In your March 2022 edition of new drinks in Singapore: beer goes NFT, tequila goes zero ABV, and a whisky that is as old as your grandma.
New beers from two local brewers feature this month: Lion Brewery, which collaborates with a NFT art collective on a floral lager, and Specific Gravity works with a local chocolatier on a chocolate ale.
For cocktail enthusiasts, Muyu is a new craft liqueur from three industry heavyweights, and Lyre’s continues to devour the non-alcoholic spirits category with the introduction of two alcohol-free tequilas.
Whisky is on the move again. Taiwanese distiller Kavalan releases a triple sherry cask-finished whisky, and The Glen Grant commemorates its master distiller’s six decade-long career with a 60-year-old single malt. The Macallan goes even further back, launching an 81-year-old scotch that was first laid down in 1940.
This story first appeared on Lifestyle Asia Singapore.
7 new drinks to sip on this March 2022
The Glen Grant launches a 60-year-old single malt – its oldest release so far – to mark the six-decades-long career of its Master Distiller Dennis Malcolm. Bottled at 52.8 percent ABV from a single ex-oloroso sherry cask, it offers rich aromas of apricot, peaches, raisins, pecans and a hint of smoke. The palate presents dark chocolate, toffee and fruit cake, finished with long, lingering flavours of figs, dates, liquorice and a slight hint of smoke. The bottle, which is based on the distillery’s slender pot stills, is equally stunning.
Only 360 bottles available worldwide, with 10 in Singapore (S$39,888).
Lion Brewery dips its toes into the digital art world with this beer made in collaboration with Hola Mona NFT. Like the art collective’s parody of the famous Mona Lisa, the brewery remixed the lager – the most popular beer style internationally – by brewing it with jasmine tea leaves and rosella, and labelling it with one of the Mona Makers’ artworks. The Rosella Lager is available on tap at Thirty Six Brewlab & Smokehouse (S$7 to S$16.50) or 500ml cans (S$17.50).
Kavalan is popular for their sherry cask-finished whiskies, and their latest single malt (40 percent ABV) blends three of them. Featuring a combination of oloroso, PX and moscatel-aged casks, it presents aromas of cinnamon, candied smoked plum and citrus layered between berry, tropical fruit and longan. The palate showcases honey, chocolate and toffee, followed by a lush, lengthy finish.
Non-alcoholic spirits brand Lyre’s takes on tequila with their new Agave Blanco and Agave Reserva. Designed to resemble silver tequila, The Agave Blanco offers rich citrus notes, roasted agave and peppery spice that is at home in a Margarita and Paloma. The Agave Reserva pays homage to aged tequila with complex aromas of lemon, saline, agave, chamomile and pine. Earthy tones and a Sichuan pepper-like spice make it ideal in a Bloody Maria.
Muyu is what happens when you let internationally-acclaimed bartenders loose on the liqueur category. Created by Alex Kratena and Monica Berg of Tayer Elementary in London, and Simone Caporale of Barcelona’s Sips, each liqueur spotlights a main ingredient with secondary flavours complementing the star.
There’s Jasmine, which is refreshingly floral, a lush and zesty Chinotto, and Vertiver delivers cedar and earth with grapefruit. MO Bar is currently serving a limited run of cocktails featuring these liqueurs, but they’re just as enjoyable in a highball of soda or tonic.
Local craft brewer Specific Gravity have teamed up with Singapore bean-to-bar craft chocolatiers Lemuel to create the Bow & Arrow Ale. It’s made with cacao beans from Ecuador, which are roasted and processed locally then brewed into an amber-hued ale (5.2 percent ABV) with tempered chocolate tones. The inclusion of ginger offers a hint of spiciness and balances out the flavour profile.
The Macallan reaches back to the Second World War for its oldest release to date. Made in 1940 and taken from a single sherry cask, the single malt carries notes of dark chocolate, sweet cinnamon and aromatic peat, leading to toffee, crystallised ginger and charred pineapple. The finish is intensely rich, sweet and smoky.
Just as decadent is the packaging. It comes in a decanter created from mouth-blown glass, which is cradled on a bronze sculpture of three hands representing the distillery workers who made it, former chairman Allan Shiach, and today’s Master Whisky Maker, Kirsteen Campbell.
Only 288 examples are available worldwide. Price on application, enquire at The Macallan at Raffles Hotel Singapore.
The post New drinks in Singapore: NFT beer, alcohol-free tequila and 81-year-old whisky appeared first on Prestige Online – Singapore.
