New: Villa Danieli's (of Sheraton Imperial KL) Wine Dating

(Gift away at end of post!)

Last month, we were invited to experience Villa Danieli's new monthly event especially created for wine lovers and learners alike, playfully nicknamed "Wine Dating".

Worry not. It's not what you think it is.

Insta Weekly - Past 2 Weeks in Summary

2 weeks in 1 post this time okay? I was away all of last weekend and by the time I got back it was already mid week. Thankfully, it won't be a long update so don't be daunted and just read on. :)


1. Single & Available's Monthly Wednesday Whisky Fling - Glenglassaugh

Oh man. This monthly thing at Single & Available is getting more and more packed! Not sure if it's because it's a new flight of whiskies to taste at only RM20 per flight of 3 or the monthly whisky fling programme is gaining traction by you drunkards. :) Either way, it was a good night. If you missed it, well, you can read about the new whisky on my most recent post here > CLICK!

Launch: Glenglassaugh Highland Single Malt Whisky

Glenglassaugh is relatively unheard of in Malaysia. In fact, it didn't even properly show up in the whisky geeks' community radar up until the BenRiach distillery (also owns Glendronach) bought it over in 2013.

Drink ALL the Glenglassaugh!

However, you might be surprised to know that the distillery is actually 140 years old. Dating back to 1875, it claims to be one of Scotland's oldest distilleries.

Event: Guinness Anchor Berhad's (GAB) Oktoberfest 2015

It's that time of the year to imbibe more beer!

Doesn't matter if it's a Bavarian celebration because we are all international citizens of the world brought closer together by global trade and the internet! Is it any surprise that GAB is down with this? Of course not!

From left, Tai See Wai (Head of Trade Marketing), Bruce Dallas (Marketing Director), Hans Essaadi (Managing Director), Thum Chee Yuen (Sales Director) and Shereen Teh (Trade Marketing Manager) from Guinness Anchor Berhad at the launch of this year’s Oktoberfest celebration. (Image: GAB)

Insta Weekly: Kirin Beer Garden - GAB Oktoberfest 2015 - Free Whisky @ The Bar - Happy 3rd Birthday A&L

1. Kirin Ichiban Beer Pop Up Bar from 1 Oct to 10 Oct at @ Solaris, Publika.

I've mentioned this quite a few times on my FB, instagram and have even blogged about it already, haha. So why haven't you check it out with your friends and gotten hold of your own mini "slurpee" machine already? Hehe.

Event: Kirin Ichiban Beer Garden @ Solaris, Publika

A few of us were invited for a media preview of Kirin's little pop up beer garden in The Square, Solaris Publika.

Welcome to the Ichiban Bar (Image: Kirin)

Launch: Monkey Shoulder Blended Malt Scotch Whisky in Malaysia

Monkey Shoulder has officially arrived in Malaysia, YEAY!

Selamat datang Monkey Shoulder!

....but boo, because I wanted to keep it all to myself :(

Insta Weekly: Umeshu - Stoked - Villa Danieli Wine Dating - Kampachi Sake Appreciation

Oh dang it. Lost track of time. It's late and I'm typing this while I'm running on fumes. Gotta make this as short as I can before I fall aslee.......

1. Homemade Umeshu @ Kinme

Launch: Nikka Coffey Series in Malaysia

If you're into whisky, I'm pretty sure you're aware about (and contribute to) the hype on the sudden and terrible shortage of Japanese aged whiskies.

Nikka has been in the limelight quite recently for this reason too. Hearts were broken as selected Taketsuru, Yoichi and Miyagikyo expressions were phased out (and prices increased by a gazillion percent). While these are stuff of legend, what really set Nikka apart from the rest of the clutter (for me at least) is not their aged single malts (because everyone and their grandmother makes single malts), but their NAS blended and grains.

If you follow me at all, you'll know that I've professed my love for the Nikka From the Barrel, Taketsuru 12 and Nikka Coffey Grain.

Insta Weekly: Kaffir Limes - Glenglassaugh Launch - TDH Live @ Oasis - 44 bar feat. Chester Low - Paired @ Sheraton KL - Oktoberfest @ Brotzeit - ASEAN Jazz & Percussion Festival

Weirdest thing happened to me some time back which I can't figure out. Maybe you can help me?

I was with a group of people, enjoying ourselves at a bar when we were all hankering for a bit more to drink before leaving. Suddenly one of the guys insisted that I chose the next drink - specifically a bottle of whisky. Now I don't know this guy very well, but he was part of the group and we had just met that day. Further, this bar isn't particularly known as a whisky bar, so you can imagine the whisky options were rather sparse.. and even if they had any single malts, they were entry level whiskys.

I couldn't make myself to choose anything that I was willing to drink and pay a ridiculous sum for, and asked someone else to do it instead. However, this guy was insistent that *I* chose a bottle. I insisted that I couldn't. This went back and forth for awhile until I literally forced someone else to choose. Later that night, the guy who insisted I chose a bottle suddenly showed me his phone to reveal my blog on his screen.

I'm not sure what that was about. Until today, it still boggles my mind. It was all very odd, I thought. How would you have managed that situation?

Anyway - a lot happened last week!

1. Kaffir limes

Pavilion KL's #JourneyOfTaste & L'Officiel Launch - Guinness Malaysia is 50 - Imperial by Zouk

Not much updates from me last week as I was called away to "balik kampung" on a family obligation... Also - that haze man. It's getting terrible by the day isn't it? My eyes are already stinging, my nose is full of gunk and I'm getting constant headaches from it already. :/ Please take care of yourselves, drink plenty of water, take the medications you need to take and if you must stay outdoors, mask on ya! 

1. L'Officiel Launch & Pavilion KL's #JourneyOfTaste 

Was at Pavilion KL for the launch of the L'officiel magazine in Malaysia. Supposedly the oldest one around, this 94 year old fashion luxury magazine from Paris has finally made its way to Malaysia and will feature localised contents. I'm not the most fashionable person, but the invite was not wasted on me because I sure know how to enjoy a good party, especially one which has free flow sparkling wines and cocktails made with Absolut vodka and Martell (from Pernod Ricard). More about the magazine:  www.lofficielmalaysia.com and www.facebook.com/lofficielmalaysia

Insta Weekly : Happy 58 Years old, Malaysia - Keep Your Peels - Arran Whisky Fling - Junior @ #tikitakeover44 - Taps' Better Beer Festival

Long post ahead! So no need for a filler introduction! Just go go go!

1. Jungle Bird for Merdeka #58

I've made the Jungle Bird quite a few times already just to practice. Practice practice practice makes perfect! If you're a true blue Malaysian  then this is one cocktail you should learn to make (and perhaps an Old Fashioned) to impress guests or a date, because if there are only 2 things that we are all unitedly proud of, it's our F(ood) and our B(everage).

Post-event Report: 44 Bar & Taps Beer Bar Presents Beer Bourbon Bacon!

10 August 2015 was the Beer Bourbon Bacon event jointly brought to us by 44 Bar and Taps Beer Bar, held at Tap's Mont Kiara branch.

First up - HOW FREAKING COOL IS IT THAT TWO AWESOME BARS GOT TOGETHER TO HOST AN EVENT?

Sorry about the caps, but this kind of collaboration hardly ever happens in this market, if ever. If you can name me 3 - you win liao loh! But as far as I can remember, ZILCH.  But I digress, as usual.

Anyway, using extensive research methods (Googling), I deduced that this event is inspired by annual festivals of the same name held all over America. Imagine a giant pesta with loads of craft beers, bourbons and all kinds of food with pork.

If you were thinking - Ya right, no way an event where you need to pay RM88 would draw any crowd, it's sooooo expensive. Well, I hate to say this but you're wrong from the sheer fact that Taps Mont Kiara was maximum packed (which is unusual for a Sunday afternoon) with locals and mat sallehs alike. Even the floor upstairs was opened and the seats were filled up!

So what went down that day? Read on!

Insta Weekly: Maruhi Sakaba - The Great Beer Bar - #MyTigerBites - 44 Bar Promos - Neroteca Brunch - DIY Old Fashioned

Last weekend, a good friend proposed that I should consider migrating from blogspot to wordpress, because it's more flexible and the layout allows me to come up with a very sleek, magazine-like feel.

He showed me a test site, which I really like. But I'm not sure if I have the time/energy/intelligence to toggle around with the coding. Wordpress, while is infinitely more moudable than Blogger, requires quite a bit of HTML knowledge to mess around with. I find myself not having enough time to even update this blog more than once a week (which I should because I have quite a few feature posts in the back burner argh!).

But I know that with Wordpress, readers would enjoy my blog more simply because it will look better, plus there are even more awesome, cooler usable widgets that comes with it. Oh man. How do I account for the opportunity cost of time vs traffic?

Let me mull over it for a bit more. I'm a really slow thinker. Meanwhile, here, the weekly update which I make myself to commit to (at least!):

1. Maruhi Sakaba - an Iazakaya that doesn't break the bank. 

Insta Weekly: Celebrated International Rum Day with a Grog - Kronenbourg 1664 Wednesday - Monkey Shoulder Launched in Malaysia - The Glenlivet Guardians

Oh my. One of the most surreal experiences of the year happened last Friday. It never occurred to me that someday I'll find myself swimming in a pool filled with popcorn in a dress, but it happened. Read on to find on what on earth happened.

1. International Rum Day - 16 August.

Didn't want to make a common rum drink (daiquiri, punch, mojito) to "celebrate" so decided to make something called a Grog with Sailor Jerry spice rum in.