The Elysian Whisky Bar
113 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy
theelysianwhiskybar.com.au
New Melbourne whisky bar, The Elysian Whisky Bar, opened in December with a focus on rare, often hard to come by independent bottlings of whisky.
Owner-bartenders Yao Wong and Kelvin Low — whom you may have seen working in tandem at the Bar White Oak popup at Whisky & Alement last year — have long had a passion for all things whisky, and their new Fitzroy bar is a temple to that love.
The bar offers around 300 bottles of whisky, with a focus on independent bottlings — select casks of whisky from distilleries big and small, but not bottled to the house style of their often well-known labels; e.g. they may buy some single malt from somewhere like a Balvenie, for instance, but it is sold under their own independent label.
Wong describes the Elysian Whisky Bar as “a small cosy neighbourhood whisky and cocktail bar with a focus on seasonal and classic cocktails, a small selection of rotating craft beers, tasty wines, and a backbar of very well curated whiskies.”
These guys know their whisky well, and given both Wong and Low’s travels to and appreciation for Japan, expect the style of service to be of the considered, Japanese whisky bar style.
Photo credit: James Neilson