A focus on whisky at The Glasshouse Hotel in Edinburgh

18:00
June 12, 2024

PR invite // All thoughts and opinions are, of course, my own.

The Glasshouse Hotel is located right next to the St James Quarter in Edinburgh’s City Centre. The lovely building houses a hotel, a rooftop garden and a bar where there are plenty of whiskies to explore. I had the pleasure to visiting the bar to hear more about the team’s focus on whisky and their current and upcoming events.

From the moment you step in to The Snug it’s clear that this is a place where you can enjoy a nice dram. There is a fireplace which makes for a cosy spot to take a seat year round, but perhaps particularly in the winter, and the whisky bottles are kept behind lock and key in an elegant display cabinet. Amongst the hundreds of bottles, there is sure to be a dram to suit most palates. If you are not so keen on whisky there is also a selection of Scottish gins behind the bar and some lovely cocktail options. I sat down to enjoy a flight of four whiskies: Linkwood 12 Year Old, Ardnamurchan Rum Cask, Deanston 15 Year Old and Bruichladdich 18 Year Old. Such a lovely variety, put together by one of the bartenders, and on this occasion I particularly enjoyed the Bruichladdich, which reminded me how good the 18 Year Old really is. The menu has a variety of set whisky flights on it but you can also ask for a bespoke flight from the bar team where only your budget is the limit.

I also got to have a chat with a couple of different people from The Glasshouse team who told me a little about how they work and it was clear that the whole team had a keen interest in scotch whisky and that they carefully select what they want to keep behind the bar. I love visiting bars and asking the bartenders what their favourite dram is, and I think at The Glasshouse you could get some really good recommendations!

The bar features monthly activations where they collaborate with various whisky brands to offer special whiskies of the month, cocktails and events so keep an eye on their social channels to learn more. During my visit they were working with Remi Cointreau who has whisky brand Bruichladdich and gin brand The Botanist. In my opinion both of these brands are top picks in their respective fields and I’d highly recommend trying them. The rooftop garden also has a little outdoors bars with The Botanist which would be lovely to visit when the sun is out and you can relax in the gardens with a gin cocktail and see the views of Calton Hill from a different angle to what you might be used to. I’ll definitely need to come back to enjoy the gardens at some point.

The Snug also offers a bar menu with a nice selection of snacks, starters and mains. I tried the watermelon and feta salad with roasted pine nuts and fresh dipping bread that were both really good. I will definitely come back for that salad, which is exactly what you want to eat on a warm summers day, and after having such a nice experience on my first visit I’m already curious to come back and try other items off the menu.

Before I headed off I also got a little taste of the YTL Hotels own blended malt Glenborrodale which has been created by Adelphi. This is a limited whisky which is bottled in batches and each batch in unique so if you are looking for something you can’t try anywhere els to try during your visit, do try this one. It has a lovely viscosity to the texture, a slight waxiness with orange peel, barley and almost a chocolate-y note mixing it with a saltiness and biscuits.