Malt Room in Inverness celebrates second anniversary with a special dram

This weekend marks our second anniversary at The Malt Room and I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported the bar along the way.

We opened our doors on July 13, 2017, with three members of staff and around 100 bottles of whisky. Fast forward two years and we have more than 250 bottles, five extremely passionate members of staff and a fantastic bunch of regulars.

So where do we go from here? We are often asked about reserving tables and hosting private tastings but, for those who have visited The Malt Room, you will know we have pretty limited space so struggle to accommodate these requests.

My sister Karen designed the bar and she has taken some time out of her busy schedule in London to help turn the second floor into a tasting room. We aim to have this completed by the end of the year, so watch this space!

It might be a bit sad but I’ve been thinking about what dram to have to celebrate the bar’s anniversary. We are now part of a group called the Independent Whisky Bars of Scotland (IWBoS), which is made up of some seriously established bars such as Fiddler’s Inn in Drumnadrochit, Dornoch Castle and Bon Accord in Glasgow. The group buys casks of whisky and Royal Mile Whiskies in Edinburgh distributes the bottles exclusively to the seven bars.

It’s really humbling that The Malt Room is part of this group, alongside some of the best respected whisky bars in Scotland. The current IWBoS bottling is a 22 year old single cask Arran from a sherry hogshead that produced 281 bottles at 54.5 per cent. It’s an absolute cracker and I think will make a very fitting tipple for the occasion.

The bar will be closed on Saturday evening, July 13, at 6pm to celebrate the milestone with all of those involved with the bar. We really look forward to sharing a dram with you in our third year!

• Matt MacPherson is the owner and founder of The Malt Room in Inverness.

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