Inside the Sans-Arc designed whisky and gin joint by the same crew who brought Peel Street Alfred's, Malt & Juniper is a refined and elevated experience.

The lighting is low, the back bar stretches high, and the door to Peel Street’s latest boozy addition, Malt & Juniper, is finally open.

CityMag introduced the project back in March, and we were promised loungey booths, seasonal cocktails, and a heavy focus on whisky and gin.

The Sans-Arc build once again makes use of very little space – the square-metreage is less even than M&J’s sister venue, Alfred’s, two doors down; and while the bare bones of the two venues share some similarities (an open ground floor, with access to the mezzanine along the left-hand wall), the darker tones and enveloping booths make for a much more cocktail-appropriate atmosphere.

As promised, the gin and whisk(e)y lists both run long, with a heavy contingency of local gin distillers balancing against a roster of national and international labels. The whisky covers just about every well-known region, with prices starting at the very approachable end of the spectrum, and stretching into not-so-attainable (for at least one bottle in the Japanese whisky section, a Yamazaki 18-year-old Mizunara, if that’s what you’re into – and a lot of people are).

Co-owner of Malt & Juniper Matt Holding

Part of Malt & Juniper co-owner, Matt Holding’s mission is to stimulate Adelaide’s cocktail scene, and the inaugural edition of the venue’s seasonal cocktail list has the whisky-based Conference, Amaro tea, Coco Black, and an Apple Sour; the juniper-based concoctions are Mandarin Fizz, Muddled Mission, Herb Harvest, Outside of South, and the Bitter Sweet.

And because beer runs through the veins of this venue, through its sibling down the road, there are five Boilermaker pairings on the menu.

Long we have walked by this space under construction, waiting for the chance to bask in another Sans-Arc new build, and in its final form, there’s plenty of reason to spend an evening sidled to the bar.

Top shelf takes on a new meaning at Malt & Juniper