The Other Room is not a speakeasy.
It has all the hallmarks of one- an unmarked door, an intimate environment and a suitably jazzy soundtrack. Yet, Dario Knox, head bartender, refuses to accept the label. It’s more of a drinking house, he asserts. Laidback, and unpretentious, it’s more about what the customer wants. A beer, a glass of wine, or whatever else draws the fancy. A place to fall in love with your favourite drink again.
A sentiment we can agree with.
That is not to say that The Other Room is a slouch when it comes to quaffables, however. It has an extensive range of spirits- compounded by variations made through a finishing process. The final count is a whopping 150 variants. This process, while not exclusive to the Other Room, is done at a scale which makes it unique in a Singapore bar.
Finishing
Spirit enthusiasts, particularly those who appreciate aged spirits, respect the power of oak casks in delivering flavour. Much of the flavour of scotch, for example, comes from either the spicy European Oak or the coconut and vanilla of American Oak. The simple theory behind this is that as the spirit ages in the cask, flavours from the wooden cask get extracted and absorbed by the alcohol.
Most recently however, a movement in finishing, led by Balvenie’s Sir David Stewart, has emerged. This process adds a layer of flavour on top of the oak, increasing complexity and depth. While we know that wood imparts spirit with flavour, we now understand that it’s actually a two-way process. The cask absorbs flavour from the alcohol just as the alcohol absorbs from the cask. This second flavour can then be extracted again by aging a different spirit in the same cask. The wood, already pregnant with the flavours of the previous contents, now releases these notes into the new spirit.
Famously, sherry casks are used to add fragrance and flavour to a whisky. Other spirits and wines can also be used. Port, Madeira, red wine, champagne, or even rum, all add a distinct, flavour to the whisky. Different degrees of flavour can be imparted by varying the time that a spirit spends in a cask. For a finishing process, the idea is that the spirit added only spends a short time in the cask. Long enough to take on some notes from the previous spirit, but not enough for them to dominate. The idea is to add complexity, but stay true to the core product.
The other way to add flavours into a spirit are to infuse them through a process called maceration. Put a botanical in a spirit for long enough, and flavours from the botanical are absorbed by the spirit. We’ve done some experiments in the past, which you can check out here.
Falling in Love Again
Why do all this finishing?
According to Dario, it’s about falling in love again with the same spirit that you know – but with new notes and variations that make it even more interesting. One considers it to be similar to adding a new piece of furniture to your home. It’s the same home- but the new addition changes the dynamics enough to make it invigorating.
We put this to the test. While whiskies are, thanks to Sir David Stewart, now on the rise, we decided that it would be far more interesting to try it on its somewhat neglected sibling, rum.
One of our favourite rums is the Guyanese El Dorado. Made with demerara sugar grown on the eponymous Demerara River, it is rich in vanilla, caramel, toffee and orange flavours. The Other Room had two variations on the 12 year. The first, a liquorice finishing, lent a slight anise fragrance but the effect on taste was somewhat mild. Not too radical, and cleaves somewhat close to the original spirit. A little too safe, perhaps.
Fortunately. that caution doesn’t show itself in the next finishing: a ginseng number. An odd pairing on paper, perhaps, but it works out particularly well in practice. The contrast is stark, but felt balanced and appropriate, even necessary. The intense herbal bitterness of the ginseng balanced the El Dorado vanilla and caramel very well, adding much complexity and depth to the rum. Excellent.
We also tried Plantation XO rum finished with Palo Cortado sherry. The base spirit overflows with vanilla,banana, coconut and mango. With the sherry finishing there’s a slight savoury taste, and interestingly, an intensifying of the coconut flavour. Quite interesting indeed.
The finishing adds a new dimension to your favourite drink, and that alone is worth trying- at least once. Explore the contrasts between the different finishings and try to pick up their nuances. Tasting flights are available from $23++ onwards, or you can order individual servings of spirits- which are takes on rum, whisky, rye, bourbon, tequila, mezcal, gin, vodka or cognac.
Classic Cocktails
If you want a less intensive workout for your palate, a large cocktail menu of 30 libations is also available. We really enjoyed the Reversed Gin and Tonic ($23++). While we still haven’t really figured out why exactly it’s reversed, it is an elaborate, and very delicious, take on the conventional Gin and Tonic.
The gin and homemade tonic syrup are pre-mixed, but carbonated on the spot. The mixture is then brought down to icy cold temperatures with liquid nitrogen, and seasoned with a generous waft of fragrant citrus smoke. The result is a very delicious, very cold drink, much more intense than a normal Gin and Tonic. A dry smoky flavour permeates the drink, with a generous dose of pleasantly bitter citrus for good measure. A liquid elixir to rejuvenate oneself after a long day at work.
Also available are the Scotch and Tea ($19++), a concoction of whisky, matcha, bay leaves, mint, lemon and celery. Or perhaps the Southern New York Sour($22++) is more to your taste- a sour, sweet and smoky cocktail composed of 8 ingredients.
Summing it Up
The Other Room does not want for novelty. 150 different variations on spirits, an extensive focus on cask finishing, and complex, layered, cocktails are enough to entice us to make repeat visits. This is a bar for spirit lovers. who enjoy exploring new flavours in their favourite dram.
This novelty does come at a price. While you do get value for what you pay for, you should be prepared to fork out a fair sum to maximise your experience. We recommend going for the tasting flights, which provide excellent value for your dollar.
The Other Room
Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel, 320 Orchard Road, Singapore 238865
Open from Monday to Wednesday from 6pm to 3am, and Thursday to Sunday from 6pm to 4am
