Visiting The Single Cask Bar in Singapore
The Single Cask bar is a famous whisky place in Singapore. Whisky lovers choose to visit because of the excellent drams, unique relaxing culture, and special bonding between the bar staff and the guests. It is also my honour to share some stories about The Single Cask bar.
What was the beginning of The Single Cask bar in Singapore?
Why choose Singapore?
The Single Cask started from Malaysia & Singapore, then established their UK office, which is not the same as the other independent bottlers, starting their business in the UK and expanding to the rest of the world. The Single Cask founder, Ben & his wife, who were wine traders in Hong Kong, then moved to Malaysia and began their whisky journey. At that moment, they were focusing on a lot of official bottlings, along with their passion for whisky tasting, they collected a lot of bottles.
When the number of bottles grew, they started considering building something more to share the extraordinary and delicious drams with broader audiences. That’s why the company established The Single Cask company back in 2010, and after a few year's efforts, they opened The Single Cask bar in Singapore in 2015.
How did the beginning of The Single Cask bar look like?
In 2015, the whisky collection differed from what they have now. They had quite a few bottles of official bottles, some independent bottles, and a handful of their own bottles since most of their own casks were very not ready for bottling.
And for their own bottles, the shape of bottles & labels back in 2012 was totally different from what they look like now. When moving to 2014, they developed the postcard shape of a bottle, which can help them to stand out.
A few years ago, as there were not many whisky brands in Singapore, such as The Macallan, the Glenfiddich, or the Glenlivet, whisky lovers in Singapore didn’t have a lot of exposure to various types of whisky. However, The Single Cask knew that there are a lot of other distilleries in the world, so The Single Cask hopes to get more opportunities to bottle those whiskies and develop more opportunities for the APAC whisky lovers to experience something different.
What makes The Single Cask bar very unique in Singapore?
The Single Cask Bar has a very special culture, bonding with the customers and the bar members.
Education, Engagement, Informal & Fun.
Education
As an independent bottler, The Single Cask was a very new concept for most whisky lovers. Because at this point, most of the whisky lovers knew more about the high-value brands only. So the bar members put a lot of effort to share their knowledge with those new customers about some of the distilleries or a different concept of whisky tasting (exploring new things). And this interaction between the customers and the members generated more conversation, which gives the customers have a more profound opportunity to engage with whisky and whisky culture.
The Single Cask bar has the vision to let the whisky lovers experience that colour & age are not the most important factors for “delicious whisky”. Also, OB & IB bottles both have their unique characters. Also, The Single Cask has many bottles of less known distilleries, which can help whisky lovers open up their whisky radar and experience the broader range of whisky profiles.
Engagement
Engagement is also an essential element to form The Single Cask bar culture other than the Education part. Whisky is similar to the other liquor drinks; the dram can taste much better when we enjoy it with a group of friends.
That’s why The Single Cask bar members enjoy the interaction and discussion with the old and new whisky fellows. Because they believe that even though a person has the best whisky in the world if he is not sharing it with his friends, the whisky may not taste that good either.
Fun & Informal
Slowly, The Single Cask members realised that the FUN and INFORMAL style - the foundation of friendship - can develop powerful bonding with whisky lovers. So The Single Cask bar can be very flexible on a lot of things, such as they have events for whisky lovers to BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottles). This builds a platform for those whisky lovers to meet up and exchange experiences/drams.
So the four parts are a very important element for The Single Cask to attack regular customers, along with all their special bottles.
As long as the whisky tastes good, it is old enough for bottling.
When you visit The Single Cask bar, you will realise that some of their own bottles are very young, like 4-7 years. This is because they understand that as long as the cask tastes good enough, then it is old enough for them to bottle it!
Of course, maybe some of the whisky lovers have the perception about “the longer the age, the more delicious.” However, The Single Cask members believe that if you just have a blind tasting session, you may be impressed by some of the young drams! So they hope to give the customers this important message - As long as the bottle tastes good, it is old enough for bottling. The Single Cask doesn’t set the age limitation for their bottles!
Additional to colour, some whisky lovers perceive “the darker the colour, the richer the whisky tastes like”. It is similar to the age statement; colour is only one of the elements of whisky enjoyment; however, it is not the core factor to identify the quality of the whisky. The Single Cask bar has a wide range of whisky colours for whisky lovers to experience the excitement of the light-colour-delicious-young bottles.
Any tips for the new whisky lovers to acquire more whisky experiences and knowledge?
Do not be afraid to try everything!
Sometimes, a new whisky lover may be conservative to try some of the bottles because they might hear some negative comments about it from his / her friends. But this may not be the best way to experience whisky since without trying everything, you may not be able to have a full picture of the whisky universe. Having an open mind to try everything, instead of following the crowd or following what other people said.Taste changes and evolves depending on experiences and time - No rush
Also, a person’s taste will change depending on their whisky & life experiences. Sometimes, the bottle/distillery cannot impress a person the first time; however, after a certain amount of time, he/she may like the bottle/distillery because he/she can connect that aroma with some of their unique experience in life.Can start with fruity and floral profile at the beginning
If you just start your whisky journey, you can consider trying more fruity or floral whisky. Then gradually explore other profiles, such as peated. This may give you more enjoyment at the beginning. Also, blended whisky is a very good place to start!
What do you think about the recent whisky market?
In the beginning, most Singapore whisky lovers know about some of the famous distilleries, and mostly they enjoy the official bottles. However, with some years, those whisky lovers gained more experience, and they have a wide range of preferences for whisky.
In recent years, social media plays a very important element to form the whisky culture in Singapore. There are a lot of different groups, such as on Facebook or WhatsApp. On those platforms, whisky lovers can share information about any new bottle release. Or they can share their opened bottles so that more people can try some of the special drams. With all those media platforms, there are a lot of different whisky communities formed, which gives more opportunities to new whisky lovers to access more types of whisky bottles.
Other than that, the whisky lovers in Singapore are not only looking for drinking now; they really hope to have a good experience in a one-stop-shop, including spirits, food, cocktails, and others. With this insight, The Single Cask bar is considering upsizing their bar and covering food and cocktails. And this can be easier for potential whisky lovers to step in their whisky journey.
Endnote by Fai
Actually, after listening to The Single Cask’s stories and insights! The Single Cask builds a platform for whisky lovers in Singapore to enjoy the drinks and have more fun by interacting with new friends or new bottles! Also, keeping an open mind to try as much as different bottles may help you have a bigger picture.
Writer - Aukingfai
Appendix