Journal The Lounge

The 180-Bottle Library: How We Built Our Whisky List

A whisky list isn't a trophy case — it's a map. Here's how ours was drawn, region by region.

Hamish Greer 2 May 2026 5 min read

Start with the classics

Every serious list needs its anchors — the Islay benchmarks, the Highland staples, the Japanese standards. Ours covers the canon first because a flight without reference points teaches nothing.

Back bar whisky library in low light

The coastal argument

We're a waterfront bar, so the list leans maritime — Old Pulteney, Talisker, coastal Tasmanians, Australian distillers working near salt air. Once you taste the through-line, you can't untaste it. The lounge was built around that idea.

"A whisky list should read like a map — we stock the bottles worth travelling for."

The rare cabinet

A locked cabinet holds the bottles we pour by the dram only — closed distilleries, single casks, the stuff you buy with your heart. Ask your host; the cabinet opens for the curious, not just the spendy.

How to read it

Don't read it — tell us what you like. 'Smoky but not medicinal' gets you four pours across three countries in a flight built for your palate. That's the whole point of the Distiller's Flight.

Key takeaways

  • 180 bottles across scotch, Japan and Australia
  • The list leans maritime by design
  • The rare cabinet pours by the dram
  • Flights are built to your palate, not a script

The non-whisky door

Half our regulars don't drink whisky at all. The same hosts build rum, agave and low-alcohol botanical flights — the library is a method, not a mandate.

Flight of four pours on the bar

Take the flight

Flights run 6pm–10pm nightly, vinyl from nine. Book a seat through the concierge or walk up the stairs and follow the turntable.

Hamish Greer

Written by

Hamish Greer

Bar Director

Hamish curates the lounge's whisky library and hosts the Distiller's Flight evenings.

Taste it for yourself

Reading is the appetiser. The table is waiting on Pier Point Rd.

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