Johnnie Walker B-Side Sessions is spending three weeks proving the back half of a record deserves attention.
The run is happening at the Ghost of Alfred Felton, the cocktail room tucked into the top floor of The Espy in St Kilda, with entry free from 8pm. Johnnie Walker B-Side Sessions opened on 28 August, and two nights remain.
Instead of the singles everyone already knows, the sets pull from album cuts, cult records and whatever else surfaces from the crate. Four drinks built on Johnnie Walker Black Label have been made specifically for the series, each priced at $26: Kuro Melody, The Whisky Track, Ronin Reserve and Vinyl Highball.
Johnnie Walker B-Side Sessions
- Ghost of Alfred Felton
- 4 September, from 8pm
- Free entry
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The menu leans Japanese in places. Junmai sake and gingerbread turn up in The Whisky Track, umeshu and plum in Ronin Reserve, and yuzu and shiso in Vinyl Highball. Kuro Melody heads elsewhere entirely, with triple sec, strawberry, orange bitters and lemon.
Melbourne isn’t the only city on the list. The same idea is running at Rekōdo, the listening bar inside Barangaroo House in Sydney, pairing selectors with the same whisky-led drinks list.
The Ghost of Alfred Felton takes its name from a former resident of Hotel Esplanade, which was built in 1878 and remains one of the largest and best-known 19th-century hotels in Victoria. The building now holds a spread of rooms and bars, among them Mya Tiger, Louey’s Bar & Kitchen, the Gershwin Room and the basement. Ghost itself is only open to the public two nights a week, which makes a three-week series a decent excuse to finally climb the stairs.
For more information, head here.
