I have to admit, whisky clubs always struck me as a frightening, faraway world full of men much older and more sophisticated than me talking about subjects I have absolutely no idea about, like divorce or fox hunting. But a trip to the Monkey Shoulder Social Club at Dalston’s MC Motors warehouse Thursday night taught me that those are just misplaced stereotypes – when done right, they can be fun.Walking into the MSSC felt like stepping back in time to 19th-century France, but without any courtesans or small pox outbreaks. It didn’t take long before dolled-up hostesses in the lounge area were bombarding me with cocktails like the Monkey Jam Sour, as a DJ played records in the games room. I had a go on one of the claw crane arcade games and, remarkably, unlike pretty much every other claw crane arcade game in existence, these ones weren’t a sham because I struck it lucky and won a prize. I'm not yet emotionally mature enough to own a shirt, but the Monkey Shoulder cufflinks were still very much appreciated.
Annons
After learning a few secret recipes at the Monkey Shoulder Cocktail Boot Camp, I was ushered into the games room to compete in Rebel Bingo, which is like regular bingo but with more swearing. Prizes included a massive bottle of Monkey Shoulder, one of those trippy whirly-chairs and an iPod stereo. I didn’t win anything, but I did walk away full of whisky, so I wasn't feeling too sore about it.Keep an eye on @MnkyShldrUK and facebook.com/monkeyshoulder if you don’t want to be left without a Monkey Shoulder to cry on.
