PekoeTea This month, we are delighted to feature our stockist PekoeTea. Established in 2008, PekoeTea is a family-owned, luxury tea company run by Jon Cooper and Esther Kungu-Cooper. Pekoe Tea sources the finest single-estate teas from around the world and creates unique, hand-crafted blends at its Edinburgh tea factory based in the historic port of Leith. All of Pekoe Tea’s single-estate teas are traded directly where possible and Jon and Esther are proud of the personal relationships they have made with tea growers and producers around the world. Pekoe Tea also exclusively stocks Scotla ..read more

March’s Whiskies of the Month - Women in Whisky With both Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day being celebrated in March, our team have selected six delicious whiskies with links to women in the whisky industry. From Helen and Elizabeth Cumming of Cardhu, to Kelsey McKechnie from The Balvenie, we want to celebrate the wonderful women who make the whisky industry so inspiring. Holyrood Arrival In July 2019 Holyrood Distillery opened its doors, making it the first single malt distillery in Edinburgh City for almost a century. Kelly Carpenter, one of the founders of Holyro ..read more

February's whiskies of the month - love stories and food pairings With romance in the air this month, our whiskies of the month, chosen by our staff, have a theme around love, whisky and food pairings. The team have done a little research and found some true love stories, linked to our whiskies and distilleries. We hope you enjoy the read and find the time to try out our chosen whisky and food matches. Lowlands - Lindores MCDXCIV If you are on the look out for a wedding venue this February, then Lindores Abbey Distillery stands out as an exceptional venue, blending the charm of tradit ..read more

Global Movie Day! Saturday 10th February The Oscars are nearly upon us and as part of the build-up of excitement this Saturday is Global Movie Day. A day for everyone to enjoy a film, celebrate their favourites, and possible relax with a chic whisky cocktail, or a dram in front of the screen. For a perfect movie-watching experience, you need a perfect setting – and what could be better than in the comfort of your own home, lights off with an elegant whisky cocktail or a dram of Scotch whisky in hand? But with so many different whiskies and movie genres, where do you start? We asked our ..read more

Burns inspired whiskies of the month Every month, our team come up with their chosen ‘whiskies of the month.’ With Scots at home, and around the world celebrating Burns Night on the 25th January, each whisky has been paired with a poem written by Robert Burns. Showcasing history, legends, and romance, these whiskies will take you on a journey through Scotland’s rich literary culture.     Bladnoch Samsara paired with Auld Lang Syne From the Lowland region we have chosen Bladnoch Samsara. Bladnoch is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland and has been through cycles of clo ..read more

Festive Drams Our team have adorned their festive hats and put their heads together to compile this delicious list of whiskies, all with a Christmas twist. All of these whiskies are available by the dram in our McIntyre Bar, Amber Bar or by the bottle in our Scotch whisky shop. Lindores Abbey Sherry “Cask of Lindores” Lindores Abbey, located in Fife, overlooking the estuary of the River Tay, was founded in 1191 by David Earl of Huntingdon, built on land gifted to him by his brother King William I. In the Middle Ages, it was believed by many rich and powerful men, that founding religio ..read more

It's been a busy, but fulfilling month at SWE this December! It’s only mid-December, but we have had a busy and fulfilling month already! Our staff have taken part in charity bake sales, sustainable secret Santa gift making, Christmas Jumper Day, and have collected together many items to be donated to the Edinburgh Food Project.   Bake off! A charity close to SWEples heart is SAMH (Scottish Action for Mental Health). On 1st December it was time for our staff to show off their baking skills with our very own SAMH charity bake-off. Whether a baking pro, a total novice or a lover of ..read more

International Men's Day - celebrating at The Scotch Whisky Experience It’s International Men’s Day and we are delighted to celebrate, thanking our brilliant team for all their hard work.  Here are a few of our “Meet the Team” posts from the men at Scotch Whisky Experience Meet Gregor MacDonald, one of our Visitor Experience Managers. Originally from the Isle of Jura, Gregor started with us back in August 2019 as a Senior Visitor Assistant. He is also a successful graduate of our Alastair S McIntosh Managerial Apprenticeship, a scheme introduced as part of our continued commi ..read more

Some very Scottish Halloween traditions! Halloween is of course the spookiest time of the year! Falling on the 31st October every year, Halloween is celebrated throughout many different countries of the world. From dressing up in spooky costumes, to party games, every country brings something different to Halloween and today we’re looking at Scotland – of course! So how do Scots traditionally celebrate Halloween, well our team have created a list of some Scottish Halloween traditions to get you in the spooky spirit! Guising Children today are very familiar with the term ‘trick-or-trea ..read more

The best TIME in Edinburgh With the clocks going back this Sunday as the shorter days draw in, it got us thinking about clocks.. or more specifically the clocks of Edinburgh. So we thought we’d pull together a wee blog post about some of the clocks you should look out for when you’re in Edinburgh and tell you a little bit more about the history behind them. Located at the end of Princes Street, The Balmoral Hotel (originally North British Station Hotel), was built in 1902 and has been one of the first sights for those entering Edinburgh by train for over a century. Its turret clo ..read more