It seems that whisky brands around the world are taking notice of the burgeoning cocktail scene, and Glenfiddich is no exception. It follows its set of experimental whiskies with a new cocktail competition: the World’s Most Experimental Bartender 2019.
We managed to catch Brett Bayly, the newly minted Brand Ambassador for Glenfiddich in Southeast Asia, for some snappy questions about the competition, Glenfiddich’s direction and some tantalising tidbits…
Have you met Brett?
Brett himself is a 31-year-old South Australian who spent his early years in Southeast Asia and a decade’s worth of experience in the bar and hospitality industry, so he’s no stranger to both cocktails and the region.
Where things get interesting is the push on craft. The World’s Most Experimental Bartender competition involves five bartenders from Singapore each collaborating with a local creative to come up with a cocktail concept.
It’s a little beyond drinks though, considering that artist Ee Shaun, photographer Ryan Mamba, health and wealthness enthusiast Bella Koh, chef Dylan Koh of the Masses, and embroidery artist Teresa Lim are involved.
Of course, we’re more interested to hear what Brett has to say, so…
Tell us more about yourself and your experience in Singapore so far.
Brett: I started in the bar industry back in 2006 after I moved back to Australia from South East Asia where I was for high school. From there I worked in a bunch of different outlets, worked my way up to General Management of a group, then decided it was time to get on the move again!
I started a business in the cafe industry in the Philippines, and when the opportunity to take the role with Glenfiddich came along, I was itching to get back into the bar industry so it was a perfect fit! That’s when I moved to Singapore, and it’s been fantastic! What a city to live in, so much vibrance and excitement in the industry at the moment, and the town has really been generous with its welcome to me.
What do you think about the cocktail scene in Singapore?
Brett: It’s really blown me away. The level of expertise that has developed here, is perfectly inline with the calibre of outlets that have opened. I never spent much time in Singapore until I moved here, but my first introduction to the town was at the now closed Cufflink Club where a few mates were working.
From there, I’ve only been impressed, and constantly surprised by how fast everything develops here from concept menus to unique and impressive establishments.
Why choose cocktails in particular as a medium to bring across Glenfiddich? What qualities make Glenfiddich 12 a good base for cocktails? Do you see Scotch Whisky and Glenfiddich in particular gaining more prominence within the cocktail scene?
Brett: I guess we’ll go one by one with these, haha! So the World’s Most Experimental Bartender competition never started as a ‘cocktail competition’ and in fact was merely a bartending competition to see how far people could stretch their opportunity to serve. The natural progression in the community was to experiment with cocktails and see what they could produce really. When I competed last year in the Philippines, we produced an ice cream sundae bar, that didn’t have the liquid whisky in sight, and it was all intertwined within the sundae bar.
The Glenfiddich 12, for me at least has so much flexibility because it’s not a highly complex whisky, and so it’s all about its ability to balance.
The Glenfiddich 12, for me at least has so much flexibility because it’s not a highly complex whisky, and so it’s all about its ability to balance. The fruit forward notes of pear, paired with sweet vanilla really lend themselves well to cocktails, and because it’s a relatively young single malt, it’s vibrant and can really cut through on its own accord without being offensive in its purpose.
Scotch whisky has always had its place in cocktails, with classics like the Rob Roy, and the Blood & Sand cocktails. The revival of the classic cocktail scene has seen a lot of bartenders reaching for ‘original ingredients’ from recipes that date way back to the early days of bartending with fellows like Jerry Thomas, and Scotch Whisky as a category plays into that. The majority of Scotch drunk around the world up until the point Glenfiddich pushed the commercial trade of Single Malt for the first time in 1963, was blended whisky.
With that in mind, our heritage in cocktail culture runs true, and I’ve definitely seen a lot more bars playing with higher end Single Malts like Glenfiddich to produce some masterful serves.
Tell us more about the theme of experimentation in the World’s Most Experimental Bartender 2019 competition. How does it fit with other experimental initiatives from Glenfiddich (e.g IPA Cask, Project XX)?
Brett: The notion of being experimental is really in our brand’s DNA. Glenfiddich has a long and rich history of really changing the game, and experimenting with concepts that have genuinely pushed the Single Malt industry to new heights. The Glenfiddich Experimental Series is a perfect example of this, using really unique casks like the IPA cask & Canadian Ice Wine casks to do finishing on some really wonderful liquid.
The Project XX was an experiment in how minds work together without knowing, where 20 whisky experts from around the world had the chance to select a cask, that ended up being blended, and that’s what produced the liquid.
This is where the concept of an experimental competition came from. There are some amazing competitions out there with huge prizes, but they’re always about creating a drink serve by an individual, so the thought was really a case of ‘what if?’ What if we put a bartender in with someone from a totally different industry, what could they turn out?
…so the thought was really a case of ‘what if?’ What if we put a bartender in with someone from a totally different industry, what could they turn out?
We’ve been blown away with the entries we’ve seen from across the globe, and the really creative partnerships that have occurred as a result to produce such out of the box serves, all using Glenfiddich.
We notice that there’s a lot of involvement with local creatives. What was the thought process behind it?
Brett: The brand is a global icon in Single Malt, and bars alike. Icons don’t stand alone, and there should always be a local involvement.
Beyond that, the purpose is to really highlight the unique talents from across the globe, and to show how vast the opportunity is when working with a product like Glenfiddich. By bringing local talents together, we really get to see the best of what each country or region has to offer, and we have not been disappointed!
Any hints for what else is coming up for Glenfiddich in the coming months?
Brett: Haha digging for secrets?
What I can tell you, is that there are some exciting things on the horizon. We have just launched in the UK and USA our new flagship bottling of our 12 and 15 year old expressions, we are also always experimenting at the distillery. Our Malt Master, Brian Kinsman is always in a process of playing and with that means development, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s something new on the horizon, but what that is at this stage, I don’t know.
We have a really exciting platform I’m launching with our regional team in the coming months also but I can’t give away too much just yet, you’ll just have to keep your eyes peeled!
The Glenfiddich World’s Most Experimental Bartender Singapore 2019 competition will be held on 19th August 2019.
