If the world is to end later this year like the ancient Mayan people predicted I still have a pretty long bucket list that needs checking. Whether or not I’ll ever get the chance to have a chess game with Jack Niocholson remains unknown and I live in doubt that Jessica Rabbit will be returning my calls anytime soon. I did, hoever,  manage to score one item off the list this week however; attending a whisky master class hosted by none other than Master Blender Richard Paterson.

The daring coup to lure ‘The Nose’ to the Whiski Rooms to host a tasting began just after the turn of the year. We started liaising with Whyte and Mackay’s top people in order to procure some of Mr. Paterson’s precious time. Finding a rare gap in his schedule we quickly locked in the date for April 19th. Wanting to waste no time we quickly put our own noses’ to the grindstone and spread the word. Tickets were very limited. So limited in fact that they sold quicker than ponchos on a rainy day and we were soon facing a sell out crowd.

A month and a half later the day had arrived. With perpetrations complete there was nothing left to do but to try to relax before the masses descended upon us. With everyone in their places it was time for the fun to begin.

Richard burst into his presentation as only he does. So full of energy and enthusiasm was the good Mr. Paterson that I had to turn the camera that I was wielding to ‘action shot’ so as to stop the blurring of the photographs I was frantically trying to take. Sadly I took too many photos and the camera ran out of batteries about half way through the session. No such energy problems for Richard though! (I have a feeling that he may have done this sort of thing before.) There were six different whiskies being tasted on the night with Whyte and Mackay showcasing some of the most interesting whiskies that they have to offer. Sadly having to work I was not able to try the whiskies on the night. I have however managed to acquire of a sample of a whisky that Richard mentioned but did not have with him at the time sadly.

That whisky is the Dalmore Cromartie. This is a special release that is aimed at procuring funds in order to restore the Castle Leod (home to the clan Macknezie who owned the Dalmore distillery for almost 100 years). It should be an exiting dram. Let’s find out!

Dalmore Cromartie
45% ABV
£109.99 at Whiskishop.com

Nose: Amazing light for a Dalmore. Toffee and Vanilla dominate with a spectre of burnt brown sugar popping up. Citrus notes of orange peel and zest arrive with a doughy quality.

Palate: Like a summer fruit salad! Soft fruits covered with cream. Like a baked orange with cloves. It builds from small falvours into a massive crescendo of a dram!

Terrific whisky from terrific distillery! It is definitely one of the whiskies that I feel is worth the price tag. Although if it seems a bit too much the Dalmore 15 year old is always a good option. We also have a full selection of awesome whisky tastings available here!

We have  lined up a great program of interesting and affordable whisky tastings and offer daily tastings every day during the Edinburgh Festival. We have some favorites back from last year like our Blending Game and Introduction to Whisky as well as a great lineup of distillers keen to show off their range and some new tastings like Whisky and Cheese. I think there will be something for everyone to enjoy so have a look and let me know what you think. 

£5 is redeemable against any 70cl  whisky purchase with every ticket
http://www.whiskirooms.co.uk/whiskytastings.html

Rememeber you can order any of our whiskies online here
www.whiskishop.com

It’s not often that you manage to get hold of something fantastical that you have specifically asked for. Our pleas for a Batmobile often fall on deaf ears and the ultra-deluxe chainsaw that we have absolutely no use for but want anyway stays safely tucked away in our local retailers store room. These and numerous other wonderful toys have eluded us so far but we’re keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for the best. A bit of luck has befallen us though. Through the magic of the interweb our request for ‘whiskies that we want to try but have never had the chance to’ has been answered! Hip-hip-hooray!

You might remember a few months ago we were lucky enough to sample the Jura 1993 Boutique Barrel Sherry JI cask which had been taunting us from the shelf it lives on here in the shop since we opened. You can check that little tasting out here. At the end of the post I mentioned how there was another Boutique Barrel staring down at us that we wouldn’t mind tickling our taste buds with. Lo and behold a few weeks later some arrived for me to sit down with and sample. The bottle in question is the 1995 vintage Bourbon JO cask finish. Another wonderful single cask but this time it has been finished in a small batch bourbon cask. Not being the most patient of people we dived in straight away to see what it was like.

Jura Boutique Barrel 1995 Bourbon JO cask
56.5% ABV
£64.75 at Whiskishop.com

Nose: The wood has had so much influence. Sticks of cinnamon and fresh straw collide with orange peel and vanilla. Slightest little hint of raspberries breaking through with sweet floral notes. Adding a touch of water calms it down for the better. Toffee, marzipan and marmalade with bits all continue to work in a wonderful unison.

Palate: It’s a fiery little beast! Citrus and spice keep coming and have a very delicate finish. This is a dram that needs a touch of water. Adding some just settles it down so you can really enjoy all the cinnamon and ginger flavours it has to offer.

Overall: A tip-top dram! Staff opinion is split on which is nicer- Bourbon JO or Sherry JI. It certainly makes for some interesting tasting though.

It’s great when you can get hold of something like that! Now we must go and starting lobbying for more samples as we’re running short. Till next time!

Single malt whisky and Easter… two things that don’t really have too much in common you would think. One is an ancient festival that has been twisted to make children believe that a well-dressed rabbit delivers them giant chocolate eggs while they sleep. The other is a refined Scottish sprit their parents drink while they make that sort of thing up.

If I have learned anything in my time drinking whisky is that it can be shoehorned into any conceivable situation. Going on a hill walk? Stick it in a hip flask! Coming down with a cold? Have a hot toddy! Dinner with the extended family on Easter Sunday? Well fear not! Below is a list of suggestions to suit even the most dangerous of family dynamics and weird situations you might have to contend with. Just follow our guide and everything should work out just fine. Probably.

The Family that gets along

You’re all on the same page and you never ever fall out. Your family makes the Waltons look dysfunctional. Your best off getting something smooth, light and easy drinking just like the atmosphere of your dream dynamic. A nice little AnCnoc 16 year old at £48.99 should help along the happy vibes.

 The family that never gets along

You’ve not even stepped through the door yet and already somebody is screaming about the fact that they didn’t get a Christmas gift from you in 1997 and that you must hate them. Arguments lead to grudges that get carried around for years. Try to mend some of those bridges that were burned at past gatherings with the award winning Glengoyne 17 year Old at £58.99. That should help.

Meeting the other half’s family for the first time
First impressions count. Trust me. Don’t be the person who rocks up with a supermarket own brand tequila when meeting the love of your life’s parents for the very first time. For this you’ll need to do some research on what they like and cater your choices to what you find. We have a brilliant selection of gift hampers available online or you can get in touch with us to create a bespoke hamper to suit you.

Eating with close friends

These are the people that you choose to spend your free time with. Chances are you’ll know things about them that they rather you didn’t and vice versa. You share in-jokes that nobody else gets and takes pot shots at each other that another person would never get away with. You’ll be needing something just as fun as the situation and we’d recommend the awesome Aberlour A’bunah at £40.50.

Having to go to a social event you really don’t want to

We’ve all been there. Stuck at a dinner/lunch/ dance and not knowing anyone except for the person you came with who has quickly ran off and started to mingle with a group of people that look a little bit too cool for you. You need to make new friends fast. Bring along a little bit of the lovely Bowmore 15 year old at £54.99 and soon enough you’ll be the centre of attention. For all the right reasons of course.

With the basics covered you should now be able to enjoy whisky and Easter in any situation that may come your way. Have we missed anything? Any other suggestions are welcomed by commenting below!

Happy Easter everyone!

Our stunning shop is slap bang in the centre of Edinburgh. The castle is right around the corner and the touristy shops with all the tartan rugs and bonnets that have built in ginger wigs are a mere stones throw away. Not that I’ve tried throwing stones at them. That would be very rude.

When people come to Scotland looking for whisky they are looking for something that is a little bit different. Understandably so you would think. Scotland is where all this fine liquid is made after all. We should have an obscure and wonderful selection tucked away for ourselves. Every distillery in Scotland should be like Wonka’s Chocolate factory with rivers of whisky and experiments not yet ready to unleash on the general public.

Alas this is not how it works. Scotland is a small country and whisky is an export product. It sells so well abroad that there are quite a few whiskies that you won’t even see here in Scotland- they are only sold in far off corners of the earth. This, however, is a necessary nuisance to make sure the whisky industry continues to thrive in a global economy that seems to have erupted into spontaneous flames. So what do we have that’s worth a visit then? Well like anything that is really cool and only known to those within the inner circles it is independent.

Independent music labels are the ones that will take a chance on a weird band that could change the music scene for the next ten years. Independent film studios will pick up the dark and dangerous scripts dealing with issues that no large studio wants to touch with a cattle prod. Independent whisky bottlers bring a range of diverse and unique whiskies to the table. They take casks from the distilleries that you know and love and release bottlings that completely turn all the preconceptions you may have onto their head.

One of these curious companies is Douglas Laing & Co Ltd. Founded in 1948 it is run today by two sons for the founder Mr Fred Douglas Laing. With a firm commitment to whisky that is as natural as possible they do not add colouring or use chill filtering methods on any of their products. The result is usually a light coloured but strong flavoured whisky. Best of all a lot of their products are single cask immediately making them of a more limited nature. On average there is a good chance your bottle will only be one of about 350 released. This is the sort of thing that we try to have for all the eager individual looking for their special whisky from Bonnie Scotland. We have a great selection of their Old Malt Cask range in at the moment with a stand out favourite being a 14year old from the Bowmore Distillery on Islay.

Bowmore 14 year old
Old Malt Cask from Douglas Laing & Co
50% ABV
Buy it now at Whiskishop.com for £61.50

Nose: Fresh wood smoke drifts out of the glass and matures into a sweet barbeque note. Fresh citrus fruits, especially lemon peel, arrive and are chased by a floral concoction. Notes of an old British Sweet shop also pull through- foam bananas and boiled sweets.

Palate: Sweet wood and smoke set the scene for the other flavours to develop. It’s full of fire and that sweet shop is in full force taking over the finsh. This a a whisky at it’s best with the tiniest touch of water just to lighten the alcohol but not to sweep away the flavour.

Something different, tasty and very limited at 277 bottles. It is sadly one of these products that when it’s gone it will be replaced by something else- but maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Keeping the batches small means there is always new things for us to try.

Do you really want to be the person that forgets Mother’s Day? Do you? We’ve been that person before. It’s not nice. It’s especially not nice when you have two little brothers that still live at home and break out the big-guns on Mothering Sunday just to keep her sweet. Trust me. It’s a long road back from that.

What to get though? The shops are full of trinkets and flowers and weird little pink fluffy cats that sing pop songs from the 1990’s but does she really need that? Surely she could just use something that she enjoys. Something that is just for her. You just know your Dad is going to steal that weird pink cat thing. We have some suggestions and, naturally, our suggestions lean towards the more drinks orientated side of things. You can call us predictable but we like to call our gift giving “classic”. Take a gander at our suggestions to suit a wide variety of Mum’s…

The G&T Mum

Gin and mum’s are as classic a combination as…ummm…gin and tonic. We’d like to point you towards the the lovely Scottish Caorunn Gin. A smooth and creamy feel makes this gin very different.

The Glass of White Mum

Well we can offer a wonderful Christain Audigier Sauvignon Blanc to entice her palate. It’s French. It’s designer. It’s very tasty too!

The Wine and Gin Mum

Can’t decide between the two? We’ve got you covered! Spoil her with our Wine and Gin Hamper!

The Classic Vodka Mum

Try something new with Scotland’s only single malt vodka- Valt Vodka. Smooth and easy going try it on its own chilled from the freezer.

The Whisky Mum

Mums like whisky too! If you want to indulge her whisky senses then I can’t recommend the Dalmore 15 year old highly enough. Rich with lots of unique flavour brought on by their use of sherry casks it is a dram to be savoured!

The T-Total Mum

We do have some sweets but maybe is just best to stick to flowers on this one. Or maybe that singing pink cat thingy.

Hope that helps! Pop into the shop or drop us an email if you would like
any more advice. The best advice we can possibly give is simply to remember to do something for Sunday and not too go too crazy the night before (St. Patrick’s Day). It’s for the best we promise.

Ding Ding! Round two! Our second set of whisky tastings comes from the elegant Highland distillery of Tomatin. Not as well-known as some of its Highland neighbours Tomatin was brought to life in 1897. During the 1960’s it was Scotland’s largest producing distillery. Although Tomatin means “Hill of the juniper bushes” in Gaelic they ignored the temptation to make gin and created a lovely single malt whisky instead. If you palate lies on the lighter side Tomatin is a fantastic whisky for your next foray into the wild waters of whisky. Those with more experienced tastes will also find a huge
amount to enjoy.

So come along and find out a little bit more. You can book online here or as always call us in-store on 0131-225-1532. Tomatin will be here on March 22nd, 5th April, 15th August and 24th August. Book now to avoid disappointment.

First up we have the wondrous whisky of Glenfarclas coming in on the 16th March, 18th May and 22nd August. To book for any of these dates now just follow this link. If you haven’t tried much Glenfarclas before I’d implore you to come along. A fantastic little distillery- making fantastic whisky.

There will be plenty more to come so keep an eye here or on our Facebook and Twitter feeds.

*** PRESS RELEASE ***

An EDINBURGH venue has become the first in the UK to be declared an on-trade Ardbeg Embassy for one of the world¹s most prestigious whisky brands.The WHISKI Rooms, in North Bank Street, has received the accolade from Islay distiller Ardbeg.  As well as selling the distillery¹s finest malts amongst its selection of hundreds of whiskies the bar, restaurant and tasting rooms will offer an Ardbeg-inspired menu for diners.

 The globally-renowned malt whisky producer rarely gives it permission for its name to be used commercially, but an official said it was delighted to work with the WHISKI Rooms.  

Mickey Heads, Ardbeg Distillery Manager, said:  “The Whiski Rooms have proven themselves to be passionate and loyal Ardbeggians, which is why we selected them as theUK’s first ever On-Trade Ardbeg Embassy. We¹re delighted to welcome the Whiski Rooms as an Embassy, and I look forward to sampling the Ardbeg-inspired food menu the next time I pop in for a dram.”

Ardbeg has been voted best whisky in the world three years in a row and although Islay has a population of just 3,000 the Ardbeg Committee has a worldwide membership of over 50,000.

 WHISKI Rooms owner Anne Still said:  ”We are proud to be named the first ever on-trade Ardbeg Embassy in the UK and know this is an initiative that they are keen to expand in the UK. We promise Ardbeg whisky fans a fabulous range of Ardbeg whiskies in our gantry and our adjoining shop.  As well as private dining in our Ardbeg room, we have an amazing Ardbeg inspired menu available”

 The WHISKI Rooms launched in June 2011 and is the sister operation to the multi award winning WHISKI Bar and Restaurant on the Royal Mile  -  current Whisky Bar of the Year 2011/2012. It’s range incorporates a range of whisky experiences in one: a dedicated whisky shop selling one of the largest range of whiskies available in Scotland, all available for mail order,  plus a bar,  restaurant and a dedicated tasting room that hosts daily whisky tastings.

No matter what your passions in life are you will always have some sort of annoying gaps in your knowledge of them. There is always that film buff that hasn’t seen any of the Star Wars epics or the music aficionado who hasn’t gotten round to sitting down and really listening to Dylan. It’s exactly the same in the wonderful world of whisky. Every single day I am surrounded by walls and walls of the wonderful stuff and I often amaze/shock/scare myself by just how many of them I have tried. If I haven’t tried a whisky it can be hard to explain the character to an interested party who happens to wander through the doors. Of course there are some of the more expensive and rare vintages that I’ve never managed to wrap my lips around and then there are the ones that I have just inexplicably missed. They may have been released before I started my ramble through the whisky wilderness or may have just slipped under my radar. They sit on the shelves whilst I look at them wondering “how in the name of Zeus did I miss that?”

Being a bit of a geek I’ll generally try and track them down in some way or another to give them a try but sometimes this is easier said than done. Either they are so exclusive that samples are harder to get your hands on than a leprechauns gold or it just seems that they came out a while back and everybody has drank it. The latter seemed to be my dilemma when it came to the Jura Boutique Barrels releases. Three totally different single cask whiskies released by the Isle of Jura distillery to show the diversity of their spirit. We’ve had some here in the shop since we opened all the way back in June and I’ve been dying to give them a try. Very recently in a conversation with a representative from the parent company of Jura I dropped some not so subtle hints about wanting to try them but never having the chance. A week or so later a sample arrives (cheers Graham!) and I finally get to learn about these interesting little gems from the distillery.

The sample I received was from the 1993 Vintage Sherry JI release. Aged in American white oak from 1993 to 2002 the spirit was then transferred to an Oloroso sherry cask to add unique and exciting flavours to the typical Jura style.

Jura 1993 Sherry JI Cask
54% ABV
£74.00 at Whiskishop

Nose: Nutty and sweet. You get the distinct notes of Jura but notice how they are pulled in a totally different direction. Burnt sugar and cinnamon sticks develop mixing with caramel and treacle. Sweet and spicy! Water really softens down the initial bite with butter and honey taking pride of place.

Palate: Like licking a toffee covered pine cone- lots of sweet enjoyable woody notes. A light smoke comes in as well. Develops into bitter dried fruits and dark chocolates in the finish. Adding water helps bring down the burn but takes very little away from the original flavours.

Overall: A real cracker that was well worth the wait. Very different to any Jura that I have tried before and I think that makes it a bit special.

Well that is one of those missing drams taken care of. A few more to try and track down though. We also have the 1995 Bourbon JO cask in stock at the moment. I wonder where I can grab hold of a sample of that…