Drinks companies name some of their favourite Scottish cocktail bars

Edinburgh bars Panda & Sons and Tonic and Glasgow venues The Gate and Lunar are among the cocktail bars to have attracted praise from spirits companies as the country’s mixologists turn their attention to autumn.

Responding to SLTN ahead of the autumn season, drinks companies and operators highlighted some of the venues they think are doing a particularly good job with their cocktail lists. 

Glasgow cocktail bar Lunar, which opened its doors last year, was singled out by Mikey Sim of Smokehead as a bar he has become ‘a big fan of’. 

“The team are always pushing the boundaries of normality when creating their menus and challenging conventional drinking with a note of familiarity,” he said. 

Elsewhere in the city, The Gate was praised by Jake O’Brien Murphy, UK spirits ambassador for Moet Hennessy UK.

“The Gate is a perfectly balanced venue – there’s something for everyone with both a level of hospitality and authenticity that are so rare to find anywhere but are so consistently and meaningfully achieved in Scotland,” he said.  

Elsewhere, O’Brien Murphy singled out Orchid in Aberdeen for its ‘ingenuity and commitment to quality’ and another SLTN Award-winning venue – the American Bar at Gleneagles – for its ‘bewitching’ location. 

“Snuggled inside the walls of a historic and transcendentally beautiful hotel, The American Bar has always been bewitching,” he said. 

“Under the watchful eye of Michele Mariotti – it’s stepped up another level. Fantastic.”

Perhaps the most effusive praise was spared for Panda & Sons owner Iain McPherson, however. 

“I count myself lucky that I get to call Iain McPherson a friend,” said O’Brien Murphy. 

“To my mind, he’s one of the most intrepid and resourceful bartenders and bar owners I know. He’s constantly pushing the limits of our knowledge by pioneering a field he pretty much created. 

“He’s cryo-engineering drinks and turning the status quo quite literally on its head. Switching, using sub-zero temperatures to create concentrated flavours. 

“It hurts my head when I consider the science involved but the drinks are goddam tasty.”

Elsewhere in Edinburgh, Tonic was one of the bars mentioned by bartender Ross Lawrie of The Spiritualist in Aberdeen as one of his favourite capital haunts. 

“Tonic, Edinburgh, is my go-to post-shift venue,” he said. 

“Amazing staff who couldn’t do more for you, always greeted with a huge smile, and a Puerto Rico Boat Trip (if you know, you know).”

And as the seasons change, Lawrie reckoned whisky highballs will be among the drinks proving most popular with customers in Scottish bars. 

He said: “Something with character and excitement will more than likely hold an audience, whether that be a nice stirred down classic, or innovative riff on something new, being able to keep three steps ahead of the game is always the excitement in drink development, and eagerly anticipating what the next exciting trend is going to be, and hoping you’ll be the one to find it.”

Sim at Smokehead reckoned bar customers will be looking for ‘familiar flavours and twists on the classics’ in the coming months, and predicted these drinks ‘will dominate the mainstream on-trade this autumn’. 

Not every outlet is a cutting-edge cocktail bar, of course, and for those outlets looking for some help with their drinks menus, Kirsten Blackburn of Borders Distillery advised working with suppliers.

“If you’re selling premium products, which inherently come at a premium price point, then the serve needs to do the product justice and meet the expectations of the customer, so take the lead from the brand owner or your distributor,” she said. 

“Both can offer staff training, which is the surest way to ensure that standards are driven up. 

“We supply customers with key serves and recommended finishes, which really let our spirits sing.”