Everything
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: The elevator doors on level one of the Establishment—as shiny and as polished as an Academy Award in March—splay open to reveal a cobalt blue haze. Ornate pylons are lit in the bright hue as are little lamps, low-set lounge seats and a series of asymmetric square tables. As one’s eyes adjust, shadowy bodies surround the tables, each obsessing over tiny blue and white tiles and every so often, they reach to sip a dark spirit. This is Johnnie Walker Blue Label’s Mahjong Club.
Yes, to ring in the Year Of The Dragon this Lunar New Year, the Scotch Whisky label took over the iconic Establishment on George Street and invited Sydney-siders to try their hand at the age-old game of skill of luck. In short, the aim of mahjong is to make matching sets and pairs and to win, a player must form four sets and one pair.
Hosted by the culinary mind behind some of Sydney’s best Asian eateries, Dan Hong, and Crazy Rich Asians star Remy Hii, guests enjoyed rounds of the fast-paced tournaments, intermittently stopping to munch down on the moorish menu: King Crab and Scallop potsticker dumplings alongside a Rock Lobster Bao with ginger and shallot. Prawn toast with otoro tuna belly and finger lime. Hot & Numbing Wagyu Skewers. Chilled Truffled Noodle with Caviar. And a Hong Kong-style Warm Egg Tart to finish. It was absolutely incredible.
“I have vivid memories of growing up watching my friend’s mum play mahjong and spending Lunar New Year with my family, surrounded by food,” remembers Hong. “The menu I’ve created for the Johnnie Walker Blue Label Mahjong Club pays homage to those memories and traditions, and the ingredients that have important cultural symbolism around Lunar New Year, but each with a fresh new twist—a modern makeover and a few extra extravagant touches.”
To pair with Hong’s bites, Merivale’s mixologist, Jonathan Liu, teased out the very best notes of Johnnie Walker Blue Label and, with it, designed a trio of cocktails inspired by popular flavours from across the Asian continent: There was Hi-Prosperity—a tall, refreshing tipple featuring ginger, yuzu, and chrysanthemum. Blue Wishes—an order which sees Johnnie Walker Blue Label infused with apple and rose honey and topped with champagne. And Peace and Peaches—this editor’s favourite which takes Scotch to the next level with clarified coconut milk, peach and pandan.
“We wouldn’t have tonight without an incredible liquid,” Johnnie Walker’s brand ambassador Kate McGraw told the audience following an admission she wasn’t the best mahjong player! “All of the drinks on the menu are about teasing out some of those nuances in Johnnie Walker Blue Label. They are about celebrating the new way of enjoying Scotch whisky. Luxury whisky can sometimes be a bit ‘sitting in an armchair in front of a fireplace’ but Johnnie Walker is about new. It’s all about innovation. Tonight’s about creating new traditions. Usually, we’d spend Lunar New Year with our family and tonight, we’re spending it with brand new friends.”
The launch of the Mahjong Club, of course, coincides with the release of the Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Lunar New Year, Year of the Dragon 750ml, a limited-edition bottle designed in collaboration with world renowned Asian-American artist James Jean. Incredibly, the walls of the club were painted with his intricate bottle design— a mythical dragon, interwoven and layered with botanical elements which echo the visceral flavour experience of this exceptional Scotch.
“For me Lunar New Year is all about getting together with family and friends, enjoying delicious food and each other’s company,” Hii said as he wandered about the mahjong tables. “That’s why I’m so excited to be hosting the Johnnie Walker Blue Label Mahjong Club. Mahjong is such an important game in Chinese culture, I’m thrilled to be [a part of] an experience where people can connect with their own loved ones and with other players, whether it’s over a game, a bowl of noodles or a Scotch.”
Indeed, if there were an Academy Award for an event, this one would have it hands down.
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