Oasis chilling in the WHISKI Bar

Oasis at WHISKI

Oasis at WHISKI

Oasis with a Haggis

What a day – Oasis have just left the WHISKI bar and they are playing tomorrow (Wed 17th June 2009) with Kasabian at Murrayfield Stadium and to have a few drinks before the big day – where did they choose – yes, you guessed it – the WHISKI Bar !

Didn’t even notice them for an hour or so and then our manager called to say they were in and from seeing them on TV you think they are pretty cool – well, they were COOL and LOVELY  and CHATTY and BRILLIANT with everyone. It soon became obvious they were there and Liam Gallagher was happy to have his photo taken and sign autographs for all that asked but I am glad to say they were generally left in peace to chillout and have a few beers.

Must be hard being famous and Edinburgh’s Style guru Lavinia Brooks from StyleGuideScotland who has kindly emailed me her photo also, asked him if they were heading anywhere else and they said no they just wanted to chill out at the WHISKI bar as it was “cool” and much better than all the other bars in town ! Well, we can only agree with that Liam !

Liam and Noel – you and all the others in Oasis are welcome back anytime, you were a joy.

All a Twitter …

WHISKI is now on Twitter, follow us here http://twitter.com/whiskibar and so far really liking it, it is quick and easy to update and I do prefer it to facebook. We created a facebook group for the bar a few months ago but the only way to communicate to our members is by emailing them and I just felt uneasy doing this every time we had something to say and I thought they would get a bit hacked off with loads of emails! With Twiter however you can update every day and if your followers are interested then they can see what you have said so all in all, I like it better as it seems less intrusive.

WHISKI awarded top accolade in Icons of Whisky Bars of the World

We are delighted to have been awarded the highest level of GOLD status in the 2009 Whisky Magazine’s – Great Whisky Bars of the World, part of the Icons of Whisky series of awards. The Whisky Magazine is a “must read” for us here at WHISKI and this recognition of GOLD status is just fantastic for us and the staff here at the bar.

Whisky Bars of the WorldWhisky Bars of the World - WHISKI

Whisky Bars of the World

Ardbeg Whisky Tasting – The Conclusion

Ardbeg

ardbeg whisky tasting

Ardbeg Whisky tasting

 

It was a very special evening when Rachel Barrie, master blender from Glenmorangie hosted the Ardbeg Whisky Tasting on 7th May 2009 at the WHISKI Bar. 25 people attended the tasting which coincided with the launch of Ardbeg Supernova and the line up was outstanding :

Ardbeg 10 Yr Old – the 1st non chill filtered malt in the Ardbeg range

Ardbeg Renaissance – The conclusion of the Very Young, Still Young and Almost There series – Peaty maturity

Ardbeg Blasda – peated to an average of just 8 ppm compared to the more usual 24 ppm. Blasda is perfectly balanced, light, sweet and delicious

Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist 1990 (” the beatsie”) – creamy smoky flavour with hints of fennel and pine nuts

Ardbeg Uigedail – an earthy whisky with a bit of spice, a marraige of Ardbeg from bourbon barrel a and sherry butt which gives a sweet and smoky finish to this malt at 54.2%

Ardbeg Supernova – peated to an astonishing level of over 100 parts per million (ppm)

So, what was the favourite, well they were all outstanding but the highest marks on the night went to Ardbeg Uigedail - well done.

New Spring/Summer Food Menu

Our new food menu has just launched and rest assured all of our classics and favourites are still there. We have added some new lighter dishes like Tender Lamb with a Thyme and Redcurrant Jus and more pasta options. See our menu here. I hope you like our changes and as normal let us know what you think, what you’d like to see on it. We also have lunch specials and a kids menu.

McCondoms – Whisky Flavoured Condoms are Back !

McCondoms - whisky flavoured condoms

 

Yes – they are back – McCondoms, whisky flavoured condoms  at the WHISKI bar. When our previous supplier was taken over by PHS, suddenly and without any notice we had PLAIN condoms rather than our notoriuos WHISKY flavoured ones – well, as you can imagine we were highly un-impressed ! Award winning whisky bars need whisky flavoured condoms I say so we have tracked them down and McCondoms are back. We have new condom machines in the toilets now and both are filled with McCondoms – one flavour only – WHISKY.

So if you pay us a visit at the WHISKI bar, give the McCondoms a try or keep them as a reminder of your stay in Edinburgh.

Maxxium Whisky Tasting – Thur 14th May 2009

Famous Grouse whisky

Join us as we work our way through a fabulous selection of malts and blended whiskies including the limited edition Famous Grouse 37 year old (only 250 bottles produced in memory of Robert Burns 250th Anniversary).
We are auctioning a bottle of the limited edition Famous Grouse 37 Year Old in aid of the Edinburgh Sick Kids Hospital so you can try it on the night and if you like it, you can bid for it in aid of the Sick Kids Hospital with all proceeds going to this very worthy cause !                                                                                                                                                                    

Hosted by George Redpath, Maxxium’s Brand Development Manager, this evening will be entertaining and informative and all guests will leave with a miniature bottle of Highland Park whisky.

Our line up is as follows:

The Black Grouse
The Famous Grouse Gold Reserve 12 year old
Macallan Fine Oak 15 year old
Highland Park 18 year old
The Famous Grouse 37 year old

 

Ardbeg Whisky Tasting – 7th May 2009

We are so looking forward to our Ardbeg Whisky Tasting on Thursday 7th May 2009. This is Homecoming Scotland’s Whisky Month and also co-incides with the launch of Ardbeg Supernova – their most peated whisky at over 100 parts per million. Their test release of Supernova earlier this year, sold out within hours so this tasting is a great opportunity to “try before you buy”. Hopefully a few of you can make it along – again as normal numbers are limited so booking via the website is recommended and I will have the button on by next week. Here’s a preview of what we will be trying on the night.
More details and booking on the website here

ARDBEG WHISKY TASTING
Dates: Thur 7^th May 2009
Time:  7PM
Cost:  £tbc

Join us as we work our way through the legendary Ardbeg family of malts.

Ardbeg is a heavy hitter among Islay malts and very peaty and the distillery has been awarded many accolades. Ardbeg Uigeadail has been named World Whisky of the Year in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2009 and their test release of Supernova (peated to over 100 parts per million) completely sold out within days – general release of Supernova is due for May so this tasting gives you an opportunity to “try before you buy”.

Hosted by Davinia Small, Ardbeg’s Brand Ambassador, this evening will be entertaining and informative. Our line up is as follows:

Ardbeg 10
Renaissance
Blasda
Airigh Nam Beist 1990 (“the beastie”)
Uigedail
Supernova

Ardbeg

 

Support Your Local Independent Operator (Bar/Restaurant)

Watching Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares a few days ago and I was so pleased to hear him encourage everyone to support their local independent restaurant and this applies to all bars and restaurants. All he said made sense and he was commenting that big chains turn out the same food all over the country and mostly they are ready-meals and if we don’t support our local operators, our choice will diminish and all we will be left with is massive “same as” chains turning out the “same as” food.

He put a local restaurant against the chain restaurants and asked people on the street which food they preferred – I am sure you can guess they liked the different locally sourced food he had the local establishment prepare. I firmly believe in this policy and think we must support local operators of bars and restaurants and indeed our local corner shops vs the big supermarkets or all choice could disappear from our towns and cities !

Yes, there are massive chains selling 99p pints like Weatherspoon bars and Mitchell & Bulters and Punch operated bars that are similar all over the country but if you visit the WHISKI Bar, we guarantee a unique experience in a great buzzing environment with one of Scotland’s best ranges of whisky and the freshest locally sourced food we can get – we do not use frozen ready made food and our food  is made fresh on the premises by our skilled chefs – we know this is not the normal in most bar/restaurants but our customers are worth it and we strive to give the best … give us a visit we always look forward to meeting new people in the bar.

Top Whiskies from Johnnie Walker Whisky Tasting – 29 Jan 2009

Johnnie Walker Whisky Tasting

 We had a super night at the WHISKI bar for the Johnnie Walker Whisky tasting and as usual we got the attendees to rate all the Johnnie Walker whiskies that were sampled out of ten. The evening was very informative and our esteemed host and former master blender for Johnnie Walker, Gordon Bell, fondly known as “Master of the Blend” did a spectacular job and kept everyone entertained and we all left with vastly more knowledge on Johnnie Walker at the end of the evening.

Whiskies rated as follows:

Johnnie Walker Blue Label – 1st Place
Johnnie Walker Gold Label – 2nd Place
Johnnie Walker Black Label – 3rd Place
Johnnie Walker Green Label – 4th Place
Johnnie Walker Red Label – 5th Place

This was a fantastic eveing and our next whisky tasting is the ISLAY WHISKY TASTING on Thursday 26th March 2009 so join us if you can for another super evening at the WHISKI Bar.