The Quaich Bar - Singapore
The Quaich Bar is one of the oldest whisky bars in Singapore. There is a saying in Singapore among whisky lovers ‘you should visit the Quaich Bar once if you enjoy whisky’. Since the Quaich Bar has a long history in Singapore, it is also the distributor of multiple whisky brands, including Springbank, Cadenhead, Bunnahabhain etc. There are a lot of newly released official bottles in the Quaich Bar you can try.
How did the Quaich Bar start in Singapore?
The owner, Khoon Hui and Joyce established their first bar, the Whisky Store, in the early 2000s as a retail kiosk in Tanglin Mall. They sold beer and some other hard liquors, such as vodka. There is a group of loyal customers who drink in the Quaich bar since they opened, every week they will visit the bar and enjoy vodka at the same table.
When Khoon Hui & Joyce started the Whisky Store, there was no other dedicated whisky bar in Singapore; that’s why they decided to open a whisky bar, Quaich Bar, later. That’s why the Quaich Bar in Waterfront was the first whisky concept bar in Singapore. Many Singaporean whisky lovers started their whisky journey from this whisky bar. Also, the Quaich Bar in Waterfront was the first cigar bar in Singapore; you can still see the cigar room at the back of the shop.
As time goes by, the business grows very well; Khoon Hui & Joyce opened the second outlet, the Quaich Bar South Beach, in 2016, then the third outlet in Penang Road in 2018, and the most recent one, the Signature Reserve bar in Fullerton Hotel in 2021.
Why did they choose “the Quaich Bar” as the bar's name?
When Khoon Hui & Joyce started the first bar, the Whisky Store, many people mistakenly thought the bar was only a retail shop; customers could not drink in the bar. That’s why they considered adjusting the name of the bar.
The quaich is a special kind of shallow two-handled drinking cup or bowl of a type traditional in Scotland. Khoon Hui & Joyce believe that whisky is meant to share with friends. That’s why the quaich can be a very good symbol to represent their bar. When people drink with a quaich, they will have to use both hands to hold, and this also means that the drinker needs to open himself or herself to a group of friends.
What is the meaning of the bird on the logo of the Quaich Bar?
According to Yan Li, the old logo of the Quaich Bar was not a bird, it was a simple symbol of a quaich. However, when they opened the Quaich Bar South Beach, there was a Spanish designer who suggested that they may need to recreate the brand logo. That’s why they started for a lot of directions. After a lot of researches and brainstorms, they found that the bar-tailed godwit can be the perfect fit to represent their bar.
Firstly, in bar-tailed godwit’s name, it includes “bar” already, it is a good sign! :D
Additionally, the bar-tailed godwit is one of the strongest birds in the world. All bar-tailed godwits spend the Northern Hemisphere summer in the Arctic, where they breed and make a long-distance migration south in winter to more temperate areas. Singapore is one of their stops in their migration route. This represents that the Quaich Bar customers are spread all over the world and when the customers visit Singapore, they can come to the Quaich Bar to share and enjoy the spirit.
What does Yan Li think makes Quaich bar very special in the market?
In the beginning, the owners tried different whisky in Scotland, they realized that there were a lot of interesting whiskies. They wanted to bring them back to Singapore to educate Singapore consumers about the various whisky. With the passion for whisky and being the first whisky bar in Singapore, the Quaich Bar successfully got a lot of opportunities to collaborate with many distilleries and brands, then being the brand ambassador or distributor.
With the above privilege, when whisky lovers want to try any newly released limited bottles, the Quaich Bar is the best place for them to visit.
Other than the newly released limited bottles, Quaich Bar has a very strong culture to train their staffs. Every year, the Quaich Bar will send some of their staffs to Scotland to experience the process of whisky production and the knowledge of whisky. This can strengthen the passions of the staffs, but also can help the staffs to understand whisky better than recommend better drams for the customers.
How did Yan Li start her whisky journey?
Yan Li’s early career was in China and it was not related to whisky at all. One day, she decided to shift her career to an adventure in Singapore. She hired an agency to help her find a job. However, when she got the offer she was surprised that her new job was in a bar. With a limited understanding of the difference between a whisky bar and a club, Yan Li was not very motivated. However the deal had been closed, Yan Li had to fulfil what she agreed.
When she arrived in Singapore, she had limited knowledge of both English and whisky. It took her six months to memorize the names of the distilleries without the English background. And she was still not that into whisky yet.
One and half year later, the Quaich Bar sent her to Scotland to experience the whisky culture, with the photos below you can see how happy she was when she visited the Springbank distillery. That trip triggered her to love whisky, and enjoy the exploration of the whisky journey. That’s why she put a lot of efforts into learning the whisky comparison & develop the team to make their customers happy & satisfy with the environment and drinks.
This whisky journey didn’t only give Yan Li the enjoyment of whisky, but also helped her to find her loved one! She met her husband in the Quaich Bar. At her wedding party, four out of five tables were from the Quaich Bar staffs and her regular customers. For Yan Li, the Quaich Bar is not only a place for her career, but also it is her life and family!
How did Yan Li learn about whisky?
1) Try many different bottles from multiple distilleries
Tasting and comparing as many distilleries as you can, which is one of the “short-cuts” to explore whisky. Since it can help us to have a big picture of the map of whisky profiles, then understand the unique character of a specific distillery.
2) Comparing different vintages of the same distillery
When you find a distillery that you like, you can explore deeper by trying the different vintages, in order to know the changes of each era. Combining with the history of the distillery, then you can have a very clear picture of the whisky from that distillery.
3) Take notes and photos
Putting down your thoughts and memories will be also crucial, especially when you have tasted many types of whisky. You may lose track without a list. So keeping a simple note via your phone (photo) can be very helpful.
4) Sharing your thoughts with your friends.
Finally, you have to share the experience with your friends. Because sometimes the characters cannot be described, but sharing with friends can let us learn from each other.
What does Yan Li think about today’s whisky market?
Yan Li recalled her memory when she first joined the Quaich Bar, not many people know about whisky in Singapore. However, in recent years, most of the people on the street know about whisky already. So the awareness of whisky is growing healthily in the past 10 years.
The age of whisky lovers is getting younger in the last few years. This is also a very good trend for the growth of the whisky industry.
Although the whisky market is expanding, there are also many challenges for a bar or distributor because the market is getting more competitive. Customers can acquire whisky from multiple channels, domestically or internationally. This also requires the Quaich Bar to be agile and flexible to retain the customers. Especially when E-commence gets more popular, there are more challenges for the official distributors to tackle. That’s why during the COVID period, the Quaich Bar team started to shift their strategy from offline to online in order to make the purchase more convenient for whisky lovers.
What kind of challenge did Yan Li experience running a bar?
Running social media is one of the challenges Yan Li’s team has encountered. Since the Quaich Bar has a long history in Singapore, they have a very good reputation in the market. That’s why word-of-mouth marketing is their main strategy to build awareness among the new whisky lovers. However, during the COVID circuit breaker measures, most of the bar business had to close. So online selling was the only channel for the distributors to sell the products. So the Quaich Bar team had to innovate their website, and re-strengthen their social media. With less experience at the beginning, Yan Li’s team faced some difficulties; but luckily, it is getting smoother after a year’s test and learn.
Recruiting is the second challenge. As not many talents are available in the market, it was very difficult for Yan Li’s team to plan and recruit enough manpower, especially during the COVID period. So Yan Li’s team has to be very agile on a daily basis.
Endnotes by Fai
After the interview with Yan Li, I fully understand that whisky is a kind of magical spirit. It can change the life of a person and can give the person a passion and a life direction.
Writer - Aukingfai
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