Tippling Club has a new head bartender in town, and you may be familiar with his name – Kamil Foltan. Previously at Black Swan, the Czech Republic-born Foltan replaces Zachary de Git, who has left to join William Grant & Sons as a brand ambassador.

While it’s not easy taking de Git’s place – he represented Singapore at the World Class Bartender of the Year final last year, after all – Foltan does come quite bedecked in experience as well. He has a 13-year bartending career across Europe – including cities such as Prague, Dublin and London – and now Asia, he spent some time as head barman at London’s Zetter Townhouse, and worked under the mentorship of renowned mixologists such as Tony Conigliaro and Zdenek Kastanek.

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As part of his new role, Foltan has shaken up the cocktail menu at Tippling Club, adding a number of new aperitifs and his own takes on certain classics to stamp his presence. An example is the Bohemian Mai Tai ($22), a version of the Polynesian style cocktail that eschews Curaçao liqueur for herbal Becherovka bitters, as befitting Foltan’s Czech Republic roots. Another is the Jersey Lightning ($20, pictured above), made with whiskey, green apple, cinnamon, vanilla and citrus.

There’s also the very citrusy and mouthpuckering Citroen Fizz ($20), concocted as it is with lemon vodka, citrus, lemon syrup and a dose of sparkling wine. More balanced with equal sweet and sour notes is the becherovka, citrus, aperol, and crème de peche-composed Ornela Vanoni ($20), named after the Italian pop singer; as well as the Pear & Green Tea Bellini ($18), made from pear and Japanese green tea puree and sparkling wine.

Another new addition, but not of Foltan’s creation, is fellow bartender Yugnes Susela’s fabulous Last Chance Gary ($22), a take on the negroni, recently added to the menu after becoming a hit with patrons during the run up to the recent Diageo World Class competition.

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Familiar favourites such as the Smokey Old Bastard ($24) – a blend of Islay whisky, cigar syrup, Peychaud’s bitters and orange – has thankfully remained from the previous cocktail menu, as has the Purple Drank ($23), which combines vanilla and raisin spirit, Curaçao, candy gum, raspberry and citrus for a sweet, fruit-flavoured explosion.

Foltan shares that he hasn’t yet had the chance to work with chef owner Ryan Clift on cocktail and food pairings, but we reckon that’s a matter of time.

Tippling Club is at 38 Tanjong Pagar Road.

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