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Monday last week at the SMC, Sean Baxter from Behind Bars walked us through a very tasty line-up of some beautiful Single Malt whiskies produced in different regions of Scotland to give us an idea of the different styles.

In the line up we had a total of 6 whiskies - Glenkinchie 10 and 12 year old from the Lowlands, Talisker Distillers Edition and Talisker 18 Year Old from the Islands and Lagavulin 12 and 16 Year Old from the Islay.

Last month at Chez Regine we had the chance to try some pretty special locally produced small batch whiskey from Timboon Railway Shed Distillery.

The Timboon Railway Shed Distillery is located in a renovated railway goods shed dating from 1910 and is a short drive from the scenic Great Ocean Road and the famous 12 Apostles rock formation.

Not much was revealed about the whiskey when we began the tasting, in fact we did not even know where it came from or how it was produced. Instead we were given a Blind Tasting Questionnaire that were to be filled out as we were tasting the mystery whiskey.

In addition to rum, whisk(e)y has always been one of my favourite spirits and though I write about rum more often, I have not forgotten to enjoy a good dram of Scotch every now and then.

Fortunately, my current hometown has plenty of people who appreciate all kinds of whiskey and even has dedicated bars for the appreciation for this fine spirit.

In addition to having an extensive selection of whiskey on their shelves, one in particular organises monthly whiskey tastings and calls this The Single Malt Collective.

Selling over 200 million bottles a year, Bacardi’s widely spread presence can be seen almost anywhere you go in the world, from the northern to the southern hemisphere.

Since the founding in 1862, Bacardi has grown to be one of the biggest rum producing companies in the world and continues to be successful in their campaigns.

On 4th of July Bacardi’s representative, Martin Newell took us through a tasting of a rum that needs no introduction - the Ron Bacardi Superior.

The celebration was held on 6th of June in the usual place, located on the busy restaurant filled Hardware Lane where an impressive amount of Rum Club members and professionals of the hospitality industry gathered for a good time.

May 2nd Golden Monkey - Every now and then my local Rum Club comes up with something a little different to the usual rum tasting seminars that is both innovative and an interactive way to present a product to the rum connoisseurs and hobbyists alike.

The standard releases, Eclipse and Extra Old from Mount Gay Rum, 'the rum that invented rum’, have been around in the Australian market for a long time as the only two choices. However, a new blend from Mount Gay called '1703' was recently introduced around the world as the new super premium class rum which continues to receive positive feedback globally.

Not long ago the range expanded again with the addition of a new white rum, the Silver Eclipse, which is also now distributed across Australia and is intended as a mixer for premium cocktails.

Sunday the 8th of May saw the opening of a Tiki exhibition at the Kustom Lane Gallery in Hawthorn and I had got word about some rum and tiki thing happening at the show.

I was sold after rum was mentioned and I've been known to even brave the weather for a dram... but wait a second, what does an art show have anything to do with rum?!

Usually nothing and in most cases you're likely to be served sparkling or Champagne but in this instance Appleton Estate had sponsored the event, and considering their history and close ties to all things Tiki I thought it was a great idea.