It is incongruous when the temperature outside is a sticky 32 degrees centigrade. But hey, this is Macau. It takes a bit of finding too – past the giant ground floor magic mushroom crèche, where staff politely shake their heads and say sorry, “only speak mainland.” Perseverance pays off and there it is the Macallan Holy Grail, hidden behind some tasteful marble Doric columns on the second floor.
Barman Devan shows off the 416 labels and numerous casks, pointing out that in addition to the adjacent Davidoff cigar bar, we may smoke if we wish. While reclining on a leather Chesterfield or perched at the handsome circular bar? Correct, he says. You are welcome to smoke. Puff away. Devan, who likes a drop of whisky himself, actually prefers peaty Laphroaig to Macallan, but with 416 whiskeys and whiskeys from all areas of Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Sweden, America, Australia and even two from India, no one will die of thirst here. And no, it’s not Asia’s biggest number of whisky labels – that’s in Singapore with 2,000 labels.
Most expensive bottle
So, about the most expensive bottle, the Macallan 1945 at HK$349,587. Has he really sold five bottles? Yes, but maybe they were not identical; they might have been slightly different vintages. But same price tag. They were bought by mainlanders, he recalls. If that one is too expensive, he also has another special from Speyside, the Macallan 1937, a snip at HK$308,888. And then, he recalls, there were the Hong Kong folks whose bill totalled HK$900,000 for one session, drinking four different vintages. So who are his everyday regular barflies? About 40 per cent mainlanders, 30 per cent expatriates and the rest local Macanese he explains. The majority are executives.
“The world’s finest Macallan Whisky bar is dedicated to the ambrosias of the gods,” says the fat book which lists every available expression and vintage. First item is a Macallan 12-year-old cask strength at a very reasonable HK$110 a glass, with the 15-year-old at HK$140. It’s not all Macallan by along way, but there’s a strong Macallan theme, with the 18 year old enduringly popular. Small barrels or casks of Macallan are dotted around the walls, giving the choice of cask or bottle strength. Cask strength is whisky of 60.1 per cent alcohol by volume, whereas bottle strength is diluted by about 20 per cent to about 40 per cent.