Blue bar rolls out the red carpet

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OF course, the high-end Saxon Hotel has landed the only Johnnie Walker Blue bar outside Scotland!

The new lounge, named 1805 (after one of the brand’s most exclusive and expensive blends), opened on Thursday night with a “multisensory experience”.

Cue a short-film screening in the hotel’s cushy private cinema, followed by an interactive multimedia whisky tasting led by Tom Jones — the brand’s global ambassador, not the Welsh singer.

There was music, of course, with legend Vusi Mahlasela collaborating with the rubber-faced guitar master Dan Patlansky.

They closed off their set with the crowd-pleaser Weeping.

Jozi’s financial muscle came out in full force, with the entrepreneurs from Dragon’s Den SA - Vinny Lingham, Vusi Thembekwayo and Gil Oved - leading the charge. The trio looked to be enjoying a mini-reunion of sorts and spent most of the night together.

Actor and director Hlomla Dandala also joined in the fun as “cry on cue” Idols judge Unathi Msengana, there with her husband, 5FM DJ Thomas Msengana, braved the cold in a daringly lowcut top.

The only downer on what was otherwise a perfectly classy evening was the minute nibbles that trickled out throughout the soiree but were just never enough to satisfy grumbling stomachs.

Sure, resident chef David Higgs never disappoints (the foie gras was perfectly light and creamy), but we could have done with more at a suppertime event. Still, at least the whisky kept flowing late into the night.