[June 2026] We revisited the Whiski Bar in Edinburgh, Scotland—a place we’d always felt we simply *had* to visit.
We remembered it was located on the Royal Mile, so we found it quite quickly.
We started with lunch, opting for haggis—a staple of Scottish cuisine.
We ordered the haggis tower, just as we had on our previous visit.
It consists of three stacked layers: haggis, turnips, and potatoes.
The other ingredients mellow out the strong flavour of the haggis, creating a perfectly balanced, delicious taste.
We shared this dish, and also split an order of haggis sausages.
As for the sausages, I was initially put off by that first bite—thinking, “Ugh, *British* sausages”—but perhaps because I was hungry or simply hadn’t had them in a long time, I ended up finding them quite tasty.
British sausages are characterized by a high proportion of filler ingredients, resulting in a texture and flavour that don’t quite feel like meat,
Having lived in the UK for a long time, I never really grew to like them.
We both drank beer with our meal.
My husband chose his favourite, Guinness, while I opted for a local lager.
Then, instead of dessert, we had whisky.
We asked the waiter for something with a hint of peat—but not *too* much—and he brought out Talisker 10 Year and Bowmore 12 Year, letting us sample the aromas.
We ordered both and compared them; ultimately, both my husband and I agreed that the Talisker was the winner.
We decided to buy a bottle at the airport to take home (we actually ended up buying two: the Talisker and a Lagavulin).
We were very satisfied with this lunch, which cost £80.14 (just over 93 euros).
However, I did feel that the Whiski Bar had lost a bit of its spark compared to our previous visit.
When we visited five years ago, there was a staggering, extensive list of Scotch whiskies, but this time it was a mere two pages long.
Of course, even with that long list, as amateurs, we wouldn’t have known how to choose anyway.
The way the whisky was served had changed, too; previously, it came with a carafe of water and a dropper, allowing us to add water little by little and enjoy the evolving flavours, but that wasn’t the case this time.
I wonder if the popularity of Scotch whisky is on the decline.
If so, that is a shame.
