Category Archives: ~ Events ~

Johnnie Walker Circuit Party Cocktails & deluxe tasting

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I recently was fortunate enough to attend a tasting session hosted by Johnnie Walker‘s Global Brand Ambassador, Tom Jones, who’s been in the scene for 20 years.

Tom in action

Tom in action

We began the evening at Twenty One in Bangsar (BSC) with the Gold Label.

I find the Gold to be silky, soft, with a sweet start, and subtle smokiness and spice in the finish. A unique blend. Don’t get to drink it very often though.

Yum yum!

Yum yum!

The good ol’ number one Scotch in the world followed, the Black Label. The Black has a crispier, maltier nose, and on the palate, it’s spicier and rich, with a lil bite in the finish. Definitely more edgy. A classic blend for sure.

We followed with my favourite, the Double Black. This baby is smoky n sweet on the nose. It’s smokier and rolls smoother in the mouth than the rest; not as sweetish as the Gold, not as spicy as the Black, but definitely smokier…. the reason i love it. A pleasant, balanced finish.

The party moved to the bar, where we had a preview of the whisky cocktails that’ll be served at the Johnnie Walker Circuit Lounge party 2013. Not just that, we mixed them ourselves! Nice.

My station

My station

 

JW Brand Ambassador Jeremy Lee lead the charge

JW Brand Ambassador Jeremy Lee leads the charge

The great news is, in this event, guests don’t just to get the premium Black Label to savour, but the Gold and Double Black too! Thus, it’s not called the Black Circuit Lounge anymore; just Johnnie Walker Circuit Lounge.

Three cocktails were done –

Circuit Lounge (Black Label base). A take on the classic Whisky Sour.

Peat Perfect (Double Black base). Citrus notes to complement the smoke.

Fresh Gold (Gold Label base). A celebratory cocktail served in a flute.

L-R:

L-R: Fresh Gold, Peat Perfect (heavily-tested) and Circuit Lounge

I enjoyed the Peat Perfect, as it was balanced and refreshing. (30ml Double Black, 16ml fresh pink grapefruit juice, 19ml honey water, a drop of Angostura Bitters. Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. Enjoy.)

Thirst being quenched

Thirst being quenched

The party takes place on March 23 at the Skypark at Terminal 2, Subang.

Should be a rocker!

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St Patrick’s month is here!

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Sumtin to look forward to every March is St Pat’s Festival. The Irish celebration has taken a life of its own over here, coz we celebrate everything! In fact, last year’s party was the biggest St Pat’s party in Asia.

The launch, by GAB, took place at Havana in KL.

Giraffe guy had to remain sober

Giraffe guy had to remain sober

This time, you can look forward to about 70 St Paddy’s parties all over the country, as well as a huge pub crawl this weekend, which is set to be Malaysia’s largest.

About 1,000 outlets nationwide will have Guinness promos goin on. With every purchase of 6 half pints or 4 full pints of Guinness Draught you’ll score a limited edition  St Patrick’s plush pillow.

There are 4 fun designs up for grabs with each design revealed weekly. There’ll also be specials every Thursday.

The party’s on for a whole month!

Toast off

Toast off

200 lucky people will be able to join the pub crawl dis weekend (March 15-17). All details are on Guinness’s FB page here. Crawlers will be entertained by some of Malaysia’s most renowned comedians during the trip.

St. Patrick’s Big Weekend Bash also takes place on the same dates all over the place.

Hit da road, Jack!

Hit da road, Jack!

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Absolut Elyx

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Vodka brand Absolut now has a super-premium drink in its stable, the Elyx.

Ready

Ready

It’s a new product that hasn’t been launched yet in all markets. It’s Malaysian intro went down at The View Bar in the city.

For Elyx, Absolut has moved away from it’s traditional roundies to create a squarish piece of work.

Funky

Funky

Elyx is a vodka made from hand-selected estate wheat, and blended with soft and naturally-filtered water. When taken neat, it’s soft and silk-like on the palate. Goes down easy.

It is a small-scale vodka, produced according to craft techniques in a 1929 copper still. Basically, an elegant and smooth handcrafted vodka.

The cool set-up at the bar

The set-up at the bar

The party was also the first anniversary of The View Bar, a cool rooftop bar at G Tower. View Bar is Pernod Ricard’s premier flagship outlet in Asia.

Guests were treated to several cocktails with Elyx as its base. Most were pretty good.

View's open air area is now closed unfortunately

View’s open air spot is now closed unfortunately

The suggested way to enjoy it is to drink it neat over a single ice cube.

The Elyx is brewed using wheat from Råbelöf, a neighbouring estate where every year, the master distiller walks the fields to select wheat that meet the highest of standards. Throughout the distillation process, copper plays an integral part in the making of this vodka. Its unique character is obtained from the vintage rectification still, with columns, pumps and hand-forged pipes all made from copper.

One highlight of Elyx is definitely the texture. It’s mouth-feel is delicate and pleasant.

The price has not been revealed, and is available at selected bars, including View Bar of course.

If there was ever a mega ice bucket i wanted to steal, it's this

If there was ever a mega ice bucket i wanted to steal, it’s this

 

Brain damage: 8/10

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Drinking-assist app

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GAB recently launched an app called the Drink Sensibly mobile app (DS), aimed at givin’ drinkers access to info and resources to help them party safely.

The session took place at brewery’s The Tavern.

Sober chicks

The app has six features:
A Drinks-Calculator: Helps u keep track of standard drinks consumed
MyTeksi: Enables u to book a cab through the mobile phone via MyTeksi
Dial an Angel: Connects one to their “angels”  – buddies
Dial a Cabbie: Provides a list of telephone numbers of cab providers across Malaysia
DS Tips: Helps u to drink sensibly
DS website: Direct link to DS website which provides a host of Drink Sensibly information

However, it’s restricted to those above 18 and non-Muslims. Not sure why.

The app is meant to be an assistant of sorts. If ur too high, (and assuming you drive a vehicle) it connects you to others who might be able to drive you – friends or cabs. There’ re also some drinking tips.

The Drinks Calculator is just a calculator – u enter how many drinks u’ve had, and it tells u how many hours it will take your body to process them (1 drink = 1 hour. 10 drinks = 10 hours).

 

The goods

The goods

Personally i would find it useful if it had an interactive system. By which i mean that when u start drinking, u add one unit into the app calculator each time u consume one unit of alcohol. (Your liver can clear out one unit of alcohol per hour. So if u have one drink an hour, u cant get drunk.)

The calculator should be ‘live’, and time should run when you start drinking. So that when you stop, the app can tell you not only how many drinks u’ve had, but how much time has elapsed too, which means it would be able tell your BAC (blood alcohol content).

Which in turn, will tell u if you’re below or above the legal limit to drive. Then i would consider using it.

Besides, it’s near impossible to know how many drinks u’ve had after number seven.

If u want more info about drink-driving (how to handle it, the law on it, etc), i wrote about this before, here.

There seems to be a glitch when using it on mobile phones at the mo. To find it, search for DSApp.

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