Top shelf goals
Armed with a love of whisky, a solid back bar and a little Dutch courage, bartender Mel Hack is ready to take on the world. By Fred Siggins
“I’m going to Kentucky!” Mel Hack says by way of greeting from behind the bar at Melbourne’s Whisky & Alement, widely considered to be one of the best whisky bars in the world. All smiles, she tells Winning she’s been invited by a major brand to visit their distillery in the United States as one of just three bartenders in Australia hand-picked for a special, all expenses paid trip.
At just 26 years old, Hack is making big waves in the Australian hospitality industry, earning accolades that would make professionals many years her senior jealous. She recently returned from a fact-finding trip to Scotland, driving solo around the country to visit 15 whisky distilleries and experience Scotch in its native habitat, tasting countless samples along the way. “I was received with open arms. Everyone was so happy to see me,” she says. “And straight off the bat they wanted to know all about Australian whisky. I had six bottles in my boot and shared them with everyone I met. The Bakery Hill [single malt from Victoria], in particular, was a real stand-out for the Scots.”
Hack is always full of life, exuding a warm energy that makes guests feel instantly welcome. As a young woman, she’s the opposite of the stereotypical whisky expert, but her passion for, and drive to learn more about, the subject is unmatched. These traits, along with her unpretentious, infectiously joyous personality and motivation to be a force for good in her sphere have made her a rising star of the Australian service industry.
Asked about being a young woman working in whisky, Hack says it was challenging at first, but she’s grown into her role. “At the start I’d have some guests come in and only want to talk to my male colleagues,” she says. “Now I just tackle it head on. I introduce myself and explain how the bar works and guide them through the huge selection we have and try to make them understand that I’m just as capable of doing this job as anyone. As soon as I started doing that, it eliminated all the hesitations. If I lack confidence it’s easy to be dismissed, so I have to go in full tilt even if the impostor syndrome is bad that day.”
Unfortunately, there’s still a lot of gatekeeping in the whisky world, but Hack loves bringing people new to whisky on the journey. “I think it makes a big difference to female identifying and gender diverse people who come in here to be served by someone who looks like them,” she says. “We have women regulars who might just drink a cocktail or a glass of rosé, but they’re also comfortable exploring the whisky as well, and I try to guide them towards whiskies that will match their tastes. Setting the expectation that someone is going to enjoy their drink is key.”
Hack is open about her queer, female identity in an industry still dominated by male-identifying personalities, but she’s not a crusader. She just wants to be honest to herself and make the hospitality industry, and the whisky world in particular, more welcoming. “The tone I try to deliver when I’m saying anything publicly is so positive because that’s who I am. But also, being positive is going to be better received, you can be a louder voice. I want to pay homage to Whisky & Alement, which has always been a safe space for women to enjoy whisky. Here, the work speaks for itself, but if there’s a microphone, I’m going to use it.”
Hack is also open about her neurodiversity, describing it as her “sparkling brain”, (as in sparkling water) — it’s not bad, just a little hard to manage at times. “I love sparkling drinks!” she laughs. Speaking recently at a bar industry event, she was amazed by the turnout. “Over 150 bartenders showed up,” she says. “I talked about coming up as a bartender in the Covid era, and also my autism diagnosis, my sexuality, repping whisky as a woman. Sometimes you feel like it’s a bit pointless, but then you get a message that something you said made someone feel seen and accepted, and that’s really special.”
Hacks most important goal for the future is to “Keep doing what I’m doing, and being good at it!” she says. But she’s also keen to spread the Whisky & Alement mission locally, nationally and internationally, continuing to work on new projects with talented friends, and “foster a more accepting community within the whisky and hospitality industries for women, LGBTQI+ and ASD folks.”
Sometimes people still ask Hack, “Do you drink whisky?” And her response is always, “Are you kidding mate? Look around you!” she laughs, gesturing to the hundreds of bottles that line the walls behind her. There’s no bitterness, just a good-hearted deflection of what’s obviously a silly question for someone so deeply in love with whisky.
Disclaimer: The author of this article is a former employee of Whisky & Alement.
This is an extract from an article that appears in print in our thirteenth edition, Page 58 of Winning Magazine with the headline: “Top shelf goals”. Subscribe to Winning Magazine today.
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