A Scottish Pub in Edinburgh

Invent a holiday! Explain how and why everyone should celebrate.

Holiday to me means family time, travelling and an immersive experience in the history and culture of the place being visited. It’s also an opportunity to pursue your passions in a new place.

We recently visited Edinburgh and as a wine and spirits enthusiast, I planned a visit to a Scottish Pub since it figured quite high in my bucket wish list.

The Albanach

After queuing up for a while we got to enter the pub which was crowded in that rather chilly day in June. (During our stay at Edinburgh we realised that how often one has que up. And it’s just not at the train stations, you would often encounter a line of people outside a shop, pub, bar, pizzeria etc. We even had to que up to enter a Harry Potter shop).

The Albanach which means Scottish in Gaelic, is a traditional Scottish bar and restaurant. Located on Edinburgh’s busy Royal Mile this pub is ideal for tourists seeking a taste of Scotland.

After standing at the well stocked bar for sometime, we were offered to sit by an elderly couple who were leaving. Such nice gesture by locals was so welcoming.

To our pleasant surprise we noticed that one of the bartenders is an Indian. He would go in to tell us that he’s actually a student pursuing higher studies in Edinburgh and does the bar man work in evenings for an extra earning. This, we would realise soon, is quite common in Scotland.

The Whisky Experience

Scotland is famous for its Whisky, which is also its national drink. It’s believed that Scottish people started making Whisky after the winemaking making techniques reached here from Europe. But since there were no grapes in this region, monks used grains which produced Whisky. A visit to Scotland is incomplete without savouring its Whiskies.

Glenmorangie

My choice, from the many options suggested by the bar man, was the Glenmorangie. Founded in 1843 in the Royal Burgh of Tain, in the far north of Scotland, Glenmorangie is Scotland’s Favourite Single Malt Scotch Whisky.

Scottish trivia: ‘Burgh’ in Scottish is pronounced as ‘Brah‘ – Edinburgh sounds like Edinbrah and so ‘Royal Burgh of Tain’ would also be ‘Royal Brah of Tain’.

Back home in Delhi, I would have taken this Scotch with a few cubes of ice just to dilute it a little so as to make it but smoother as per my taste.

But here in the famous Whisky Bar in centre of Edinburgh, somehow I didn’t feel the need to add anything to my dram. It was a chilly Scottish noon and as I took a sip from my glass, it gave me a feeling of warmth. The Glenmorangie burst with flavours on my palate and went down my throat smoothly. It didn’t feel the need to dilute it.

Prosecco in a Whisky Bar

I resisted the temptation to have more of this smooth Scotch Whisky since that would jeopardise our touristy plan scheduled for later in the day, and so settled for a glass of a lighter Prosecco.

Coming from the Veneto wine region in Northern Italy, this bubbly showed beautiful notes of peach and lychee which were accentuated by the crispy bubbles.

So that was how we invented our holiday with all the how’s and whys as I described above. Hope you liked reading about it and maybe it shall help as some reference while you invent your own vacation.

Slainte Mhath is Scots Gaelic for cheers or good health and that is what we wish for you.