[Event]

Chivas Whisky Lab

Pearl and I recently attended the Chivas Whisky Lab at HIDE at The Roof, Bandar Utama for a whisky masterclass that brought me back to my days in chemistry class. I was a science student back in secondary school as I wanted to join most of my classmates who mostly choose the science stream and I certainly had the PMR qualifications to do so.

However in hindsight that proved to be quite a wrong decision as I was pretty terrible at Additional Maths, didn’t really like Biology and hated Physics class as the terms were all in Malay (but unfortunately although I have always been in a national school, my brain thinks in English). The only class I did quite like was the Chemistry class where I got to burn stuff (yes I can be quite the pyromaniac) and my teacher was one hot MILF which had all the boys in class drooling.

So I was rather excited when I entered HIDE as there were beakers, pipettes, tasting glasses, and whiskies on the tables awaiting us. The Chivas Whisky Lab turned out to be no normal whiskey master class whereby the brand ambassador speaks and everyone else listens and asks the occasional question. Rather this one was a highly interactive class where us participants got to actually try to create our own blend of Chivas Regal out of the various single malt whiskies with a grain whisky and Strathisla single malt as the heart of the blend.

Of course we were also free to deviate and create something totally different however Pearl and I chose to create something similar to Chivas Regal yet unique according to our individual tastes. Hence we added in whiskeys from the lowlands, the Highlands as well as Isla to the base which was Strathisla and grain whisky. After we finished, we poured it into a little bottle to bring it home along with a certificate!

Learning a bit about the process of making whisky as well as the history of Chivas Regal

Straits Wine Wine Fiesta 2016

My partner in crime and I headed over to APW in Bangsar for the Straits Wine Fiesta 2016 at the event which featured a wide variety of wines from reds to whites and sparkling varietals. Complementing the wines were lovely pastries from Yeast, craft beers as well as coffee from Pulp.

No that's not Sriracha sauce but the bottle certainly looks similar — No that’s not Sriracha sauce but the bottle certainly looks similar

Conne Lim Jen Yng — As it was pouring like crazy after we were done with the Wine Fiesta we decided to try out the much vaunted Breakfast Thieves which was right next door

Halloween coffee art as Halloween was just around the corner

Photo credits: Straits Wine and author’s own

The Whisky Society 2016

Clarice and I headed over to the Whisky Society 2016 at Ruyi & Lyn in Bangsar Shopping Centre on 22 October 2016 for the largest whisky event in Malaysia. The event saw whisky connoisseurs together with whisky distributors and even a few principals congregate for a one of a kind evening where we got to try out a whole range of different whiskies from different countries and regions including Scotland, Taiwan, Japan, and even India. Of course drinking so much whisky makes you hungry and fortunately we got to eat some delicious canapés provided by Ruyi & Lyn.

The event which was in its second year, was also an educational experience with an interactive cocktail bar by Monkey Shoulder, world-renowned bartender Shawn Chong’s whisky cocktails workshop and masterclasses from Glenfiddich and The Balvenie served in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere.

While we got to taste most of the whiskies free as part of the ticket price, there was also a selection of ‘Under the Dram’ whiskies; a collection of more than 10 premium whiskies, some of which retail for thousands of ringgit. Tokens for those whiskies were sold for RM25, and guests who purchased them got to try a shot of their chosen ‘Under the Dram’ whisky. Altogether it was a very enjoyable affair and I certainly look forward to the next one.