Great whisky bars of the world
who have stayed here since the hotel opened in 1903 reads like an international Who’s Who and its Harbour Bar (the first licensed premises in Bom- bay) is a meeting place for Mumbai society. Indi- ans adore whisky and drink more than any other country in the world, by a long way – but all but 2% is locally made: Scotch whisky is very highly taxed at the moment – but won’t be forever. Then there’s the Bascule Bar in the Cape Grace
Hotel, Cape Town, a stylish architect designed modern building overlooking Cape Town’s yacht marina and buzzing with waterfront life. South Africa is currently Scotch’s fifth largest market by value and grows in sophistication every year. The Bascule stocks around 500 whiskies, and also runs a successful whisky club, with regular tastings and special events. Cape Town’s other grand hotel is the Mount Nel-
son – affectionately known as ‘The Nellie’. Its style is traditional and ‘colonial’ and it stands within its own 9 acre garden-estate, in the shadow of Table Mountain. The Planet Bar specialises more in cock- tails and Champagne than whisky, but it is an at- tractive room, with open fires in the winter and a ter-
race, overlooking the gardens and the city itself. The famous Planet Restaurant next door is excellent. On almost the same longitude, but at the other end of the world is the Grand Terminus Hotel, Ber- gen, whose excellent whisky bar is the only one in Norway to have won a Gold rating from Whisky Magazine. Devised by US ex-pat Jonathan di Biasi and now governed by Frode Herring, it offers over 500 unusual and carefully selected whiskies, along with delicious bar food and advice about pairing whiskies with dishes. Not surprisingly it has be- come the HQ of the Bergen branch of the Norwe- gian Malt Whisky Club. The hotel itself was opened in 1928 and has many charming period features. My other favourite Norwegian hotel is the Con-
tinental in Oslo and its famous Theatre Café/Bar, with its gilded and mirrored and polished mahog- any interior. Here I first discovered how to drink Johnnie Walker Blue Label – neat, after chilling your palate with iced water. The only grand hotel whisky bar in Scotland to
match any of these is Gleneagles, which has two excellent bars, one in the main building, the other in the Dormie House. Its list includes a couple of drams unavailable elsewhere: the fabulously ex- pensive Johnnie Walker 1805 and The John Walk- er. The whisky bar in the Malmaison in Aberdeen is pretty impressive. Scotland generally does better when it comes to the more traditional, intimate whisky bars. There are far too many to list here, but Edinburgh’s Bow Bar is a cracking wee pub, as is the Curly Coo in Crieff, Perthshire and The Grill, in Aberdeen. If you’re lucky enough to visit the whis- ky Mecca that is Islay, then Duffies Whisky Bar at The Lochside Hotel is well worth a visit. Of course it doesn’t really matter where you are as long as you’re in good company and the whisky is good.
Above: Planet bar in Cape Town. Left: Theatre Cafe/Bar in Oslo.
Scottish Field Whisky Challenge 45 sf12 Whisky Supp_whisky
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