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Behind the bar
Curating the perfect whisky collection with Yao Wong
Behind The Bar is our regular series where we pick the brains of our favourite hospitality luminaries on the latest trends shaping the bar scene.
Yao Wong is a Melbourne-based bartender known for his passion for whisky, which he shares with visitors through his two bars, the multiple award-winning The Elysian Whisky Bar and his new venture Goodwater. We talk to Yao about what he’s learned curating the whisky selections at his bars and what lessons you might take home when putting together yours.
Tell us a little about yourself and what got you behind the bar?
My name is Yao Wong. You can find me mainly at The Elysian Whisky Bar in Fitzroy, and have just opened up another bar in Northcote called Goodwater, focusing on drinks, snacks, and whiskey til late!
I've been working in hospitality in Melbourne since 2007 mainly in bars and also a few restaurants here and there. It started as a part-time job at the University bar to make some cash to get by. The hospitality industry has a funny way of slowly drawing you in once you've stepped foot into it, and some, like myself, just never end up leaving!
Tell us about your venues what made you to decide to open whisky bars?
It's very simple, really, just a genuine love for the liquid! Nothing romantic or nostalgic, but just an unabashed love for the diverse profile of flavours that whisk(e)y provides... And the sheer number of them out there. You will never be able to taste them all, but we can give it a crack!
How did you approach the curation of whisky on your back bar?
For lack of a better reason it's basically the whiskies that we want to drink that end up on the bar! It's not easy to sample whiskies these days before we commit to buying them, but once you've had enough whiskies, you can have sort of a general idea of the flavour profile based on the specs provided. From there, we can make a pretty well-informed decision on whether or not we want to stock it or not when we have to buy them blind... Especially for the high-priced ones!
What tips do you have for people who want to expand their own whiskey collection at home?
Make sure always to keep a record of whiskies that you've tried, and make special note of the ones you've enjoyed! That way, when you visit a more specialty retailer, you can also show them pictures of things that you enjoy, and then they can give you recommendations based on that. There are also great online monthly subscription-style bottle delivery options like The Whisky Club Australia that pick out a different whisk(e)y for you every month - it gives you a chance to try something new very conveniently! Most importantly, always be up for trying new whiskies so you can expand your palate so that you can make better informed decisions on purchasing bottles that suit your own tastes.
What’s your favourite whiskey cocktail?
One of my favourite whiskey drinks in the world is a Manhattan, and here’s how you make it.
Recipe
Dashes of both orange and Angostura Bitters.
25ml of Cocchi Vermouth Di Torino
50ml Redwood Empire Rocket Top Bottled In Bond Straight Rye Whiskey
Add some ice to the mixing tin. Give it a little stir and then we strain it out into a nice chilled glass and to top it off, we'll do a little zest of an orange.
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