][1]To The Balmoral in Edinburgh where the five star hotel has just unveiled SCOTCH – its new whisky bar. With over 400 Scottish whiskies for sale, it is said to be the largest collection of purely Scottish whiskies available to the general public in Edinburgh.
SCOTCH came about after a guest at the hotel asked where they should go to drink Scotch whisky. Of course, The Balmoral had plenty of whiskies but they didn’t have a dedicated whisky bar. Sending guests out to drink whisky elsewhere was no longer an option so they decided to build their own whisky bar.
Scotland’s greatest export
Franck Arnold, General Manager at The Balmoral, said: ‘As Edinburgh’s landmark hotel, we are keen to showcase one of Scotland’s greatest exports: whisky. We set about transforming one of the hotel’s most intimate spaces into SCOTCH, where our young, passionate whisky ambassadors are looking forward to serving the finest of drams to the local community and guests alike for many years to come.’
After close consultation with whisky guru Charles Maclean and whisky specialists Gordon & MacPhail, the hotel assembled a collection of 400+ bottles taking in Speyside, Islay, Campbeltown, the Islands, the Highlands and the Lowlands.
Hand-crafted, oak cabinet
Strikingly displayed in a hand-crafted, oak panelled whisky cabinet, the collection is predominantly made up of malts but there are some interesting blends in there as well. Some of the bottles come from mothballed distilleries and others come from distilleries which no longer exist. Once they are drunk, no-one will ever be able to taste them again.
I can’t pretend to be a whisky expert but, while there, I bumped into one of the very knowledgeable Edinburgh Whisky Blog writers and he was impressed with the many rare and old spirits which The Balmoral had tracked down.
1940 Macallan
The whiskies date all the way back to a 1940 Macallan which, as you might imagine, has a fairly stiff price tag. Not that it’s all wallet-punishingly expensive. Drams start from £4.
For those who aren’t all too sure about where to start in the world of whisky, SCOTCH has three highly trained Whisky Ambassadors who are on hand to offer guests advice when selecting a dram.
Whisky enthusiasts can also open up their whisky with a selection of Uisge Source waters. Comprising spring water sourced from private springs in Speyside, Islay and the Highlands, these waters are said to enhance malts made in those regions.
A menu of contemporary Scottish dishes, designed by the The Balmoral’s Executive Chef Jeff Bland, also offers guests a taste of the finest local produce. Dishes include home-cured whisky and honey salmon, seared scallops from the West Coast, traditional haggis, neeps ‘n’ tatties and Blairgowrie fillet.