Two operators share their insights on whisky
Jon Beach, Fiddler’s, Drumnadrochit
Q: How many whiskies do you currently stock?
A: Between our two bars we have close to 1000 different bottles if you include our non-Scotch whiskies.
Q: What price range does your whisky range span?
A: We have drams of our Fiddler’s Bar-matured Blend for sale at £2.95 all the way up to a 1970 Port Ellen at £89.95 a dram.
Q: How do you decide which whiskies to stock?
A: I give as much thought about which standard single malts to stock as I do for the high-end ones. Every one has to have merited a place on our bar in some way.
Q: What changes have you made to your whisky offer over lockdown and why?
A: We’ve slowly reopened bit by bit but due to our bar/restaurants layout and the fact that we have an extensive terrace we are currently only using our outside areas. This unfortunately means that our extensive collection of bottles (five-times SLTN Award-winning) are currently not available for viewing but I’m working on opening up a section of Fiddler’s interior in the coming weeks for private tastings with small pre-booked groups. In the meantime, alongside the food we are offering on our terrace, I have put together some whisky tasting packs which contain one of our branded Glencairn glasses, three 25ml pours of single malt and a wee bottle of our local Fionnar spring water and these are flying out the door. It’s not the first time I’ve pre-poured drams to be enjoyed elsewhere as I organised a couple of Zoom tastings for the Drumnadrochit members of Fiddler’s Whisky Club the Loch Ness Whisky Parliament during lockdown which were a welcome distraction from lockdown life. I’m looking forward to the day we can have a tasting again in Fiddler’s.
Q: Where do you source your whiskies?
A: These days we have to work hard to get the best drams for our bar. I have many suppliers and also source whisky from online auctions. Royal Mile Whiskies have been especially helpful recently as they handle delivery of our Independent Whisky Bars of Scotland bottlings.
Q: How do you ensure your team is up to speed with the whiskies?
A: We provide regular group training sessions with information on our daily special malts and occasionally we have staff trips to local distilleries; Glenfiddich should be our next stop thanks to our SLTN Award. Also most of our staff have attended the one-day course at the Scotch Whisky Training School.
Q: What trends have you seen in the whisky category?
A: There are certainly a lot more newer smaller whisky distilleries, with many producing gin whilst they wait for their spirit to mature to whisky. These new distilleries have produced new routes around Scotland benefiting bars like ours immensely.
Q: If you could have a dram with anyone, who would it be, what would you drink and where?
A: I would love to jump in a time machine and go back to George Square, Glasgow, in 2004 where a large tent was erected for that year’s Whisky Live Festival. I would walk in, track down famous whisky writer Michael Jackson, grab one of the many bottles of Port Ellen that were sitting on the exhibitors’ stands back then, sit him down in a quiet corner, pour him a large glassful of my favourite whisky and ask him many, many questions. With any luck he’d pour me a large glass of the ‘Rolls-Royce’ of whisky, The Macallan, in return. RIP Michael Jackson 1942-2007.
Ewan Graham, Ballygrant Inn, Islay
Q: How many whiskies do you currently stock?
A: Our whisky range is always changing. At this time we have 959 different whiskies in the bar. The breakdown of the whiskies is Islay 604, Island 72, Speyside 82, Highland 58, Lowland 12, Campbeltown 24, vatted malts 25, mystery malts 30, world whiskies 28, single grains 6 and blends 18.
Q: What price range does your whisky range span?
A: We believe our prices are very accessible and a reflection of our philosophy that whisky is for drinking and that drams are to be shared as a sociable and a companionable drink. Our whiskies are priced from £3.80 up to £225 per 35ml. All are priced on a reasonable mark up and rare and hard to find whiskies are sometimes offered on a break-even basis.
Q: How do you decide which whiskies to stock?
A: As we are on Islay, naturally most of our whiskies are of Islay origin. We stock the core ranges of all of Islay’s distilleries and also most of the leading expressions from Speyside, Highland, Lowland, Campbeltown and other Islands. As we are one of the “go to” whisky bars in Scotland we aim to stock the now regular, limited editions and special releases available throughout the year, principally from Islay.
Q: What changes have you made to your whisky offer over lockdown and why?
A: Normally during a busy season we would be adding lots of new releases to our whisky range but during lockdown there hasn’t been many. Some of the Islay distilleries still released festival bottlings for Fèis Ìle even though it was cancelled, and we added them to our range. Just before lockdown we managed to add a rare Gordon & MacPhail Private Collection Port Ellen 1979 40 year old which now takes pride of place on the gantry. With us not being able to hand out our whisky menu we have listed it on our website and customers can now download a PDF of the whisky menu to view on their phone or tablet. We already offer customers the chance to take away a dram with our ‘drams to go’ offer and we are looking at offering this by post, where we can post samples out to our friends and customers around the world.
Q: Where do you source your whiskies?
A: We source all Islay whiskies directly from the distilleries as we have a good relationship with them all and they always notify us of any new releases. We also source whiskies from Gordon & MacPhail and Inverarity Morton. And we pick up occasional special bottles from independent whisky specialists such as The Islay Whisky Shop and the Good Spirits Company.
Q: How do you ensure your team is up to speed with whiskies?
A: All of our small team of bar staff are from Islay or have lived on Islay for some time and are “immersed in the spirit of the island”. In co-operation with Islay’s distilleries we have regular training sessions by way of in-depth tours and tastings. We train staff monthly on new bottlings we have added to the range and any new developments in the whisky world.
Q: What trends have you seen in the whisky category of late?
A: The main trends I have seen in whisky recently have been the amount of young whiskies available on the market and the quality of them for being so young. Another trend which is particularly Islay-related is terroir and traceability. On Islay we have both Bruichladdich and Kilchoman who grow their own barley and are experimenting with different types of barley and barley grown in different regions in Scotland and how this affects the spirit distilled.
Q: If you could have a dram with anyone, who would it be, what would you drink and where?
A: Most likely with a few close friends rather than an individual person, although Kevin Bridges would be a favoured guest for his wit and story telling. The dram: Bunnahabhain 18 year old. The place: on the shore by the distillery on a summer’s evening.
