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Bar One Last Dram 3rd Jan - 14th Feb 2025: The Close Of A Chapter Of Singapore's Swan Song Bar

 

The Swan Song. One of Singapore’s most famous whisky bars. The Swan Song opened many good, vintage bottles of whisky to the public at fair, if not unbeatable prices. Conceived in 2017 as a passion project borne out of deep interest in whisky by 3 friends, their journey began at Princep Street. After an arduous COVID journey, they shifted to Boat Quay.

 

The Swan Song after WhiskyLive 2024 with Salvatore Mannino (Photo credits: Arun Prashant)

The winds of change push a strong tailwind into 2025; a new location at North Canal Road, better partnerships, and even better drams. For closure, the old venue at Boat Quay has given way to a pop-up bar led by one of The Swan Song’s staff. Edward will be running Bar One Last Dram from the 3rd of January to 14th of February 2025. Bar One Last Dram will have a tight focus on whiskies, cocktails, and food.

The name Bar One Last Dram was suggested by The Single Cask’s Kwek Yi Xian. It is a pop up bar dedicated to sending off The Swan Song’s Boat Quay location with a bang. Opened from 1pm to 12am daily, the pop up is a collaboration between The Swan Song, Nakama Spirits, and Yumsay Foods.

Few things need to be said about The Swan Song, but Nakama Spirits is an event-based business focusing on private whisky tastings and fitness events that has culminated in a fitness themed whisky pop up bar. A few interesting bar challenges are available, some immediately available on the bar counter! Try the 8kg mug challenge; Oktoberfest training starts early, and if you successfully drink a shot of water from the mug, you could stand a chance to win a personally hand shaken protein shake, served in a beer mug!

 

The 8kg Mug Challenge

 

But the new player in the game is Yumsay Foods, a local startup transforming mealtimes with their delicious frozen, ready-to-eat meals. Their mission aims to connect people to the convenience of quality food that’s ready in minutes by popping it in the microwave, and will be providing a curated menu of local delights like Black Carrot Cake and Fish Cake, available at a special price only at Bar One Last Dram.

 

Local fried dishes fish cake and carrot cake (Photo credits: Yumsay Foods)

 

Whisky has always been the highlight of The Swan Song; Bar One Last Dram will still be running the clearance whisky free flow for The Swan Song, priced at $128 nett. As the bottles dwindle, visitors can expect the price for the free flow to drop to follow suit!

 

A selection of bottles curated from private collectors (Photo Credits: Edward Say)

However, refreshing the shelves are a fantastic selection of bottles from a group of private collectors, sourced by Nakama Spirits. Some bottles may be common bottles available to the mainstream market, but a fair few are exclusive imports to Taiwan and Japan, and plenty of others from unconventional independent bottlers like North Star Spirits and Whisky Druid.

 

North Star Spirits and Whisky Druid bottles available at Bar One Last Dram (Photo Credits: Edward Say)

 

A pertinent highlight would be a stunning bottle of Scapa, 17 Years Old and distilled in 2005, bottled by Gordon and MacPhail, which hits with a fruity cascade of aloe vera, pineapple, and sugar syrup-soaked lychees.

 

Gordon and MacPhail Scapa 17 Years Old 2005 55.3% (Photo Credits: Edward Say)

 

Uncommon Scotches are not the only only standouts; a good deal of World Whiskies are available as part of the selection, such as these two Millstone Dutch whiskies distilled in 1996; as sister barrels, one of them was a maturation done in American Oak while the other in an Oloroso cask. Exclusively bottled for the Taiwanese market, these bottles are available for a side-by-side tasting at a better price.

  

Millstone 1996 American Oak 50.5% and Millstone 1996 Oloroso Sherry 50.1% (Photo Credits: Edward Say)

Whisky-based classic cocktails like the Old Fashioned and Whisky Sour have always been an integral part of The Swan Song cocktail menu, but with Bar One Last Dram, keep your eyes peeled for some experimental cocktails! Built upon a mixture of keen innovation and novel experiences, some of these cocktails make a fun spin on many classic cocktails!

Built with and on the concept of simplicity is the humble Crème de Menthe Mizuwari. During a visit to Bar au bout du monde in Tokyo, Japan, Edward’s host requested a unique Mizuwari (水割り), translated to “Water Cut”, made with vintage Crème de Menthe. After trying it, it laid the foundation for a simple yet elegant, refreshing cocktail. For a fun fact, the Mizuwari was the highlight cocktail featured in both the first and last chapters of the Bartender manga, written by Araki Joh and illustrated by Kenji Nagatomo.

  

Crème de Menthe Mizuwari (Photo Credits: Edward Say)


Inspired deeply by the anime series Jujutsu Kaisen, the Jujutsu Grasshopper cocktail features a shaken Grasshopper with a twist; replacing white Crème de Cacao is the Ube Cream Liqueur™️ from the Philippines, making a sweet and thick cocktail balancing the unique root flavours of taro with strong peppermint.

 

Jujutsu Grasshopper, made with Ube Cream Liqueur and De Kuyper Crème de Menthe (Photo Credits: Edward Say)

 

The curated food menu from Yumsay Foods was made for liquor pairings. Both long and short cocktails make fancy accompaniment for the local delights, such as Carrot Cake or Laksa! Many options from the wide selection of spirits are perfect for pairing with bar bites,namely the Fried Fishcake and Fried Prawn Rolls.

 

Local delights like White Carrot Cake and Laksa (Photo Credits: Yumsay Foods)

 

Bar One Last Dram was inspired by many shot bars in Japan, such as Bar The Crane in Ikebukuro and the aforementioned Bar au bout du monde. Not only that, the idea of incorporating fitness elements was inspired by the infamous Muscle Girls Bar in Ikebukuro as well! This will be a one-of-kind project blending food and beverage, fitness, and Japanese themes (peep the Akatsuki robe) all into one experiential package.

Expect outstanding pairings such as Edward’s bold whisky and Bak Kwa pairing during Chinese New Year, unique cocktail drinking experiences such as a fitness-centric protein cocktail, and more fitness challenges to win free products or services!

Bar One Last Dram is located at 41A Boat Quay, Singapore 049830 on the second floor and will be open daily from 1pm to 12pm from the 3rd of January to 14th of February 2025. For more information and updates, follow them on Instagram @bar_onelastdram.

Stay up to date on whisky and spirit updates and highlights by following both The Swan Song and Nakama Spirits on Instagram at @theswansongsingapore and @nakamaspirits respectively! For more whisky reviews and tasting notes, visit nakamaspirits.com

Keep up to date with Yumsay Foods promotions at yumsayfoods.com and on Instagram at @yumsayfoods.