I thought I knew how to appreciate whisky (read: get wasted on it) until last nights whisky appreciation session at the Belljar. Unlike many other whisky appreciation sessions out there, The Belljar lets you try different labels instead of turning it into a product push.

Case in point, we had (from left to right) a very young, 7 year single malt Miyagikyo that was ridiculously spicy and burned like a Sumatran forest fire, a much more mellow and pleasant Balvenie 12 year Doublewood, a sensually smooth Glenfiddich 15 year, and a severely smoky Laphroaig 18 year.

More interestingly, the whiskies were perfectly paired up with chocolates from Demochoco. For example, the beige colored square of caramel chocolate on the left went hand in hand with the wild Miyagikyo, helping to smoothen out the edge of the Japanese whiskey.

The Belljar is one of the few (if not the only) place in Singapore where they're dead serious about their whisky, and they specialize in pairing food with whiskies. That's right, the food revolves around the whisky, not the other way around at the Belljar.

Many thanks to Andrew and Kahying for hosting us and educating us on whisky, and to Burpple for the invite!