WHISKY BARS TO SHOUT ABOUT BROUGHT TO YOU BY GORDON & MACPHAIL FOLLOWING ON FROM THE MYSTERY SHOPPERS FEEDBACK DURING OUR RECENT AWARDS JUDGING, IT WAS CLEAR THAT WE HAVE SOME GREAT WHISKY BARS. DRAM DECIDED TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE TOP 10 AND TO DEVELOP A MODEL THAT WOULD LOOK AT VISITOR FEEDBACK. WE USED METRICS FROM FACEBOOK, TRIPADVISOR AND A COMBINATION OF OTHER PROVIDERS AND THEN APPLIED AN AVERAGE SCORE TO ALLOW FOR POPULATION BIAS. THERE WERE A FEW SURPRISES AND A FEW SURPRISE OMISSIONS FROM THE TOP 10. WE HAD TO USE A STANDARD METRIC SO, IF YOU WANT TO GET IN THE TOP 10, MAKE SURE TO GET SOME COMMENTS, RATINGS AND REVIEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
TOP TEN WHISKY BARS OF SCOTLAND 1.
1. THE MALT ROOM, Church Street, Inverness The Malt Room in Inverness won our G&M Connoissuers Choice Whisky Bar of the Year gong this year and they also came out on top in our statistical analysis. Statistically, it is also the best whisky bar in the country! The Malt Room was conceived in a London Airbnb by Inverness native and bar manager Matt Macpherson and Alex Hancock. Over the next few nights while Matt was hosted by Alex they chatted about their shared love of whisky. On the third evening, and several whiskies in, Matt described his frustration that there was nowhere he could send patrons when they asked for a specialist bar where they could drink great whisky. It was at that moment that they decided to make the first (and best) whisky bar in Inverness. And, as it turns out, Scotland. The bar opened in July 2017, and since then it has gone from strength to strength not only do their tastings regularly sell-out but over lockdown it really bedded itself in with more than 240 live Lockdown Gigs. Here is our favourite review and probably the best review of all of the bars in the Top 10: “In summary, two of the best afternoons/evenings I’ve ever had in over 50 years of living on this planet and the Malt Room for me was like I’d died and gone to Heaven!”
2. CURLY COO BAR, Barnton Street, Stirling The Coo Curly Coo, now in Stirling, first opened in Crieff in 2009, and this bar comes in at Number 2. Owner Mandy Silver opened the bar in Stirling in 2013 and it remains the only whisky bar in the town. It now offers customers a selection of more than 130 bottles, all curated by Mandy who is now an expert. “Whisky has turned into my passion. It’s such an amazing product, that is so lovely and exciting, each bottle has its own distinct taste. I take selling my drams very seriously, and it is very important to me that a customer enjoys their dram; so I like to spend a little time chatting with a whisky drinker, ensuring they choose the right dram for themselves”. I am sure lots of people feel like this customer, “Was in
10 DRAM DECEMBER 2021
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