The Old Man Singapore v2 menu is a little old and a little new

The Old Man Singapore has refreshed its cocktail offerings; The Old Man Singapore v2 menu borrows from its Hong Kong counterpart and makes it its own.

Edgy cocktail bar The Old Man Singapore first opened in Singapore in May 2019. An offshoot of Hong Kong’s award-winning The Old Man, it brought over the flagship’s Ernest Hemingway-themed cocktail offerings to its Singapore home along Keong Saik Road.

After a successful run with its first cocktail menu – it even landed the No. 38 spot on The World’s 50 Best Bars 2019 – The Old Man Singapore was supposed to have unveiled a new one earlier this year. Unfortunately the coronavirus pandemic had other ideas, and the new menu was shelved until restrictions were lifted to allow dining (and drinking) in.

The latest Old Man Singapore cocktail menu is titled “Best Of The Old Man v2”. Like its original v1 menu at launch, the new menu is largely borrowed from its Hong Kong bar. As expected the menu puts The Old Man’s almost unholy penchant for the rotary evaporator up front and centre; many ingredients are redistilled, infused, or otherwise transformed to near unrecognisable components to somehow be combined into tasty tipples.

Take for example The Torrents of Spring #1926. This is a loose take on the Negroni or Boulevardier that uses rye whiskey but also incorporates mezcal that’s been cooked with glutinous rice, clarified Williams pear juice, a tangy shrub made from pomegranate and beetroot, among other ingredients. They all somehow combine together for a supremely tasty, if powerful, cocktail.

Or the A Moveable Feast #1964, which is essentially a clarified Bloody Mary or Clamato concocted with vodka that’s redistilled with crushed clams – shell and all – along with the usual Bloody Mary suspects. This clarified version with its sweet and tangy flavours can appeal to those who enjoy the taste of a Bloody Mary, but not necessarily that gritty tomato juice-like texture.

Our favourite from the The Old Man Singapore v2 menu is To Have and Have Not #1937. This is an elevated twist on the good old rum and Coke; the rum has been infused and redistilled with blackened oats, and combined with rectified and clarified Vanilla Coke. There’s also a sprinkling of lime dust to perk up its flavours. This has all the flavours of a key lime pie in the form of a Daiquiri.

Those who’ve tried v2 cocktails at The Old Man Hong Kong will find some of their counterparts slightly different; recipes have been tweaked for local palates.

Also on the new menu are a couple of cocktails – Wake & Lake and Smogy OF – created in partnership with Belvedere Vodka which was originally introduced when the Singapore chapter of the Belvedere Collective was launched last year.

But it also kept a number of crowd favourites from its v1 menu. We’re glad to see its gin and tonic take Islands In The Stream #1970 retained, as is the curry leaf-infused The Sun Also Rises #1926.

Apart from their new cocktails, The Old Man Singapore also collaborated with The 1925 Brewing Co. to create The Undefeated, an amber lager inspired by the classic Old Fashioned cocktail.

“The Old Man Singapore is taking things to the next level with its new menu, showcasing creative craft cocktails that are created exclusively for the Singapore outpost. The collaboration with The 1925 Brewing Co. is also a testament of the team’s ability to adapt to any situation, and continued commitment to support those in the community by focusing on creating something positive together during a challenging time,” says Andrew Yap, Managing Partner of The Old Man Singapore.