The Macallan Bar Review: Best Whisky Bar at Galaxy Hotel, Macau
We stopped by this Macau whisky bar for my husband, who loves whisky.
The whisky bar at Galaxy Hotel Macau
The Macallan
It’s on the second floor inside Galaxy Hotel,
and the hours are 6 PM to midnight Tuesday through Thursday,
then 6 PM to 1 AM Friday through Sunday. Closed on Mondays!
We zipped over by taxi at night.
Galaxy Hotel is gorgeous and seriously upscale.
It was Lunar New Year season, though, so
the extra-Chinese festive decor was everywhere—which I liked a little less, to be honest.
There were signs for The Macallan all over the hotel,
so it was actually pretty easy to find.
Made it!
The opening hours are posted right in front,
and last order is 30 minutes before closing.
The vibe feels luxurious from the entrance,
so this is a great Macau whisky bar for a date night.
Inside, it’s dimly lit and atmospheric in the best way.
There are lots of comfortable sofa seats,
and plenty of tables that would work for groups too.
There was also a singer, so you can listen to live music,
but this is not really that quiet, contemplative malt bar kind of place
where everyone slowly savors a single dram in silence.
The volume is pretty loud, the music styles vary a lot,
and the overall mood is more lively and a little noisy—they even host birthday parties.
The female singer was great too, but…
the older gentleman playing instruments suddenly started singing,
and wow, the emotion in his voice was incredible.
Honestly, I liked his singing even more.
Want to hear it?
Anyway, we grabbed seats at the bar.
Behind the bar, there were rows and rows of different whiskies,
which made it fun just to sit there and look around.
To me, all the bottles kind of looked the same,
but my husband really has an eye for this stuff.
He kept spotting interesting and rare bottles
and ordering exactly what he wanted.
It may be The Macallan Whisky Bar, but it’s not just Macallan.
They also have a lot of Japanese whisky.
From entry-level pours to wildly expensive bottles,
the selection is seriously broad.
It honestly feels like a whisky museum.
So many bottles that make you go, wow… how much does that cost?
There were even 50- and 60-year-old bottles just sitting there,
and it was fun just looking at the old bottle designs
and vintage labels too.
You can even see Macallan M here.
I’m definitely still a whisky beginner, so I don’t really know much,
but apparently it’s a very special one…?
Anyway, time to order.
They show you the menu on a tablet.
But there are so, so many pages
that it took us forever just to get through it.
They also have sampler sets
if you want to taste a few different whiskies,
and of course you can also order by the glass.
The selection is huge.
The cheapest option, the 12 Year Double Cask,
starts at about 20,000 KRW per glass (roughly $15),
and the most expensive one at the bottom right, 68,800 MOP,
works out to around 12.5 million KRW,
though that was for the bottle, of course….^^;
Even if you can’t find something on the menu,
if you spot a bottle behind the bar that you want to try,
just ask the bartender and they’ll tell you the price!
They also have non-alcoholic cocktails,
and of course regular cocktails too.
Since I was pregnant,
I ordered a mocktail called Virgin Galaxy Punch. Sigh.
So yes, even if you don’t drink—or if you’re pregnant—
this Macau Macallan bar is still a lovely place to go for the atmosphere.
I forgot to take photos of the food menu, so I pulled this from elsewhere!
If you sit at the bar,
you can watch the cocktails being made, which keeps things interesting.
They were making mine so beautifully…
but at first the bartender accidentally added alcohol,
then startled himself,
and remade it properly as a mocktail.
Ta-da—strawberry cocktail.
Basically strawberry juice, honestly.
They also served water, and I loved that the glassware was Riedel—so pretty.
The complimentary bar snacks were anchovy peanuts and olives,
which was a little disappointing, honestly. We barely touched them.
I would’ve preferred mixed nuts or even some crackers.
My husband’s first pick that night was
Macallan Rare Cask (76,000 KRW, about $55).
Then Glen Garioch 12 Year Old old bottle (69,000 KRW),
and Bunnahabhain 25 Year Old (73,000 KRW)—three glasses in total!
As for the taste… I didn’t actually drink them, so I can’t say,
but I did smell them, and they all smelled amazing to me.
Total whisky newbie opinion, obviously.
Still, my husband was happy, and that was enough for me.
The atmosphere is great, and if you’re on a couple’s trip to Macau,
this is such a nice hotel bar for a dressed-up evening drink.
If you have a Galaxy membership card, you can get 10% off at the bar too, but we forgot to bring our passports, so we couldn’t sign up and had to pay full price. Sad.
If you also play at the ca. si. no,
you can get Silver membership for 15% off,
and if you play more and reach Gold,
the discount goes up to 20%!
If you’ve done a night view tour in Macau
and still don’t feel ready to head back to your hotel,
this is definitely worth a stop.
-The End-
Kyo Watami, a Japanese restaurant at Galaxy Hotel Macau