Time Out meets Jon Lee

Diageo Moët Hennessy (Thailand) has introduced Volcan De Mi Tierra, the first premium tequila in its portfolio, to high-end liquor markets around the world, Thailand included.

Dubbed one of the world’s most exclusive tequilas, Volcan De Mi Tierra is distilled from agave grown in rich volcanic soil in both the lowlands and highlands of Mexico. This unusual process infuses the spirit with the unique tastes and characters of both lands: the earthy, herbal, and spicy notes of the lowlands, and the citrusy notes of cherry, pear and peach of the highlands.

Time Out sits down with Jon Lee, bartender of the celebrated Tippling Club in Singapore, at Vertigo TOO in Banyan Tree hotel to talk perfumed cocktails, his impressions of Bangkok bars, and the premium tequila.

How did you kick off your bartending career?

I trained as a chef in Malaysia, opened a restaurant at a very young age, and then decided to go into the bartending industry. I was very fortunate to get picked by Joe Schofield and Ryan Clift [owners] of Tippling Club—I’ve had two mentors for the bar and the kitchen ever since. It’s been amazing so far.

Sereechai Puttes/Time Out Bangkok

Can you recall your first breakthrough cocktail?

I’d say it was the first-ever drink I created alongside Joe Schofield, which was my cocktail for the Bacardi Legacy competition. That drink got me into the top six of the Singapore bartending scene after only three months of bartending. People found that drink very interesting because, when I was creating it, I [combined] my background as a chef and a bartender. The ingredients were dark rum, egg yolk, house-made salted caramel, a bit of orange, orange flower water, and edible honey comb as garnish. It provides so much silkiness, texture, and mouthfeel. It’s called the Vida Rica, which means “a rich life” in Spanish.

Sereechai Puttes/Time Out Bangkok

You co-created the Perfume Menu for perfume house International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) at the Tippling Club, reinterpreting perfume as drinks, and it has become really popular among Singapore’s cocktail fans. Can you tell us more about it?

If you look back at how perfumes were made, like, 300 years ago, they were entirely made of natural ingredients, making them very expensive and items of luxury. Like, whale vomit was usually the essence that got you a particular scent of perfume. Then, a lot of synthetic products were later added into the perfume-making process. In the perfume menu that we do, it’s all natural, it’s all [mixed with] very expensive essential oils. No synthetic products added. What makes it very special is that, as a bartender, you smell a perfume and you’re meant to create a cocktail based purely on what you are smelling. Personal preferences come to your mind when you smell a particular perfume—everybody smells it differently. Interpreting perfumes into cocktails, I think no one has ever done that before. And to really hit all the notes is very interesting. For example, the Bloody Cologne is very bold. There’s a bit of spice to it, and Campari is one of the components we added to the cocktail. It has a lot of botanical.

As a big fan of tequila, what are your thoughts on Volcan?

I’m very passionate about the spirit. So when they’re talking about Volcan being ultra premium— something that took a while to make—and when I tasted the tequila, it just spoke for itself. It’s very smooth. It doesn’t burn. It’s just something else. It’s the craftsmanship behind Volcan [that matters]. You know that a lot has been put into it: hard work, dedication, passion. When you taste the tequila, you do not just taste the spirit, you taste the culture of Mexico. You taste the lands—high and low. You taste the history of the soil. It’s all beautiful.

Volcan De Mi Tierra

DID YOU KNOW?

Volcan De Mi Tierra is named after a real volcano that sits in the lowlands of Jalisco, Mexico. A hundred thousand years ago the tequila volcano erupted, shaping the land and topography of the Jalisco region which is brought the advantage to Volcan Terroir. The Land is shaped out terrain and ash created fertile soil. The Harvest is waited 3,250 days for the agave to grow, slowly ripen and sweeten by the sun. The Process is combined highland and lowland agave in mampostery oven. An expression of the terroir, Tequila Blanco blends its herbal, citrus, and spice notes indicative of the lowlands with fruit notes of cherry, pear, and peach from the highlands.