Malt Fun
Add: 123 Hunan Lu, near Yongfu Lu / 湖南路123号，近永福路
Tel: 6212 8728
Hours: 6pm~2am
Price: 80~500 RMB/single malt, 70~80/cocktail
Visited: Feb 2012
An evening of single malts and cigars at Malt Fun, a Taiwanese-run, Japanese-inspired whisky bar on Hunan Lu.
On a side note – Taiwan, though tiny, is among the top 5 export markets for Scotch whisky (via), after USA, France, Singapore, and Spain. Wowee! (By the way…Singapore? Even tinier, I’m impressed.)
James Bond has a bottle of Balvenie at Malt Fun from a past visit, and that’s what we had for the evening.
And James Bond’s friend brought along a personal collection.
Cigar for the night: EP Carrillo Edicion Limitada 2011. So I actually didn’t smoke this (other than second-hand smoking), but my manlier friends had a fun time distinguishing the flavors between pepper, molasses, and did I hear apricot?
A “V” cut, as opposed to the “Guillotine” and the “Bullet” cuts, creates a wedge shaped notice in the cigar’s cap, so that the smokes tar and residue accumulate on the sides of the wedge, keeping the bitter taste away from the smoker’s mouth. The tool we used to create this cut: XIKAR metal V-Cut.
Whisky drinkers and cigar smokers, give Malt Fun a try. Make a reservation, as the place was packed when we arrived at 10pm on a Friday.
Great post! I love single malt !
About your BBC link on top export markets for Scottish Whiskey’s, I re-ranked them based on USD/capita:
1. Singapore
2. UAE
3. France
4. Taiwan
5. Spain
6. South Korea
7. South Africa
8. USA
9. Germany
10. Brazil
What is the most interesting is of course Singapore, where I was living when I actually “discovered” the beauty of single malts. Next is that the UAE for being a Muslim country to be ranked so high at No. 2. I also expected South Korea to have been ranked higher, and where is Japan (maybe their local single malts are being appreciated where less need to import).
I was surprised to not see Japan either, you might be right about their local single malts. And Singaporeans, wow.
I met a/the China brand manager for Johnnie Walker at Glamour Bar when I first arrived to Shanghai a few years ago. I told her how I avoided blended malts, and I preferred (at the time) Macallan whiskeys. She scoffed at me, and said something like, “Let me guess, you are from Taiwan or Singapore? Those markets are tiny for us.” I suppose when the Chinese can appreciate and afford single malts (which is already starting to happen), this market will be HUGE on revenue basis.