were still new "new".

 

Mitch: The Japanese bar never got off the ground.

Kelvin: It never, yeah. Solely because of the lack of stock. We really wanted to do 100% Japanese only. 

Mitch: Because we know that the problem of running a bar is not just the initial stock, but the collection that you had to maintain. That was the biggest problem. So how did that evolve to you owning your own bar?

Kelvin: So when the Japanse whisky boom happened, I realised you can’t just do Japanese whisky. Over the same period of time, I was really interested in independent bottlings. I realised that all these single cask releases, they had  these really fancy labels, plus the liquid was so good, and at that time, 2014, 2015,  an IB bottle was great value. Cask strength, single cask, and they tasted really good.

The Big Pivot - Scotch Independent Bottlers (IB's) To The Rescue

With Japanese whiskies skyrocketing in interest and price, and becoming increasingly difficult to get his hands on, it seemed like good ol' Scotch was the most reliable and consistent supplier of whiskies. But you've got to know where to look...

 

The IB scene has definitely opened up with fresh new players like the Thompson Brothers who've added a funky take to independent Scotch bottlings.

 

Kelvin: At that point in time, 2014, 2015, Australia only had a few IB brands. Signatory was in the market already, and Adelphi had been around for quite a few number of years by then. We also had Gordon & MacPhail, and SMWS.

Mitch: Were they already popular at the time?

Kelvin: In selected bars. But I would say they were big. And you know, working in any of these bars that stocked these products, people will still come up to the bar, look at the menu or see these bottles, and say “Hey I would like that Glen Grant” or “Hey I would like that Laphroaig” without realising these were single barrel selections done by these independent bottlers.

They never realised that part of the brand, they ordered it because they recognised Laphroaig, or whatever the name was - the distillery's names. And they just saw it as an extension of what the distillery provided.

Mitch: So in a way, by coming up with a bar that was more focused on IB, again you got in early and ahead of the curve.

Kelvin: Yes. I think the timing again was really good, and really the interest was there. People also really loved to drink single cask things. People were getting fascinated by all this stuff.

 

"...they ordered it because they recognised "Laphroaig", or whatever the name was - the distillery's names. And they just saw it as an extension of what the distillery provided... We wanted to introduce more IB brands, I wanted to tell them what these brands are, what does SMWS do? What does Signatory do?

And you could see different age statements, and aging in unusual casks that you don’t normally get to see."

 

Independent bottlings allows drinkers to go on the less beaten path to discover something special.

Elysian found its niche in showcasing the value in independent bottlings - the people, the palate and the process behind each unique label.

Kelvin: But, we needed to educate, right? We wanted to introduce more IB brands, I wanted to tell them what these brands are, what does SMWS do? What does Signatory do?

No guys, it’s not just an extension of so-and-so distillery, but these were selected by these people because they thought it was the best quality at that time. And you could see different age statements, and aging in unusual casks  that you don’t normally get to see.

Mitch: That’s another good point, because a lot of the standard bottlings [had standard cask aging programs]... Or specific age statements, while they don’t have the unusual ones. So, how did you go about the education? When you’re holding classes?

Kelvin: They could be sherry [cask aged] only, right? Or bourbon [cask aged] only.

Yeah, when we’re doing tastings or classes. And also, every customer that comes through the bar, just telling them what they are. As they place their order or when they’re looking through the menu, just telling them “Look, this is a bottling done by, could be Whisky Sponge, could be M&E selection” whatever it is. Telling them “Look, this is the person behind it, the company behind it, this country, and this is what they’ve done. This is somebody’s selection, somebody’s palate.” 

 

Kelvin and Yao with Mitch in the centre, presenting his very own stellar bottling of a 31 Year Old Secret Islay bottled by the Thompson Brothers.

 

Mitch: And what was the reception like?

Kelvin: Oh, people were loving it. People are fascinated by back stories, and now they realised “right, it’s not just some funny cartoon label, cat label.” but they get to see the process behind these bottlings, and I think that’s very important. 

Australia’s Whisky Scene - A State Of Affairs

 

For a period of time as well, the Australian whisky drinkers went through a phase as well where they’re like “Aussie whiskies only”.

Man, they were so dedicated in supporting local! 

 

Australia represent. 

"That's very interesting, so what happened?"

Kelvin: [It started] roughly 8 years ago. It's still here but it’s slowing down.

At the start there were only a handful of whisky distilleries in Australia, most of them were in Tasmania. You might know some names like Sullivan's Cove. Up in the mainland, we had Bakery Hill, and Starward is huge now. But back then there were not too many.

Right now, in Tasmania alone, we have about 100 distilleries. 100! 

Scotland with the global market has about 150, thereabouts.

Mitch: Tasmania is not even a very big island (compared to Scotland). But does that mean that most of the distilleries are very tiny? Are they doing well?

Kelvin: Very, very tiny.  Micro distilleries. One person operations, sometimes a couple. Husband and wife. 

They are OK for now, but the ones with the good whisky will definitely survive, I think the market is saturated, if you ask me. And for Australia, local whiskies are taxed exactly the same as imported whisky, so they’re the same on $97.90 per litre of alcohol. Plus the GST, plus the small operation. The cost of making one bottle is much higher as well.

Mitch: So in that sense, to run a bar in Melbourne, the bottle cost and rental are definitely not lower than Singapore.

Kelvin: I’ll say it’s a bit higher.

 

 

Kelvin: Many Australian whiskies are very expensive. Two to three years old Aussie whisky, in a 500ml bottle, average is $220 to $250... [and] that’s the starting point. 

Mitch: And brands like  Sullivans Cove now, their single casks are close to $1000 at retail. That is scary! So, we’re seeing some interesting trends.

Kelvin: Sullivans Cove with age, or if it comes with a tawny or with a French oak, yeah you’re looking at $700 to $800. If it’s American oak it’s about $500.

While there are good distilleries out there, price points are a bit prohibitive sometimes. So many of these people that I said were supporting local, they are starting to feel the pinch. It’s getting maybe too much now... [Especially] when Scotch is still relatively well priced.

Mitch: So this is also relating to the bigger trends, do you think Aussies are still mostly focused on Scotch whisky? Or are they potentially venturing out to gins, rums, things like that? Bourbon whiskies perhaps?

Kelvin: The hardcore whisky drinkers in Australia, yeah they’re definitely focused on Scotch whisky. But for most people, they only know the big brands, so they know Jim Beam, Jack Daniel’s, a couple of famous ones like Monkey Shoulder, obviously Macallan and such.

 

Gareth and Angela, who are behind Fleurieu Distillery, based in South Australia.

Who better to ask than Kelvin on where to look in this massive market of Australian/Kiwi whiskies, perhaps he'd introduce us to a couple of up and coming ones that we ought to know about,

Kelvin: Definitely, one of my favourites is Fleurieu Distillery, South Australia. Husband and wife business, their first business is beer. So they’re brewers themselves,  so they understand malts. They understand what makes a good wash. They understand yeast.

When they went into whisky as well, these are people with science backgrounds as well, so they study and understand how the process works, what flavours they’re gonna get at the end. So their whiskies are very good, very consistent, and the price as well.

The Elysian Whisky Bar Today

 

"I’m a whisky drinker that has a bar."  

Today Elysian Whisky Bar is well-known not just with locals, but even abroad, and has steadily racked up quite the reputation for itself through the tireless efforts of Kelvin and his team. We thought it best to take stock of what Elysian is today,...

Kelvin: Alot of dedicated clientele that I’ve known over the years from my restaurant days, we still keep in touch. And luckily with technology, with Facebook and social media, it’s easy to stay in touch with them. So they’ve seen how I’ve progressed,  so many restaurants  and bars follow me.

 

 

Mitch: To what do you attribute your success of your bar [Elysian]? 

Kelvin: I think it comes to, you know, just providing good service, and obviously having exciting bottles as well. Being a whisky drinker, I know the thrill of  chasing and hunting down  bottles that others can’t find,  that rare bottle. So it’s a bit of that, and non-pretentious service. I think that is really important.

Mitch: As opposed to big brands and showy places whose operators are focused on the bottomline, you want to be somebody who is very passionate and enthusiastic, and sharing this business with fellow whisky lovers.

Kelvin: Exactly.

If you come to [Elysian], you’ll see a few bottles on the table, no matter where you’re seated, not just at the bar, even if you’re down that corner. I would leave the bottle at your table, just so that you get a feel. I’m a big whisky drinker, I like to hold the bottles. I like to read the labels. Look at the bottles. Different to going to a big bar, where you order something, honestly, you just got the glass. You don’t even know if you got the right thing.

  

At Elysian, owner Kelvin is competently supported by bar manager Yao Wong, who is a bartender specializing in cocktails whom Kelvin met years ago, and together also they also co-own a spirits distribution business.

Kelvin: Yeah, we kept bumping into each other at the whisky bar in the city, eventually we started chatting. 

[Besides running Elysian together], we are [also] business partners in our distribution business. We distribute certain brands like Whisky Blues, we do Thompson Brothers, Eiling Lim -  a well-known Malaysian IB; when she was bottling we used to do distribution for her as well, we did some Asta Morris, yeah. Some Shinanoya for awhile, but yeah, for the main brands now, it’s Whisky Blues, Thompson Brothers, Asta Morris.

 

In the Elysian Whisky Bar.

 

Mitch: That’s quite a lot then, with the more well known, smaller IBs that you cover. In your bar right now, roughly, what is the proportion of say Scotches, Australian etc?  just very roughly.

Kelvin: Scotch whisky is the main part of the bar, and IBs are the focus. So I’ll say 80% Scotch, and then maybe 7% American, a couple of Irish, and then the rest  Australian [whiskies]. And of course, Japanese whiskies as well.

But a big portion is Scotch.

The Gas Left In The Tank

With the origin story of Kelvin and Elysian Bar covered, it seemed inevitable to ask, "So at this point, are you happy with where you are? Given a chance, do you want to do this for the rest of your life?" Saved the hard questions for last.

Kelvin: Definitely happy with where the bar sits at the moment. And you know, the clientele is just growing. Growing and growing. The regulars are coming back.

[Right now] it's about maintaining. Six and a half years in. I need to consistently keep getting the good bottles. Try to keep the price point down as well, just to make things more accessible. And honestly maintain the service and the bottles’ quality.

It's also having to constantly coming up with exciting events as well. Every time, if there’s a bottler, a distiller in town, we normally get to host them.

 

Kelvin and Yao with the team from one of Scotland's up and coming distilleries, Raasay.

 

Mitch: I’ve noticed that. These events seem to be very well received!

 

I don’t know. Am I able to work there forever, I’m not sure myself. It’s too hard to say at this point of time. We’re not getting any younger, so.

Taking a more pensive turn, Kelvin digs deep,

Kelvin: So that’s Elysian. I don’t know. Am I able to work there forever, I’m not sure myself. It’s too hard to say at this point of time. We’re not getting any younger, so.

And I have two young kids as well. They are eight and seven. At some point when the schoolwork gets harder, I want to be there and be that supportive father and husband. Because right now I’ve been very fortunate, the last eight years. My wife has been carrying the family, really. She’s supported me so much with the business.

 

Elysian has been a long time in the making and Kelvin acknowledges he's had a whole lot of support from the people closest to him.

Paying tribute to the person who's supported him throughout,

Kelvin: My wife doesn’t even like whisky. But you know, I met her at the fine dining restaurant more than 10 years ago. She would join in on our drinking sessions, she’ll follow me to the whisky bar without fail. Even though she didn’t like whisky, she’ll have a beer while I enjoy my whisky. When we visit Japan, she would ask “where do you want to go?” and she would plan my trip for me. She’s 100% supportive.

Mitch: Are you a fluent Japanese speaker? In a way, when it comes to detailed communication, she can act as an interpreter as well. [Editors’ note: Kelvin’s wife is Japanese.]

Kelvin: : I’m conversational in Japanese, so she definitely [helped with] reading the formal documents and all. And buying tickets. It definitely is easier with her around. 

One Island, One Dram, One Person

 

That flavour was sensational. And I would happily be stranded on an island with that dram...It’s not possible, but if I could sit down with Taketsuru-san. And just go through and have a chat with him.

It came time to wrap up the interview and had one last question for the man behind the great Elysian Whisky Bar, it's an age-old question for any spirit lover, "If you were stranded on an island and could only have one dram with you, with anyone you wanted, who and what would it be?"

Kelvin: That’s a very, very tough question... The dram, I have a very memorable dram. I don’t know if you remember, there were a bunch of casks that were coming out, which were all secret Speyside 1973. They were all 42, 43 years old at the time. Those [secret] casks were all very unique. It wasn’t just your normal Speyside. It was creamy, kind of nutty flavour. 

  

A Secret Speyside 1973 from The Whisky Agency. (Image Source: WhiskyBase)

Trust Kelvin to be incredibly precise in his selection!

Mitch: Any idea which distillery? Or they never revealed it?

Kelvin: That's the craziest thing. I spoke to two different bottlers who bottled those casks, they all had different names in mind. A lot of them said Glenfarclas, which I would lean towards also, but some have told me it’s Aberlour. And I guess what was unique was that they were fino cask matured as well.

Mitch: That is unusual. Is there even anymore, now?

Kelvin: Most of them were 1973, I may have come across one or two casks that were 1975 with a similar profile as well. But, look out for the 1973 secret Speyside's. Some people are still releasing it, and if they release it, it will be a grand a bottle.

Mitch: I would believe it, it’ll be more than 50 years old already! Anyone whom  you would want to be stranded on an island with [to share that dram]? Any whisky heroes?

Kelvin: [The 1973 Secret Speyside]’s flavour was sensational. And I would happily be stranded on an island with that dram. That’s pretty hard to find. [As for who I would like to be stranded with], it’s not possible, but if I could sit down with Taketsuru-san. And just share  the dram and have a chat with him. Because this guy went to Scotland, 1919 thereabouts.

 

A young Masataka Taketsuru would be sent to Scotland to learn whiskymaking before voyaging back to Japan as the first Japanese to do, and was pivotal in helping establish the Yamazaki Distillery for Suntory, and eventually his own distillery, Yoichi, that would become Nikka Whisky.  

An homage to Taketsuru-san, the father of Japanese whisky,...

Mitch: This is interesting. Would you have liked to talked to Taketsuru-san at the end of his career when he can look back and give you some, or would you want to talk to him when he’s starting out?

Kelvin: Definitely at the end of his career. At the start of his career, I’m pretty sure he’ll be like us, when we all don’t know where we’re heading. But this guy, who came from a chemistry background as well, the reason  he was sent there to learn spirit distilling by his company in Japan. I don’t know how much English he spoke at that time, but he was brave enough to go to Scotland at the end of WWI.

The dedication it took. He kept knocking on doors, he kept knocking on distillery doors. “Take me in, let me in…”. And Longmorn was the first distillery to let him in. He learnt so much, took so many notes and as we know, founded the whole industry in Japan.

Mitch: That’s a really good choice, actually. Thank you so much, this was an awesome interview. 

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A special thanks  to Mitch, who has been a kind friend of 88 Bamboo and the whisky scene in Singapore at large, and has always been thoroughly generous with his time, effort and insight. As Kelvin would say, Mitch too is perhaps one of the the most non-pretentious figure in Singapore's whisky scene.

 

Lead image courtesy of Time Out, with all other images courtesy of Kelvin Low, Elysian Whisky Bar, and Mitch from M&E Drinks.