Photo of
Jonathan Trew
June 17, 2015

Ed Whisky Solstice

Whisky and the weekend gang thegither, as Burns very nearly said.

And if your weekend could use some top notch whisky then you may wish to check out a couple of events taking place in Edinburgh on Saturday.

In Queen Street Gardens on Heriot Row, The Whisky Lounge are organising The Edinburgh Whisky Solstice, a daytime event which is billed as ‘a unique outdoor whisky extravaganza’.

Running noon to 5pm, the festival offers the opportunity to taste an incredible range of whiskies from Scotland as well as much further afield.

Whiskies from Japan, India and the USA all feature.

Single cask whisky

Event partners, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), will have their own dedicated tent for members of the society.

Their tent will play host to a stunning array of Society whiskies, all single cask and all at cask strength.

The main tent will feature whiskies from the likes of Diageo (Talisker, Singleton, Mortlach), Chivas Brothers (Glenlivet, Aberlour, Longmorn), Springbank, Ardbeg, Amrut, Nikka, Elements of Islay, Compass Box, Eldorado Rum, Gordon & MacPhail and Douglas Laing.

There will also be a handful of master classes, including one by Charles MacLean and the SMWS and a special Islay Festival bottlings class with Whisky Lounge founder, Eddie Ludlow.

The Edinburgh Solstice Sundown

Following on from the daytime event, the Solstice Sundown promises entertainment in the form of local raconteur Stu Larsen.

Mr Larsen will be playing an exclusive acoustic set from his 2014 Vagabond album.

Stu Larsen will be singing and telling tales.
Stu Larsen will be singing and telling tales.

The Dan Hudson Band will provide high energy blues.

While listening to the musicians, customers can look forward to tasting some amazing SMWS whiskies as well as their innovative whisky ice-cream. If you have more savoury tendencies, you will be able to keep the munchies at bay by dining from the BBQ.

Along with a reasonably priced whisky bar, there will be a bar serving local craft beers, Champagne and wine plus a selection of other spirits.

The Solstice event takes place noon-5pm with the last pour taking place at 4.45pm.

Tickets at £30 and further info from www.thewhiskylounge.com or by calling 01904 410841.

The Solstice Sundown event takes place 7pm-10pm and tickets for the evening event are £20, available from www.thewhiskylounge.com.