GinRum.Me 2020

Covid-19 has been a huge downer ... BUT rain, shine or virus, we must keep our spirits (glasses) up!

GinRum.Me is back in its third year with a new format for the new normal featuring 9 weeks of spirits experiences with gins, tequila and a mezcal across 8 bars in Klang Valley and even 4 in Ipoh!

Jann, Four Points Sheraton Chinatown KL

The Petaling Street / Chinatown area is booming with foreign and local tourists, drawn by the mushrooming of new, quaint F&B outlets, super Instagram-able graffiti and design, and most of all - bars of all shapes and sizes.

Enter newest kid on the block, Jann. A cocktail bar that's located on the 7th floor of the newly opened Four Points by Sheraton Kuala Lumpur, Chinatown.

Image: https://www.facebook.com/pg/FourPointsKualaLumpurChinatown

Dram & Leaf - Penang's First Specialist Bottle Shop

A big congratulations to Ben Ng (of Drinks Alliance), and his partners on the opening of Penang's first retail shop offering fine things for sale and experiential sessions.

 
What fine things? Here is rundown of what they have to offer:

Balblair's Core Range Release in Malaysia

We were recently invited for a tasting and dinner to introduce the Bablair's core range aged expressions of the 12yr old, 15yr old and 18yr old.

But is Balblair's new? The answer is.... not really.

Previously, Balblair was originally introduced as a whisky bottled by "vintage" like, wine. The Balblair 95 for example; was bottled in 2015.

What made them change? Well my guess would be, like every other brand going NAS, stamping Balblair as an aged expression is a way of changing their game plan for meeting demand. So, if you can get your hands on their vintage variant though, do it.

Image: The Whisky Exchange and Master of Malt

If you're curious, you can read about their change here:
https://scotchwhisky.com/magazine/latest-news/25093/balblair-removes-vintages-amidst-revamp/
http://www.thewhiskybusiness.com/2019/03/balblair-distillery-launches-new-age.html

Of the 3 new expressions released, which one do I like? To be honest, all 3 make for a decent everyday easy-drinking dram. The 12 yr old was a nice dram to start the evening with the 15 yr old makes a decent after dinner dram, and the 18 yr old was a good way to end the night.

For more:
https://www.balblair.com/
https://www.facebook.com/asiaeurogroup/ (main distributor in Malaysia)

Thanks for the jio, AsiaEuro.

- Jon