Building bars to become institutions (the Whisky & Alement edition)

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Timelessness is an elusive quality – just look at any photo of a wedding from the 1980s for proof of that. For hospitality venues especially, it's a tricky thing to achieve. After all, one of the main reasons that people go out for drinks instead of having them at home is to tap into a feeling of cool,  and to have a unique experience. The easy way to create that is by following current trends (does anyone remember when Instagrammable wasn’t a word?). A less easy way is to have a strongly focused offering backed up by educated staff, so that whether it's your first visit or your hundredth you’ll find something to be excited about. 

At Melbourne’s award-winning whisky bar, Whisky & Alement, owners Julian White and Brooke Hayman chose option B.

The bar has been around since 2010, and I’ve frequented it regularly for the past decade, but every time I pull back the heavy black curtain and step inside it feels like I’ve discovered a gem. I don’t think I’ve ever had the same whisky here twice. 

“The main driver of longevity is keeping in touch with the industry's innovators and celebrating their achievements with them, telling their stories over the bar,” says Julian. This means a constantly rotating selection of whisky, and they’re often the first ones to champion a new distillery. I had my first taste of Kinglake here, a Victorian whisky which has now become a firm favourite.

Education is at the heart of what they do, both in terms of training the staff and bringing guests along on the journey. “I think a venue can be current without being shiny, but beyond the facade a venue needs to have a solid ethos which involves its staff in as many facets of the business as possible,” says Julian.

“We give staff a sense of ownership and being the custodians of our approach to whisky service. This means realising every whisky has its purpose and identifying when and who to serve each bottle to. It takes a selfless approach that cuts through the noise of marketing and social media.”

They have weekly staff tastings at the bar, so no matter who you talk to in venue they’ll be able to guide you to a whisky you’ll want. 

It’s the kind of place where you can leave it entirely in their hands – I’ll throw out a few descriptors (salty, biscuity) and be presented with multiple options to peruse and stick my nose into, but I always go with the one that the bartender is most excited about and it never disappoints. It helps that their staff are true whisky lovers, with many alumni going on to become distillers or blenders themselves. 

Bar manager Lachlan Watt has been working there for eight years and is recognised both internationally (at the World Whiskies Awards) and nationally (at the Australian Bar Awards) as the best in the business. In his words, “a good bar manager is a person who helps make people better, in whatever aspect that may be. You are there to guide, to inform, to teach, and provide a comfortable and safe environment for your team and patrons.” 

This humble attitude from the top down helps put even whisky novices at ease despite what could be an initially daunting back bar, and the tightly curated cocktail and beer lists means that there are options even for those not on the whisky bandwagon. 

Being around for as long as they have, Julian and Brooke have seen a huge shift in consumer attitude to whisky. “When we took the initial step to focus on whisky, consumers' knowledge was nowhere near what it is today,” Julian says. They’ve offered Introduction to Whisky classes since 2012, but have now added deeper dives into American, Japanese and Irish whiskies in response to a need for more detailed education to match their guests’ thirst for knowledge (and new whiskies!). They also often host tastings with distillers and brand ambassadors, and are a partner bar for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (one of the oldest independent bottlers) which means they have Australia’s largest collection of their whiskies.

All of this creates a feeling of community which is the hallmark of continued success in hospitality. “An institution is a venue that is at the heart of an industry, be it a live gig venue that always has great bands on, or a strong sense of dedication to a product niche along with a service style found nowhere else,” says Julian. 

The dedication of the team here is clear to anyone who passes through their curtain, and has kept them at the forefront of an often fickle industry for over a decade. With that as their foundation, I don’t see any reason why this institution can’t be part of the fabric of the whisky community for another decade more.

Around the Bars

• If you haven’t been to one of Whisky & Alement’s classes yet, there’s no time like the present: they’ve got a tasting of New Zealand distillery Waiheke tonight that still has some spots left. Book here.
• Nick Tesar (Four Pillars, Marionette) is hosting a distillation workshop and seminar at Bar Bellamy next Monday 30th September. He’ll be demonstrating benchtop vacuum distillation and explaining botanicals – spots are limited so RSVP to dani@barbellamy.com if you want to attend.
• Brunswick St in Fitzroy is seeing a bit of a rejuvenation of late, and newcomer Enoteca Zingara is a welcome addition to the strip. From the team behind Alta Trattoria, they have an Aperitivo Hour from 4pm to 6pm daily with $12 Martinis (in this economy?!), $6 Campari sodas and a selection of ciccheti – the mussel crostini is delicious. They also have a bottle shop with a great selection of wine to take away.