The Evolution of Hong Kong’s Whiskey Scene and the Hong Kong Whiskey Festival

WEBVTT

00:01.927 –> 00:06.528
[SPEAKER_02]: Welcome back everybody to another fun edition of the Rolex whiskey podcast.

00:06.828 –> 00:12.269
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, man This guy who’s gonna be on today that you’re gonna meet in the second boy.

00:12.309 –> 00:26.633
[SPEAKER_02]: Did I have fun with him and he really showed me showed me a town of towns Well, that’s a big introduction for my dear friend Los Rooker from Hong Kong famous Tiffany’s bar Large welcome to the show my friend.

00:26.673 –> 00:27.133
[SPEAKER_02]: How are you?

00:32.868 –> 00:42.075
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, so another beautiful day in the neighborhood, doing what I do, looking forward to having fun, looking forward to chatting with you, I’m excited that we can get you on the podcast.

00:42.475 –> 00:45.777
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, the 15-hour time change is always a challenge.

00:46.218 –> 00:48.519
[SPEAKER_02]: So I really appreciate you making the time.

00:49.380 –> 00:51.361
[SPEAKER_01]: Was it $50 or $36 or was it?

00:51.381 –> 00:52.062
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m not so sure.

00:52.082 –> 00:55.044
[SPEAKER_02]: But I don’t even know anymore.

00:55.064 –> 00:58.206
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, as you want to introduce yourself to the audience, tell them who you are.

00:59.153 –> 01:01.834
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so I’m last, I’m based in Hong Kong.

01:02.454 –> 01:05.134
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m working for the Intercontinental Grand Stanford here.

01:05.174 –> 01:09.715
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s a beautiful five-star hotel next to your harbour in Hong Kong in your college side.

01:10.495 –> 01:13.516
[SPEAKER_01]: Beautiful whiskey bar here called Tiffany’s New York bar.

01:13.696 –> 01:19.617
[SPEAKER_01]: And I’m very glad that I’m a part of the Hong Kong Whiskey Festival, which we organize every year.

01:20.377 –> 01:24.538
[SPEAKER_01]: And so my life is all about whiskey and hospitality.

01:24.938 –> 01:26.599
[SPEAKER_01]: So let’s meet in a short, short form.

01:29.421 –> 01:30.923
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, what have you been in Hong Kong for?

01:31.763 –> 01:35.327
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, on 30 years now, I was a 29 years in Shenzhen.

01:35.347 –> 01:41.933
[SPEAKER_01]: There was a resting hotel, but overall, 30 years now in Hong Kong slash China.

01:43.215 –> 01:49.301
[SPEAKER_02]: So, so, are 13 years ago, when you came into Hong Kong, what was the whiskey scene like?

01:49.361 –> 01:50.402
[SPEAKER_02]: Was there a whiskey scene?

01:52.180 –> 01:58.682
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, I believe there was a whisky scene already, but in a development phase, I was not part of it back then.

01:59.642 –> 02:04.423
[SPEAKER_01]: I was interested in whisky, but I was definitely not aware of a big whisky scene.

02:04.923 –> 02:08.164
[SPEAKER_01]: When I first came to Hong Kong, it was different.

02:08.344 –> 02:08.904
[SPEAKER_01]: It was different.

02:08.944 –> 02:10.905
[SPEAKER_01]: It was more, let’s say, underground.

02:11.805 –> 02:14.929
[SPEAKER_01]: not so public, maybe the first whiskey bar appeared.

02:15.690 –> 02:22.358
[SPEAKER_01]: I was back then two years working in the Hong Kong and not really in contact with whiskey, much.

02:23.680 –> 02:24.681
[SPEAKER_01]: I moved then to China.

02:26.207 –> 02:28.289
[SPEAKER_01]: in China whiskey was not a topic.

02:28.829 –> 02:31.652
[SPEAKER_01]: It was just the time the red wine was discovered.

02:32.132 –> 02:40.319
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, people drink a lot and they drank a lot of different things in China, but it was just appreciated red wine and they they learned so much.

02:40.599 –> 02:52.009
[SPEAKER_01]: I had an amazing time in China because I always thought people there, they are so thirsty for learning about everything.

02:52.690 –> 02:53.830
[SPEAKER_01]: They learn about everything,

02:54.872 –> 03:05.117
[SPEAKER_01]: how to do things, how to do service in our hotel, but as well, how to appreciate life, how to appreciate wine and food.

03:05.797 –> 03:08.539
[SPEAKER_01]: And that was for me a big eye-opening experience.

03:08.699 –> 03:19.004
[SPEAKER_01]: But then when I came to Hong Kong, that’s when I went into the into the risk scene here in Hong Kong because when I took over the job at Intercontinental Grand Stanford, which was around,

03:19.644 –> 03:20.764
[SPEAKER_01]: nine and a half years ago.

03:20.784 –> 03:35.329
[SPEAKER_01]: And suddenly it was in charge of a whisky bar, despite being in charge of a Chinese lesson, Italian restaurant and the vangeting operation, then the whisky bar would come more like a toy.

03:35.849 –> 03:38.370
[SPEAKER_01]: That was a very, very interesting experience for me.

03:39.398 –> 03:46.887
[SPEAKER_02]: And like 13 years ago, you know, or we, I forget was 13 or nine years ago, as a parent, like, what did the whiskey bar look like?

03:46.947 –> 03:47.727
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, what was in there?

03:47.888 –> 03:52.413
[SPEAKER_02]: Also, I would imagine single mulch or like a little bit of everything in the toy.

03:53.529 –> 03:54.369
[SPEAKER_01]: Many single malls.

03:54.549 –> 03:58.150
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, Hong Kong is not really a bourbon land here, and mainly Scotch.

03:58.671 –> 04:02.152
[SPEAKER_01]: And at that time, we had mainly whisky swarm distilleries.

04:02.252 –> 04:07.553
[SPEAKER_01]: So, we call that official borrowers, obese, and we had a lot of verticals.

04:07.673 –> 04:17.716
[SPEAKER_01]: So, 12, 15, 18, 21, 25, and we had from the regular distilleries, Glen Leverke, Glen Mobangey, McCallum, Highland Park.

04:17.756 –> 04:20.817
[SPEAKER_01]: We had a lot of vertical expressions here.

04:21.407 –> 04:27.348
[SPEAKER_02]: And then were they coming to do the brands coming to Hong Kong to support it at that point or that came a few years later?

04:28.289 –> 04:31.549
[SPEAKER_01]: No, it happened already at that time, yeah, it happened at that time already.

04:32.010 –> 04:38.791
[SPEAKER_02]: So they saw the emerging market and the opportunity, you know, I think one thing that stuck with me is like, you know, the lifestyle they live life.

04:39.731 –> 04:50.794
[SPEAKER_02]: So, you know, the brand probably will like, wait, and there is, I mean, I personally, I mean, I haven’t been to Dubai, but Hong Kong financially was very eye-opening just to sheer wealth.

04:52.754 –> 04:55.195
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no, I mean, definitely a lot of things happened.

04:55.775 –> 05:03.919
[SPEAKER_01]: Even, I said I was when I first came to Hong Kong, I was not really part of the whisky scene, but I remember I used to run funny and counter.

05:04.959 –> 05:12.902
[SPEAKER_01]: I was invited for a whisky tasting with the Dalmorn, and it was with the F&B organization and network organization.

05:13.602 –> 05:15.423
[SPEAKER_01]: And at that time, I thought, okay, free boost.

05:15.463 –> 05:16.924
[SPEAKER_01]: So I signed up, yeah.

05:17.924 –> 05:20.805
[SPEAKER_01]: That was the event, famed Hong Kong, when I first came here.

05:24.748 –> 05:37.278
[SPEAKER_01]: When I looked there again my old photos, only many, many years later, I actually identified that it was a tasting with the finest delmore recipes and with Richard Patterson.

05:38.297 –> 05:45.919
[SPEAKER_01]: Like now I were dying with him over to Hong Kong and actually he was 30 years ago in Hong Kong and I had a tasting the same already.

05:46.760 –> 05:54.162
[SPEAKER_01]: And for like five years I could not really, I had no memories on this and then I thought I had a tasting.

05:54.622 –> 06:00.744
[SPEAKER_01]: I had a tasting what was it and then I really discovered many years later it was actually with him.

06:01.664 –> 06:20.492
[SPEAKER_01]: So, the funny part is, during this five years probably, I learned so much and I learned to appreciate all those people behind that I realized actually I met already a couple of them in the special Witter Patterson and that was an eye-opening experience, quite funny actually.

06:21.493 –> 06:28.616
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh for you growing up was whiskey in your life growing up as alcohol like when you when you were younger and stuff were not really.

06:30.213 –> 06:30.993
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, quite a match.

06:31.033 –> 06:33.354
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I’m from Germany.

06:33.534 –> 06:47.538
[SPEAKER_01]: I go up in a smaller part, a smaller city in Germany called Gupakao, which is located in the center of Germany, I would say, in the Western part, close to the border to Netherlands.

06:48.058 –> 06:50.378
[SPEAKER_01]: Basically, bigger cities in Germany would be distant of

06:53.179 –> 07:03.608
[SPEAKER_01]: My parents have a restaurant, so I was always exposed with hospitality in my younger age, I was basically in charge, my first job in the restaurant was taking over the bar.

07:04.489 –> 07:05.390
[SPEAKER_01]: Of course, I love that.

07:07.752 –> 07:15.799
[SPEAKER_01]: We had a lot of coffee and non-acolic drinks as our day-to-day business, and then of course

07:17.841 –> 07:30.566
[SPEAKER_01]: which was at that time a nice experience, like to to cool BS draft BS and that was probably my first contact with the alcohol and the industry.

07:31.527 –> 07:40.891
[SPEAKER_02]: Well I mean and also you know before I for me you know that was also some of my early experiences but you know the whiskey selection would be like seven bottles.

07:42.527 –> 07:47.151
[SPEAKER_02]: Like that would be a whiskey bar, you know, 30 years ago, 25 years ago.

07:47.171 –> 07:49.212
[SPEAKER_02]: That’s something, that’s it, we’re good.

07:50.053 –> 07:53.615
[SPEAKER_01]: I think my parents’ restaurant still doesn’t qualify as a whiskey joint.

07:54.196 –> 07:58.719
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe the only hair flag, four or five, I’m still there after that.

07:58.819 –> 08:03.323
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, whiskey was at that time in Germany, not really a common or not really enjoyed.

08:03.843 –> 08:09.588
[SPEAKER_01]: I remember my father had black and white and a lot of blended stuff in his cellar.

08:10.267 –> 08:18.670
[SPEAKER_02]: It’s an Africa we had like J&B and bells and doers and shivers and black and white was another one, you know, and you’re like, that’s what you got.

08:19.490 –> 08:21.511
[SPEAKER_01]: And this was really celebrated as something, right?

08:21.651 –> 08:23.692
[SPEAKER_01]: And I didn’t pay much attention at that time.

08:24.152 –> 08:29.974
[SPEAKER_01]: So my first memories where whiskey was really part of it was when I was working on a cruise ship.

08:30.414 –> 08:38.717
[SPEAKER_01]: So I was working on a cruise line which was part actually of carnival, but based on the German market.

08:40.265 –> 08:46.051
[SPEAKER_01]: And there we introduced the whisky selection of poultry like eight or nine different advanced.

08:47.052 –> 08:54.880
[SPEAKER_01]: And I still remember that Ocean Toshin was part of it because no one knew how to pronounce it.

08:57.002 –> 08:58.083
[SPEAKER_01]: And that’s why I don’t remember it.

08:59.679 –> 09:04.382
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, it’s wild because so now we’re going to jump forward to Hong Kong.

09:04.942 –> 09:10.005
[SPEAKER_02]: You’re now at the Intercontinental, you have the whiskey bar downstairs.

09:10.485 –> 09:12.166
[SPEAKER_02]: You’ve done a few tastings.

09:12.366 –> 09:17.449
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, you’re going to go like zero to 60 in experience pretty fast.

09:18.069 –> 09:23.253
[SPEAKER_02]: because I mean, where you are now and where you started is not that many years ago.

09:23.273 –> 09:29.837
[SPEAKER_02]: We’re not talking about like 1985, you know, we’re talking about like literally, you know, 10 years ago.

09:30.237 –> 09:33.980
[SPEAKER_02]: So for you, like you, you dive in pretty deep.

09:34.200 –> 09:37.002
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, you really know your whiskey incredibly well.

09:37.062 –> 09:42.366
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, it looks like you took it like a like a college excursion.

09:42.386 –> 09:44.087
[SPEAKER_02]: You just kept learning and learning and learning.

09:45.380 –> 09:51.862
[SPEAKER_01]: No, I mean, I was glad to be in a situation where I was able to do so, like with the bar here, Tiffany’s New York Brom.

09:52.402 –> 09:55.103
[SPEAKER_01]: I was able to influence the selection.

09:55.123 –> 10:02.126
[SPEAKER_01]: I was able to listening to a lot of international visitors who came to the bar who shared their stories.

10:03.146 –> 10:08.148
[SPEAKER_01]: And since we were always being known as the Whisky Bar when I first came,

10:09.008 –> 10:15.694
[SPEAKER_01]: to to Hong Kong to see intercontinental can stand for what we had maybe around already, maybe our hundred-biskees.

10:16.454 –> 10:18.756
[SPEAKER_01]: So we were already at that time something.

10:20.277 –> 10:22.199
[SPEAKER_02]: And… Right, you had a hundred.

10:22.239 –> 10:22.940
[SPEAKER_02]: What do you have now?

10:23.200 –> 10:24.941
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I was just with you a few words ago.

10:25.302 –> 10:26.082
[SPEAKER_02]: How many you got now?

10:26.803 –> 10:27.663
[SPEAKER_01]: And now we have close to 300.

10:29.002 –> 10:41.928
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I was going to say that a lot of whiskey there, yeah, so yeah, I learned fast and I was lucky to be able to learn fast, but it was just one step to another really, I mean, that’s what it was.

10:42.608 –> 10:49.732
[SPEAKER_01]: And if I talking now that we have 300 different whiskey, it’s really the challenge sometimes to replenish the barbers with Kubiskees.

10:50.352 –> 10:52.874
[SPEAKER_01]: because the market is changing so quickly as well.

10:53.054 –> 11:02.019
[SPEAKER_01]: And when I said before, we had a lot of obese, and vertical expressions, and now the market really doesn’t demand this kind of selection anymore.

11:02.079 –> 11:10.004
[SPEAKER_01]: Now it’s all about IBS, here in Hong Kong, and castlings, high ABV, you really need to have constantly in whisky’s available.

11:10.024 –> 11:11.345
[SPEAKER_01]: That’s what the market.

11:11.765 –> 11:12.406
[SPEAKER_01]: the demands.

11:12.846 –> 11:23.659
[SPEAKER_01]: Hong Kong is actually quite amazing because we have a hardcore whisky scene here or maybe I don’t know how many people maybe 500 to 600 people is difficult to put a number behind.

11:24.240 –> 11:31.428
[SPEAKER_01]: Those people are much more knowledgeable than me and they started later than me and are

11:32.394 –> 11:33.975
[SPEAKER_01]: far ahead of me, I would say.

11:33.995 –> 11:37.136
[SPEAKER_01]: They know the cost numbers of this and that.

11:38.117 –> 11:42.519
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, let’s let’s transition right into this is this is.

11:42.919 –> 11:46.040
[SPEAKER_02]: So when did you start the Hong Kong whiskey festival?

11:46.100 –> 11:51.463
[SPEAKER_02]: Because I’m going to go there and then I’m going to go because I’ve never seen so many knowledge of people, but when did that?

11:51.503 –> 11:53.804
[SPEAKER_02]: How did that whole idea materialize?

11:54.663 –> 12:02.010
[SPEAKER_01]: So the first whiskey festival started in 2016, and I just missed that by maybe probably one or two months.

12:02.171 –> 12:10.219
[SPEAKER_01]: When I joined here, it happened, and I was then basically the first whiskey festival.

12:10.279 –> 12:17.386
[SPEAKER_02]: I was in charge both 2017 and how many people could show it up to something like that in 2017?

12:20.558 –> 12:44.950
[SPEAKER_01]: In 2016 it was just like 400, 500 people and it was a big success because my colleagues only expected let’s say 200 something and those 500 people showed up it was already amazing it was an amazing celebration of this year already and fast forward now we have our whisked with this year it was already over two days here like 3,000 people here

12:47.785 –> 12:52.127
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, listen, for me, I, I can’t talk enough.

12:52.287 –> 12:55.228
[SPEAKER_02]: I’ve told everybody, I know, I’ve spoken about a few times.

12:55.828 –> 13:14.556
[SPEAKER_02]: It was mind blowing, because not only does Lars and the team have these people who come in from the brands, but then you have another floor where all of these bars and collectors come and they are poor and whisky.

13:15.928 –> 13:28.080
[SPEAKER_02]: And the knowledge is like insane like it’s like a super pallet after super pallet after super pallet And they know area You can say so yes

13:29.399 –> 13:41.810
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, we discovered at one point that the plants were very supportive and we can’t do it without the plants and the plants have really a very important part to play, right?

13:41.890 –> 13:55.222
[SPEAKER_01]: They put up the same of a viscous festival, they have a bit of money behind to make things with a bit more beautiful, they bring the people in, they bring the knowledge in, the ambassadors and all those glamour.

13:55.983 –> 14:00.133
[SPEAKER_01]: But then you still need a bit of this geeky stuff to fill the gaps.

14:01.055 –> 14:01.215
[SPEAKER_01]: And

14:02.465 –> 14:27.214
[SPEAKER_01]: Probably, when was that maybe 2000, I would say 2019 to some 18, we discovered why not take advantage of local bars and local distributors who have made this stuff available, which is different, maybe from Japan, from other countries and especially as well from Scotland.

14:27.914 –> 14:36.136
[SPEAKER_01]: and those people and organizations and clubs and people, they did read it and different dimensions to the viscous as well.

14:36.436 –> 14:38.097
[SPEAKER_01]: It was mine brown.

14:38.637 –> 14:39.877
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, just the excitement.

14:40.418 –> 14:49.980
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, just like the fact like I could walk around and have six vintage samarolees and then like, I don’t know, go have five or six

14:55.211 –> 14:57.013
[SPEAKER_02]: where could I ever do that other than there?

14:57.353 –> 14:58.334
[SPEAKER_02]: It was mind-blowing to me.

14:59.655 –> 15:02.878
[SPEAKER_01]: Now I’m sure you can have one in the other parts of the world as well.

15:03.419 –> 15:11.646
[SPEAKER_01]: Interesting fact is in near for our festival we had probably 1,500, probably 1,500, 800 different whisky products available.

15:16.330 –> 15:21.552
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you put this together, we see this is 3000 attendees, as we saw in class attendees.

15:22.253 –> 15:29.075
[SPEAKER_01]: So it’s in mind-blowing number of different whisky SKUs, or whisky products, which we are available.

15:29.095 –> 15:29.716
[SPEAKER_01]: 1,580 different whisky.

15:33.257 –> 15:43.285
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, fair enough, there were a few harmoniax coniax and a few minor gyms inside as well, but that’s a media hundred or hundred fifty in total.

15:43.885 –> 15:49.209
[SPEAKER_01]: So, we’ll say one thousand four hundred whiskeys, which is an amazing number.

15:49.750 –> 15:52.112
[SPEAKER_01]: So, if you’re a fan of a specific

15:53.231 –> 16:00.934
[SPEAKER_01]: Similarly, even in the region, it’s just impossible to cover and to explore all this.

16:01.094 –> 16:02.054
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s impossible.

16:02.455 –> 16:06.636
[SPEAKER_01]: And as you said, you put your own niche already very, very narrow.

16:07.136 –> 16:10.418
[SPEAKER_01]: And even for you, it was almost too much to apply oil.

16:10.458 –> 16:12.038
[SPEAKER_01]: Probably in the rest of the country.

16:12.058 –> 16:13.319
[SPEAKER_01]: This is your welcome to plan.

16:15.480 –> 16:16.000
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean now.

16:16.690 –> 16:27.617
[SPEAKER_02]: I know what, you know, as a one time go or now I know how to do it better, but it was like it was like being a Disneyland and it was just, it just got better the deeper you looked.

16:29.018 –> 16:30.059
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I’m just checking it.

16:30.079 –> 16:30.659
[SPEAKER_01]: She’s the list.

16:31.160 –> 16:32.901
[SPEAKER_01]: The eldest water was on 1958.

16:35.638 –> 16:40.101
[SPEAKER_01]: And we had many whisky from the 60s and the 70s available.

16:40.221 –> 16:49.387
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we had many 66, we had Springbank 66, we had some 61-yard, 52-yard, was amazing.

16:50.448 –> 16:58.854
[SPEAKER_01]: I had this problem, you know, as an organizer of this show, you go into the day with a different perspective than an attendee, right?

16:58.874 –> 16:59.614
[SPEAKER_01]: So for me,

17:04.755 –> 17:17.663
[SPEAKER_01]: how we are waiting times, it’s the entrance, for example, and how the guest flow is, and I’m constantly running around and I mean on top of all those, we have also masterclasses.

17:18.893 –> 17:21.856
[SPEAKER_01]: So we head around 4D different master classes on 2 days.

17:22.456 –> 17:24.318
[SPEAKER_01]: So like 20 something per day.

17:25.479 –> 17:33.547
[SPEAKER_01]: That means basically at any given time of the festival, they are like 2-3 master classes simultaneously, sometimes even up to 4.

17:33.747 –> 17:33.848
[SPEAKER_01]: And…

17:36.081 –> 17:37.122
[SPEAKER_01]: That’s our master class.

17:37.142 –> 17:42.246
[SPEAKER_01]: That’s where talking about classes on 15 or from 12 to 32 people.

17:42.266 –> 17:47.910
[SPEAKER_01]: And let’s say four to five different whisky to the master class.

17:48.370 –> 17:55.135
[SPEAKER_01]: So there’s a lot of logistics to consider in terms of having the classes, where having the whisky’s pulled.

17:55.656 –> 17:59.158
[SPEAKER_01]: If you have a class of 30 people times five different whisky’s,

18:00.019 –> 18:03.441
[SPEAKER_01]: it takes you a long time to just pull the biscuit into the glass, right?

18:03.481 –> 18:06.002
[SPEAKER_01]: So you really need a patine to help you with that.

18:06.882 –> 18:19.707
[SPEAKER_01]: And so that’s basically my job on the day to just see where the team maybe need some helping hand and then where how we control the manpower, how we make everything smooth.

18:20.368 –> 18:24.649
[SPEAKER_01]: So I couldn’t enjoy anything maybe until five p.m.

18:26.270 –> 18:27.130
[SPEAKER_02]: I did 5 p.m.

18:27.150 –> 18:36.554
[SPEAKER_02]: with both days with you, you and I did, you know, we did, what’s his record in McFail, you know, we did the McEle, those were all like 435 o’clock at the day, the Highland Park.

18:37.414 –> 18:40.355
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and while we’re using the first sign, I could sit down.

18:41.378 –> 18:46.261
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I mean, just I’m just telling you people Hong Kong hospitality is like next level.

18:46.782 –> 18:48.663
[SPEAKER_02]: This is a place you have to go visit.

18:48.743 –> 18:50.244
[SPEAKER_02]: You have to go to Hong Kong.

18:50.604 –> 18:58.109
[SPEAKER_02]: Not only for it’s because it’s Hong Kong and it’s amazing, but the hospitality the whiskey scene is next level.

18:58.209 –> 19:05.154
[SPEAKER_02]: Like on the, I got off the airplane, came straight to the hotel, Lars took me over to, where did we go?

19:05.174 –> 19:06.395
[SPEAKER_02]: Lars took me over to, where did we go?

19:07.760 –> 19:12.923
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, and we go in there and it’s like a little tiny building.

19:12.963 –> 19:14.424
[SPEAKER_02]: We got to slice a pizza first.

19:14.504 –> 19:16.785
[SPEAKER_02]: I was starving We got golf stairs.

19:16.845 –> 19:17.966
[SPEAKER_02]: It’s a little tiny building.

19:18.006 –> 19:32.814
[SPEAKER_02]: You pop into a room that’s like tiny and this bottle is everywhere And it’s Vincent and like one assistant or maybe two assistants in there helping him and what was crazy to me Yeah, it was crazy to me.

19:32.854 –> 19:36.756
[SPEAKER_02]: It’s like me and Lars and and it’s a Michelle of Michael the guy that was with us

19:37.595 –> 19:39.638
[SPEAKER_00]: Misha, yeah, we bumped into Nisha a weekman.

19:39.658 –> 19:45.505
[SPEAKER_02]: The, the, the, the, the, the, and the three of us are there.

19:45.645 –> 19:51.673
[SPEAKER_02]: And I look behind me at the table and then these three dudes that are enjoying mixtures and willets.

19:53.322 –> 19:55.183
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, but like, this is crazy.

19:55.523 –> 20:03.607
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, behind me, I got three Asian days just loving some good all the American whiskey and me, Michelle and Lars are.

20:03.947 –> 20:13.552
[SPEAKER_02]: We’re doing Chichibu’s and we’re doing Scotch whiskey’s vintage stuff and Vincent has just got that new lafroy that they did.

20:13.912 –> 20:16.073
[SPEAKER_02]: So we tried that and I’m like, holy shit.

20:17.013 –> 20:20.355
[SPEAKER_01]: You never knew that if you paid this to drink some American whiskey,

20:23.225 –> 20:42.619
[SPEAKER_02]: It’s like, I was born like holy shit, like these guys are like, they’re like, this is a whiskey heaven in this room, okay, like anything you could go on any crazy rabbit hole you want to go and sitting right behind me These dudes just enjoying really good American whiskey and I’m like, this is awesome

20:43.323 –> 20:47.004
[SPEAKER_01]: We are very blessed that we have in Hong Kong a lot of amazing whisky bars.

20:47.104 –> 20:52.586
[SPEAKER_01]: Housebelly, Kasky, Abel’s, it’s just, I mean, I could continue the list.

20:52.626 –> 20:55.908
[SPEAKER_01]: There’s so many nice whisky bars, bigger and smaller, right?

20:55.988 –> 20:59.509
[SPEAKER_01]: And the entire whisky scene in Hong Kong is just so developed.

20:59.969 –> 21:04.651
[SPEAKER_01]: And people drinking whisky is an all kind of ambience.

21:05.311 –> 21:07.972
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, in Hong Kong, we have a lot of, we call it die-py-dong.

21:08.432 –> 21:11.894
[SPEAKER_01]: A die-py-dong is basically a restaurant that’s out of roof on the street.

21:12.374 –> 21:20.338
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, and people just may be playing a border of whiskey there, and the owner doesn’t care so much, because maybe they’re not really sending a lot of beverages.

21:20.758 –> 21:23.739
[SPEAKER_01]: And people sharing maybe meet up and sharing your whiskey there.

21:24.379 –> 21:27.541
[SPEAKER_01]: You have, of course, those Chinese restaurants where again,

21:29.107 –> 21:32.829
[SPEAKER_01]: Normally in Hong Kong there is not a beverage consumption.

21:33.449 –> 21:37.431
[SPEAKER_01]: People drink their Chinese tea, and a lot of people are fine with that.

21:37.911 –> 21:42.353
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of restaurants are not really trained and specialized in selling beverages.

21:42.454 –> 21:54.359
[SPEAKER_01]: So it means in a lot of restaurants, local Chinese restaurants here in Hong Kong, you can actually bring maybe your own whiskey or your own spirit and the owners as a people don’t care too much if you pour it yourself.

21:55.240 –> 21:57.321
[SPEAKER_01]: So that’s a quite a drinker friendly and

21:58.954 –> 22:06.482
[SPEAKER_01]: And in all those kind of restaurants, there are a lot of whiskey lovers, maybe they take a table of six or a table of 12.

22:07.803 –> 22:10.906
[SPEAKER_01]: And everybody brings the bottle, everybody shares the whiskey.

22:11.607 –> 22:18.253
[SPEAKER_01]: And that’s something we actually also do from time to time for the community here, either in our bar or in our best ones.

22:19.414 –> 22:26.938
[SPEAKER_01]: that we invite some people from the community, that we do some bring-on-border events, which is quite an amazing experience.

22:27.398 –> 22:31.740
[SPEAKER_02]: I was, oh I didn’t imagine, people have done this, some collections there that are pretty insane.

22:32.778 –> 22:34.678
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was invited by Lex.

22:36.319 –> 22:38.159
[SPEAKER_01]: Lex is learning the shop Minky.

22:38.179 –> 22:41.820
[SPEAKER_01]: Hey, he invited for some small whiskey gathering.

22:42.360 –> 22:46.000
[SPEAKER_01]: And there he very local Chinese restaurant.

22:46.040 –> 22:49.981
[SPEAKER_01]: We had a food menu order for like 50, 50 restaurants.

22:50.081 –> 22:51.261
[SPEAKER_01]: It was a set menu.

22:52.121 –> 22:53.662
[SPEAKER_01]: He was a bit less maybe a bit more.

22:53.682 –> 22:54.382
[SPEAKER_01]: I can’t remember.

22:54.902 –> 22:57.662
[SPEAKER_01]: Everybody was asked to bring one bottle of whiskey.

22:58.202 –> 23:00.643
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so the problem was we ended up being 150 people.

23:03.651 –> 23:12.759
[SPEAKER_01]: There was the table in the middle, they were literally 150 bottles of whiskey here on and it was like you drop your own bottle and you have yourself whatever you want to drink.

23:13.580 –> 23:15.421
[SPEAKER_01]: So, baby gig of 150 people, 150 bottles.

23:15.441 –> 23:16.582
[SPEAKER_01]: It was an amazing evening.

23:24.010 –> 23:25.431
[SPEAKER_02]: Wow, that’s crazy.

23:25.451 –> 23:29.254
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I can’t say enough good things, it’s freaking amazing.

23:29.314 –> 23:32.297
[SPEAKER_02]: We’re moving really fast through this podcast.

23:32.677 –> 23:36.180
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, you have got to experience a lot of really cool stuff.

23:36.940 –> 23:43.886
[SPEAKER_02]: Are there one or two experiences that, you know, I call like a pinch me moment, like, holy shit I can’t believe I’m doing this?

23:46.568 –> 23:47.869
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, that’s really difficult to say.

23:53.521 –> 23:56.624
[SPEAKER_01]: We didn’t know a couple of bottles was mass distillery.

23:57.004 –> 23:59.286
[SPEAKER_01]: So mass is a Japanese distillery.

23:59.306 –> 24:00.427
[SPEAKER_01]: They’ve come like a turkey.

24:00.467 –> 24:01.408
[SPEAKER_01]: They have some meat.

24:01.588 –> 24:06.152
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m not sure if they are well known in United States, but they’re there a little bit.

24:06.172 –> 24:08.314
[SPEAKER_02]: They haven’t invested a lot of marketing yet.

24:08.494 –> 24:14.599
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, you see them, but it’s kind of like, you know, it’s like a like a Santori baby, even though obviously it’s not the same company.

24:15.060 –> 24:18.463
[SPEAKER_02]: It doesn’t get the attention of something like a Santori.

24:19.505 –> 24:30.153
[SPEAKER_01]: So that’s a funny story, the local sense, the presenter at that time came to the bar sometime to the time he came in and once we were joking of doing a cast, it was really a joke.

24:30.393 –> 24:33.275
[SPEAKER_01]: Whenever he came back, I was always asking, where’s my cast?

24:34.296 –> 24:36.157
[SPEAKER_01]: When we came bottled, where’s my cast?

24:36.237 –> 24:36.898
[SPEAKER_00]: Any news?

24:37.658 –> 24:40.100
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe can you put them at my corners?

24:41.699 –> 24:43.440
[SPEAKER_01]: And this went on for a year, right?

24:43.520 –> 24:44.901
[SPEAKER_01]: And for me it was just a joke.

24:45.461 –> 24:49.363
[SPEAKER_01]: And one day he came into the bar and said, ”Las, I got your cask.”

24:50.043 –> 24:51.464
[SPEAKER_01]: Said, ”What cask you’re talking about?”

24:51.484 –> 24:53.705
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I got the cask for Master.

24:53.745 –> 24:56.146
[SPEAKER_01]: Said, ”You, I don’t want the cask.”

24:56.987 –> 24:57.647
[SPEAKER_01]: It was a joke.

24:59.539 –> 25:10.023
[SPEAKER_01]: And then I was speaking about it, I mean, with the Japanese culture, if you say basically no, and if they are already kind of, yes, I expect them.

25:10.383 –> 25:15.624
[SPEAKER_01]: If you then say no, basically you want me to queue up and it’s a very end of the queue one more time, right?

25:15.685 –> 25:17.765
[SPEAKER_01]: And this probably takes another second year, right?

25:17.805 –> 25:22.967
[SPEAKER_01]: And this was at a stage where you wanted to, or maybe the stepped up

25:29.767 –> 25:34.009
[SPEAKER_01]: If you don’t take it now, we never ever in being in this position.

25:34.669 –> 25:37.550
[SPEAKER_01]: So then, a bit back and forth, and we said, OK, let’s do it.

25:37.810 –> 25:40.251
[SPEAKER_01]: So we got our first cars, and private products.

25:40.271 –> 25:43.652
[SPEAKER_01]: We did some private bottles for the bar, of course, before, but it first Japanese.

25:44.372 –> 25:45.673
[SPEAKER_01]: Come and attack it, instead of being.

25:46.593 –> 25:48.874
[SPEAKER_01]: And beautiful, beautiful cars, right?

25:48.954 –> 25:55.896
[SPEAKER_01]: At first, forward, one year later, the second one was much easier, because the first one was solid out in minutes, basically at that time,

25:58.037 –> 26:11.042
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the third one, one year later, so see you later, then I was, I should do one more, it gets a bit boring, like if you do every year the same, and then actually thecillary ask, Penas, can we do another one?

26:12.142 –> 26:21.365
[SPEAKER_01]: So how it turned from three years, right, from being planning behind them, and then after three years they’re coming to you, who actively and say, we want another one, it’s you.

26:21.885 –> 26:23.686
[SPEAKER_01]: So that was a quite a nice experience for me.

26:25.031 –> 26:33.579
[SPEAKER_01]: But then I think the, the amazing experience I have with whiskey and Hong Kong is just the people who meet along the journey.

26:33.819 –> 26:43.888
[SPEAKER_01]: And that’s why it’s really difficult to to market in a special moment, right, because there are so many small moments, I think, which overshined once specific moment.

26:44.448 –> 26:51.753
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I met you, like, and we met on Instagram before, and then we met a person, and this is purely about because of risky.

26:52.453 –> 26:55.555
[SPEAKER_01]: And I have so many encounterships like this.

26:55.675 –> 26:58.877
[SPEAKER_01]: For example, Matt, Maklioko, from Michters Distillery.

26:59.517 –> 27:05.841
[SPEAKER_01]: He came to Hong Kong, his wife is from Hong Kong, and he’s a busy man, and he’s running Michters Distillery, like, with his father together.

27:06.722 –> 27:09.964
[SPEAKER_01]: And he’d come a good friend along the journey.

27:10.864 –> 27:18.310
[SPEAKER_01]: and people here in Hong Kong are just coming in and out and Richard Urkars from from Gordon McFerry is another person.

27:18.950 –> 27:21.252
[SPEAKER_01]: I really appreciate to be part of my life now.

27:22.293 –> 27:26.976
[SPEAKER_01]: Just two weeks ago, the Rachel Berry from Glen Thornark to the river was here.

27:28.230 –> 27:39.816
[SPEAKER_01]: and I met her now twice here in Hong Kong and she’s such a lovely person and it’s this small moments actually big moments really mean a lot to me.

27:40.696 –> 27:50.381
[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes you come to the conclusions that because of those people, this is the moment where you realize that’s the you do it because of the people you meet.

27:50.401 –> 27:54.803
[SPEAKER_01]: I think that’s the most rewarding thing along the journey because at one point

27:56.187 –> 27:57.428
[SPEAKER_01]: all those whiskeys you try.

27:58.288 –> 28:06.111
[SPEAKER_01]: And I’m not sure if anyone can understand this now while I’m saying, but all those whiskeys you try at one point, it’s amazing.

28:06.331 –> 28:18.437
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, and you have this 20 years, 25 years, 30 years, but at one point, the whiskey itself doesn’t matter anymore, and it’s more about the time you spend with deeper.

28:19.626 –> 28:22.209
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m not sure if this is the Anestetable.

28:22.649 –> 28:23.290
[SPEAKER_02]: I agree with you.

28:23.831 –> 28:24.551
[SPEAKER_02]: I agree with you.

28:24.592 –> 28:26.754
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I had to be honest when I got into this.

28:26.934 –> 28:29.957
[SPEAKER_02]: I never expected the people part to be as exciting.

28:30.438 –> 28:30.898
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

28:30.918 –> 28:31.119
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

28:31.459 –> 28:32.320
[SPEAKER_02]: I really didn’t.

28:32.540 –> 28:39.548
[SPEAKER_02]: And like being in Hong Kong and getting to hang out with you and John likes, you know, spending time with you guys, you know, almost every day.

28:39.568 –> 28:40.369
[SPEAKER_02]: It kind of goes like,

28:40.669 –> 28:56.355
[SPEAKER_02]: Holy shit, like this is this is wild and then your show is like mind blowing and then all the people like got to meet from your show Like being able to spend time with this and you know meeting Diego being able to go to OBE and hang out there and I’m just like Dude, this is like this is a different place.

28:56.415 –> 29:01.977
[SPEAKER_02]: This is a special and honestly like I would never have been there if it would have been from Instagram

29:03.254 –> 29:05.616
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, Hong Kong is only special because it’s a small city.

29:05.696 –> 29:07.377
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, Hong Kong is within 15 minutes.

29:07.397 –> 29:08.898
[SPEAKER_01]: You are anywhere in the town.

29:09.318 –> 29:10.779
[SPEAKER_01]: In Shanghai, you need one hour.

29:10.819 –> 29:12.841
[SPEAKER_01]: You need to be in Tokyo, you need a long time.

29:13.561 –> 29:16.723
[SPEAKER_01]: And in those big cities, collaborating is the issue, right?

29:16.743 –> 29:18.845
[SPEAKER_01]: But in Hong Kong, it’s a public transportation.

29:18.885 –> 29:21.346
[SPEAKER_01]: You are from A to B in no kind.

29:21.887 –> 29:23.348
[SPEAKER_01]: That’s what makes it so different.

29:25.320 –> 29:26.100
[SPEAKER_02]: It’s really special.

29:26.120 –> 29:28.241
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, I can’t thank you enough for coming on the show.

29:28.361 –> 29:35.123
[SPEAKER_02]: This was also, last you want to give you Instagrams, you know, whatever, you know, obviously the bar and your personal one for people to follow.

29:35.483 –> 29:37.024
[SPEAKER_02]: Guys, Lars is like the man.

29:37.264 –> 29:41.365
[SPEAKER_02]: Like honestly, if you’re in Hong Kong, you should definitely stay at the intercontinental.

29:41.866 –> 29:43.166
[SPEAKER_02]: It is an amazing hotel.

29:43.206 –> 29:44.306
[SPEAKER_02]: The staff is amazing.

29:44.346 –> 29:46.187
[SPEAKER_02]: The restaurants are mind blowing.

29:46.607 –> 29:49.348
[SPEAKER_02]: The Sunday brunch at the Italian place is insane.

29:55.290 –> 29:58.472
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I walked everywhere from there because it’s so central.

29:58.872 –> 30:01.914
[SPEAKER_02]: But like, yeah, if you want to give a shout out to your Instagrams and stuff.

30:02.814 –> 30:07.837
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so my personal Instagram is the last dot our underscore hk.

30:07.897 –> 30:12.039
[SPEAKER_01]: So last is l a rs dot our underscore hk.

30:12.479 –> 30:18.323
[SPEAKER_01]: Tiffany’s New York bar is Tiffany’s NY bar and then we have also Hong Kong whiskey festival.

30:19.003 –> 30:21.385
[SPEAKER_01]: So, it’s like Instagram accounts.

30:21.465 –> 30:23.406
[SPEAKER_01]: Basically, I take care of all of these.

30:24.407 –> 30:26.729
[SPEAKER_01]: And, give me a favor of follow those accounts.

30:26.929 –> 30:29.130
[SPEAKER_01]: It would be amazing to be in contact with all of you.

30:29.291 –> 30:34.234
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you come to Hong Kong, please send me a message or hit me a comment.

30:34.675 –> 30:37.737
[SPEAKER_01]: Text Garvin and Garvin can forward news and messages.

30:38.297 –> 30:41.840
[SPEAKER_01]: You all will come and have always a special drum for special visitors here.

30:43.187 –> 30:44.368
[SPEAKER_02]: the best man, you’re the best.

30:44.408 –> 30:46.550
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, I can’t thank everyone enough for listening.

30:47.030 –> 30:47.931
[SPEAKER_02]: We keep having fun.

30:47.991 –> 30:53.876
[SPEAKER_02]: I keep bringing people on this podcast and I just truly love whiskey and our big part of the whiskey community globally.

30:54.396 –> 31:00.161
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, I made a big choice when I launched this podcast and even my Instagram, it was all about global.

31:00.241 –> 31:02.743
[SPEAKER_02]: The world is a big place and there’s many whiskey lovers.

31:03.143 –> 31:04.784
[SPEAKER_02]: So I appreciate you all listening.

31:04.844 –> 31:09.048
[SPEAKER_02]: I appreciate you rating the podcast and I can’t thank you enough for listening.

31:09.568 –> 31:14.529
[SPEAKER_02]: That’s another great addition of the Rolex whiskey passion project and we’ll see everybody soon.