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In September, Jess & I took a two week trip to Singapore. We spent a week exploring the country/city, and then a week sailing on the new Disney Adventure. We have so many photos of the trip to go though, but in the meantime I'm going to highlight one small part of the experience - booze. 😁
The Wish-class ships have a semi-secret speakeasy, where the Hook's Barbery, the barbershop, becomes an unadvertised bar for a few hours each night. It turned out that the Adventure has something similar with the Marvel Style Studio.
By day it's a place for children and adults to get makeovers into their favorite Marvel heroes, and buy Marvel merchandise. But at night they open up a wall, host whisky tastings, and turn into a hidden bar with the highest end lineup onboard.
I discovered this on the second night, which was good and bad. My man Rajput got to know me that week.
Like Hook's Barbery, there are coins to collect based on the pour you select. Only instead of gold, pirate-themed coins, these are silver marvel hexagons (the bestagons). And there is a shortcut - if you try a pour of their tip-top-shelf bottle, The Macallan Horizon, you get all of the coins.
So, since Jess wanted the coins, that was my second pour. Yes, second, I had to think about it, and while I did I had some Blood Oath.
It's in a crazy vessel that weighs way more than you expect - I know since they had me hold it. I am very nervous in the photo where I'm holding it. "Don't drop it." The bottle itself twists out of the vessel and is comparatively light.
It was very nice, and quite the experience, but certainly over in a lifetime. I don't feel the need to do that again.
Over the course of the week the mission became opening the bottles no one else had tried yet, as well as trying a few other things, like The Macallan Time:Space Mastery.
Rajput had not been able to try the Amrut Greedy Angels 12, as no one had ordered it yet. I have a bottle at home, but I ordered it so he was able to have a taste.
Over the course of the week I tried a few different drams. The Bushmills 46 is super, super dark, but was not heavy or over-oaked as the color might lead you to expect. That was a pleasant surprise.
I was able to sample The Last Drop No.28, which was very enjoyable.
But it wasn't all whisky, they had some special rums as well.
I tried three Rum Dictador expressions. The first was Wixarika 1977, which is a 42 year old dark sipping rum with a sherry finish. Only 25 bottles were created.
Rum Dictador Mopa Mopa Model A Sherry 1987 is a 35 year old dark rum. This one is even rarer, with only 22 bottles produced.
And finally Rum Dictador Mopa Mopa Model M Bourbon 1986, dark rum of course, 36 years old this time. This one is the rarest of the three, with only 18 bottles having been produced.
Being able to try these three rums was quite an experience, especially as none of them had been opened before me. So I was the first person to try the bottles.
There was another rum - Adres Brugal. While it is known as a luxury rum, I have to say it wasn't for my palate. I much preferred the Dictador expressions, especially the Model A.
I also attended a few tasting events over the course of the week, which had more mainstream pours.
All in all, a lot of fun and if you ever sail on the Adventure I recommend checking it out. Say hello to Rajput for me.
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Last Thursday, my wonderful wife Jess & I drove down to NYC for a very special event. We'd been invited to the US launch of the Glenmorangie 50 Years Old. A reception and dinner at SAGA NYC, on the 62nd floor of a lovely old art deco building.
Conveniently, there is a hotel in the same building, Mint House 70 Pine by Kasa, so we booked a night. I have to say, it was great. It made the trip very easy - we were able to check in and freshen up, then head to the event, and just return to our room at the end of the night. And that turned out to be even more useful than anticipated.
The event started out with a champagne reception. I'm not a champagne person, but my fantastic LVMH rep, Jun, hooked me up with a glass of the Glenmorangie The Altus 25.
There was a terrace with some fantastic views of the city. It was a gorgeous evening - just cool enough, with a light breeze. I could've happily spent the night out there, sipping whiskey.
However, that wasn't why we were there. After a brief presentation we were brought into the dining room for the main event of the evening, v dinner. Each of us received a gift box with layers relating to the 50 year old.
A note from Dr. Bill, a few photos reflecting on the previous 50 years of history at Glenmorangie, a card showing all 149 designs mapped into the overall pattern (my bottle is #23, bottom row fifth column from the left), and, finally, a ceramic tile created by Peter and Laurie Pincus, the artists who created the vessel for the 50 year old.
Each tile was randomly given one of the different colors from the design. Mine is a light grey color, #19. Jess got the best one, IMHO - Glenmorangie orange, #1. They're stamped with a signet design, obviously.
After the gift boxes were cleared, to be returned at the end of the evening, dinner began with a Daisetsu Salmon starter. I can't comment of that because I can't stand seafood, so Jess got a bonus.
This was followed by the reason for the event, a small sample of the Glenmorangie 50 Years Old. It was just a small taste, but I think Dr. Bill really nailed it. It is not over-oaked and still has some Glenmorangie character, while, at the same time, being rich with a lot of depth. Definitely something different from the usual, and very special. I'm looking forward to exploring it more when I receive my bottle.
Dr. Bill regaled us with the story of the creation of the 50 year old, as well as several other tales. A few interesting things were shared, but I won't repeat them. If you've ever been fortunate enough to attend an event where Dr. Bill has been a speaker, you know how engaging and funny he is. And his style of humor.
Dinner continued with A5 Miyazaki Wagyu - which was fantastic. There was also a BBQ Poussin option, but it looked like nearly everyone selected the wagyu. We certainly did.
This was followed by a more generous pour of the Glenmorangie The Altus 25, which was a real contrast to the 50 we'd had just experienced. And more stories from Dr. Bill, of course.
Dinner wrapped up with a chocolate malt meringue, and we were able to secure some Glenmorangie The Infinita 18 - which is quite lovely, but honestly struggled to follow The Altus, let alone the 50. It really wasn't fair.
I did get to chat a bit over the course of the evening with David Blackmore, Dr. Bill, and other lovely folks from Glenmorangie. If any of them ever find themselves in my neck of the woods, they'll be welcome.
At the end of the evening we did get our obligatory photos with Dr. Bill to commemorate the event, and I was able to manipulate the display mock-up to get some better photos than I had with the earlier crowd.
Then we got a real surprise - for being in the right place at the right time. Just as we were leaving they started to strike the room, and someone asked the Glenmorangie team if there was anyone they wanted to take the art.
And that's how we ended up with the canvas-on-frame art that was behind the display bottle, the heavy duty foamcore print off the full set of bottles - and the easel it stood on, and, just to be completely ridiculous, the plinth the bottle sat upon for the evening.
The benefits of having driven to the event, and driving a Rivian R1S - we had the space for all of that in the back. It was a bit awkward getting it all back to our room that night, and then to the car on a NYC street in the morning, but it was totally worth it! We'll figure out how to make use of these items to display my bottle, I think.
A fantastic event and a great little trip.
Oh, my understanding is that, as of Thursday, there were 40 of the 149 bottles still available. Mostly clustered toward the right side of the overall design, with a few others scattered about. Once these are gone, that's it.