Whisky & Alement’s Japanese whisky masterclass at Bar White Oak

Sip a bit of history. Whisky & Alement are hosting an once-in-a-lifetime experience at their Bar White Oak pop-up. It took three and a half years to amass Australia’s largest collection of Japanese whisky. This is your only chance to try some of these drops.

Bar White Oak Whisky & Alement

When the interest in Japanese whisky surged, distillers struggled to keep up with demand. Now some of the special whiskies at Bar White Oak are no longer being produced. (Normally these bottles would be held by collectors and not opened.) Lucky for Melburnians, this exhibition is consumable. The rare bottles culled from auction houses are ready to be poured.

Whisky & Alement’s Japanese whisky masterclass will get you up close and personal with these special drinks. The class features tastings of six different whiskies, an informative history of Japanese whisky, plus tasting notes and anecdotes about the drinks themselves.

Bar White Oak Whisky & Alement

Our hosts brought the whiskies to life, related visceral stories about a distillery high on a mountain surrounded by pristine water and a hung-over adventure on a bullet train to a remote distillery. The masterclass assumed a basic understanding and enjoyment of whisky. Instructions on how to sample whisky and fundamentals about the distilling process were skipped over in favour of going straight to tales of coal-fired production and coffey stills.

Bar White Oak Whisky & Alement

We sampled:

  • Suntory Yamazaki Distiller’s Reserve – light and fruity with clean aromatics.
  • Nikka Coffey Grain – made using 100% sweet corn grain.
  • Suntory Hakushu 12 year old – a single malt distilled high above sea level.
  • Nikka Miyagikyo 12 year old – Nikka discontinued all aged whiskies due to demand. So savour the dried fruit flavours and velvety mouthfeel while you can.
  • Nikka Yoichi – with essence of smoky, burnt out coals. Today you’d be lucky to find a bottle for $500.
  • Ichiro’s Malt Chichibu the Peated 2009/2012 – a peated 50.5% ABV whisky made using grain hand turned in Britain.

Bar White Oak Whisky & Alement

The Japanese Whisky Masterclass was a perfect opportunity to escape the winter chill and spend an afternoon sipping nips in a secluded bar with fellow whisky enthusiasts.

Jenny
Jenny S. is an event adventurer. When she’s not attending live shows, you can find her sampling the latest craft beer or sipping a creative cocktail.

The Bar White Oak popup is located inside Whisky and Alement (270 Russell Street, Melbourne ) and runs for only six months.

Join the waiting list for the next Japanese Whisky Masterclass on 20 August, or sign up to one of Whisky & Alement’s frequent masterclasses.

Disclosure: The Plus Ones were invited guests of Whisky & Alement.
Photo credit: Jenny S. and Whisky & Alement.