Liquid History: Inside the World of Vintage Spirits

Alcohol can capture the spirit of an era as vividly as any piece of fashion, music or art. Around the world, elite bartenders are using vintage spirits to tell stories and offer guests rare tastes of history.

Once upon a time, bartenders were consumed by the task of recreating cocktails from the past. Today, elite drink makers don’t just mix pitch-perfect versions of the classics: the very best are making these drinks with period-specific spirits and liqueurs.

Over the past decade, bars and bartenders around the world have developed – and inspired – a collective thirst for historic bottlings, discontinued alcohols and other boozy curios. Establishments such as Canon in Seattle, Nightjar in London and Ben Fiddich in Tokyo have turned heads with their focussed vintage spirit offerings. Melbourne bartender Joel Heffernan holds the record for mixing the world’s most expensive cocktail, a $12,500 potion made with a rare cognac from 1858. The value of historic whiskies from “ghost distilleries” – distilleries that no longer operate – continue to rise globally. 

What caused this vintage spirit boom? While some suggest period-specific dramas such as Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire helped popularise and romanticise American drinks and cocktail culture – Bourbon, rye whiskey and cocktails are as American as apple pie – the rise of vintage spirits was, in hindsight, almost inevitable. Bars and bartenders took their style cues from the Prohibition and mid-century eras: it stands to reason that their faithfulness would eventually influence the alcohol they were serving. But from a more prosaic perspective, these alcohols offered new tastes to an ever-curious market.

“I wouldn't say that they [vintage spirits] are better or worse, but they're certainly different,” says Jason Williams, the creative director of Singaporean-based bar consultancy company, Proof & Co. Throughout his career, Williams has had extensive experience sourcing vintage spirits for bars around the world. “It's not like saying aging particular wine is guaranteed to make them better, or that the 1982 vintage of gins were far superior than everything else. It’s a bit of a mixed bag.”

While established distillers like to claim their recipes have remained unchanged for generations, plenty of factors shape a spirit’s final taste. The source and quality of raw ingredients such as the juniper used to flavour gin, say, or improvements in ancillary technology such as bottling and filtration. Additionally, some spirits were made under license by other distilleries, producing different regional expressions of some alcohols. Then there are liqueurs such as Chartreuse that many believe improve with time in bottle. Put this all together and you’re talking a diverse palette of flavours to explore and mull over.

While Konstantin Nemolochnyi, Beverage Director of The Ritz-Carlton Millenia, Singapore, appreciates the nuanced flavours of vintage spirits, their appeal goes beyond taste.

“You can read books about a certain period in history and you can see movies, but it’s something else to be able to touch a bottle from that era,” says Nemolochnyi. “It’s the same reason why people buy expensive wines from unique vintages. Like art and other collectables, people like to collect things from the past. Once you consume a vintage spirit, you don’t possess anything physical, but you will always have a memory of touching this liquid history. I think that’s something intriguing for many guests.”

Vintage spirits are one of the cornerstones of The Ritz-Carlton Millenia, Singapore’s new bar, Republic. Designed by New York-based design form Tony Chi, Republic is a glamorous ode to the 60s, a defining period of history that included key historical events including the Vietnam war and the Civil Rights movement. It was also the decade in which Singapore broke away from Malaysia to become an independent, sovereign nation.

Drinks-wise, this passage of history is represented by more than 50 spirits, liqueurs and vermouths from the 60s and 70s that Proof & Co helped source for the Republic. (Vermouth made in the 60s, the management felt, would be unfit to serve to guests, hence the decision to stock the bar with vermouth from the decade after). Ranging from Italian aperitifs and digestifs – a nod to the economic boom that helped shape modern Italy – to robust American whiskies and Caribbean rums, these spirits offer a snapshot of life six decades ago.

While these vintage spirits are served neat, guests can also enjoy these spirits as cocktails: a circa-1960s Manhattan powered by vintage Bourbon and Cinzano sweet vermouth, say, or a martini made with historic Booth’s gin from when it was still distilled in the UK. (Booth’s gin is now made in America). These spirit-forward cocktails aren’t just traditional: they’re also ideal vehicles for showing off the spirit.

“Could you make a daiquiri out of vintage rum?” says Nemolochnyi. “You could, but would I want to add lime juice to my expensive 1960s rum? I don’t think so. As a guest, if you’re paying this sort of money, you want to taste the history of something. It’s similar to when you buy wagyu beef. You don’t put a lot of sauce on it, right? Maybe a pinch of salt, but that’s it. You want that raw taste.”

Taste vintage spirits and cocktails at Republic at The Ritz-Carlton Millenia, Singapore, open daily from 12pm to 11pm.