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COMPASS MAGAZINE, December 2002.

COVER STORY:

Living the high life at the NT$2 Million Party By Donovan Smith Translated By Hwang Jia Yi and Tiger Yang

       So, you've moved up in the world and swigging rice wine from the bottle outside 7-11 has lost its charm. With all your new swank friends, you’ll need to invite them around to impress them with your class, taste and inexhaustible credit limit.

       Okay, perhaps some of us haven't quite made it that far yet, but 'tis the season to indulge in a little fantasy party planning. To start you on your way, we'll give you the lowdown on high end products, and options where you can find them. You only need a couple spare million NT$. So get that credit card ready, and try not to flinch.

Early Evening: Wines & Delicacies        No fine meal is complete without a complimenting wine. Traditionally, there were rules to help the uneducated match wines with foods but, today, those rules have largely been abandoned. According to Wine Spectator magazine, it is more important to choose a wine that you enjoy on its own, regardless of meal choice. As they point out, most of the wine is consumed while waiting for food to arrive and after it is finished, not during the meal itself.

       Some, however, still feel that matching wines with food enhances the experience. A simple rule of thumb is to match heavy wines with heavy foods, and lighter wines with lighter foods. To find out which wines are "light" or "heavy", check www.winespectator.com. Proper serving temperatures can be found at www.intowine.com, along with suggested numbers of bottles to prepare for various sized parties.

       When planning special occasion parties, champagne is high on the list. Dom Perignon is available for between NT$2,500 and NT$10,000. Other impressive wines include Domaine Larouche Chablis at NT$2,000 to NT$3,000. If you need a red, you can always go for the limited edition Bordeaux, Chateau Petrus, for NT$20,000 to NT$30,000 a bottle.

       What party is complete without snacks? Imported cheeses and chocolates are a must, but to truly impress one needs harder-to-find items. Japanese-style caviar is more readily available, but the imported Caspian Sea caviar--derived from three varieties of sturgeon (Beluga, Oscietre and Sevruga)-- really blows a hole in your pocketbook. Heading towards extinction, Beluga sturgeon is, by extension, the most expensive caviar available--the cheapest Caviar House-brand Beluga caviar runs NT$7,650 for a 30-gram tin, if you buy direct from the importer!

       For a slightly less extravagant option, try pate or fois gras with truffles. Rougie-brand Millefeuille goose foie gras with six-percent truffle is NT$3,000 for a 200-gram tin. Some items can be found in specialty shops. For harder-to-find items, your only option is to go direct to the importer. Try Classic Fine Foods (www.cffoods.com.tw), boasting excellent selection and shipment anywhere in Taiwan (order at least seven days in advance).

After Dinner Smoke        As the food settles, it’s time to break out the humidor for a long contemplative smoke. Many comparisons are drawn between high-end cigars and fine wines. Both are better aged, meant to be savored and have distinctive levels of flavor and appearance. There are many cigar varieties to match your preference, including dozens of brands. Well-known brands include Cohiba, Davidoff, Partagas, Montecristo, Punch, Romeo Y Julieta, and Macanudo. While much is made of Cuba's excellent cigars (usually identified by "Habana" on the label), other countries--particularly the Domican Republic, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras--are also known for their outstanding quality.

       Cigar distinctions include six color grades. Generally, a darker wrapper indicates a stronger flavor. Then there's a multitude of sizes (length and gauge) and shapes, from giant, eight-inch Diademas to cigarette-size cigarillos. Common sizes include the middle-of-the-road Corona (about six inches long, 42-44 gauge), the longer Churchill and the chubby Robusto. Exotic shapes range from the torpedo-shaped Diademas to the big, obelisk-shaped Pyramid. Prices vary widely. The Splendor Taichung Hotel's Wine & Cigar Bar, for example, stocks everything from a NT$270 Fonseca Cosacos (a Cuban petite corona) to an NT$1,500 giant, special-edition Davidoff Aniversario No. 1.

       As cigars are all about relaxation, don¡¦t forget to enjoy a good drink with your smoke. Port, whiskey and brandy are ideal, which leads to our next topic.

Into the Spirits
       While cocktails are an option, it is difficult to find extravagantly expensive mixers. Premium Absolut Vodka, Bombay Sapphire Gin and Tequila Herradura all are available for under NT$1,000. For true decadance, we must rely on whiskies and Cognac brandies.

       American bourbon and Irish whiskey have a following but, in the pricing sweepstakes, Scotch whiskies take the prize. Scotch can be drunk with ice or mixed in a cocktail, but there is something of a cult surrounding the ritual of drinking whisky neat or with a dash of water. According to the purists, mixing an expensive Scotch in a cocktail is somewhat akin to mixing it with untreated sewage. Even ice is often considered a no-no to some.

The best-known brands of Scotch are blends, mixing malts and unmalted grain whiskies from a variety of distilleries to create a complex flavor. Recently, the craze has been for single malt whiskies, which are more traditional and associated with craftsmanship. One of the most expensive whiskies available in Taiwan is the single malt Macallan series of dated bottles, which indicates the year the whisky was distilled, with years ranging from 1926 to 1972. This makes these bottles nice as Christmas gifts, anniversaries and the like. There are only 40 of the 1926 bottles available worldwide - one bottle will set you back about NT$1,100,000. The 1972 bottles are a mere NT$47,000. These can only be ordered directly from the importer (http://www.maxxium.com.tw).

       But even that isn't the most expensive whisky available in Taiwan. That honor goes to Alfred Dunhill's Dunhill Diamond. The gift set includes a Baccarat hand-crafted crystal decanter and accompanying box, and will set you back NT$1,500,000. Again, there are only 100 available and these need to be ordered direct from Maxxium.

       Cognac is even more a connoisseur's drink than whisky. Probably the most familiar name is Hennessy, which is well represented at the top of the market. Their premium product is Richard Hennessy (NT$50,000), a blend of Hennessy Cognacs--some dating back to the 19th century--from their reserve collection. Another offering is Hennessy Paradis Extra (NT$30,000+), which comes in a stunning bottle. Remy Martin is also widely respected. Their top offering in Taiwan, Remy Martin Louis XIII (NT$26,000), comes in a hand-crafted Baccarat crystal decanter with real gold in the label. Another Remy offering, for a less-extravagant NT$7,000, is Remy Extra, a cognac with an average age of 35 years.

       So, now you know how to party like the Sultan of Brunei or Bill Gates. When hosting your next bash, just remember who helped you plan it. We'll be checking our mail daily for that invite.

Shopping for the best of the best in Taichung By Douglas Habecker Translated by Tiger Yang

       For wines and spirits, there is the suitably-named Drinks store chain. These attractive shops are clearly-organized (with Chinese and English labels) with a wide selection of wines and spirits from around the world, including high-end brandies, cognac and whiskies (including single malt Scotch). Taichung branches are at: 135, WuChuan Rd., 1F (tel. 2202-0287) and 889, WenShin Rd., sec. 4, 1F (tel. 2242-3436).

Another good option is the five Taichung shops of the Libaga chain, including 337, KungYi Rd. (tel. 2320-5634); and 268, MeiTsun Rd., sec. 1 (tel. 2305-9112). Popular independent stores include Cape Wine (39-1, TaiYuan Rd., sec. 3 (tel. 2232-5789) and Raphael Food & Wine House at 8, JingCheng 23rd St. (tel. 2475-1310/2472-4209).        Among the city's wine clubs and lounges is The Splendor Hotel's 12th-floor Wine & Cigar Bar. The attractive cellar holds over 140 wines, including French, Italian, California and Australian varietals. Prices range from the NT$1,000 Marquis D'Alban Bourdeaux Superieur to the NT$18,000 1995 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild.

This bar also has a walk-in humidor, featuring dozens of cigar selections, including Cohiba, Davidoff, Romeo Y Julieta, and Montecristo. The well-informed staff can help with selections and smoking assistance. The Evergreen Laurel has similar selections in a cigar bar just off of the first-floor lobby bar, and The Landis Hotel sells stogies in its second-floor Le Bar. Zino (63, ChingMing 2nd St.; tel. 2310-6530) is another nice little cigar bar. The owner, Mr. Tang, is an aficionado who gets to know his customers personally and takes his cigars seriously--only stocking ones that receive an rating of 87 and up from Cigar Aficionado magazine.

      The above-mentioned Libaga stores also sell fine cigars and cigar accessories. They also sell dozens of fine imported pipes, ranging in price from a few hundred to several hundred thousand NT dollars. There are also many varieties of wonderful-smelling pipe tobaccos. If you have no clue about pipe smoking, fear not, as the shop owners can provide some introductory lessons.