As there’s less of a drinking culture in smaller towns and villages, they won’t have many pubs. Smaller villages in Scotland would have very few or no traditional pubs. The hotels in them are home to bars that can have the feel of a traditional pub. Such places are generally open for locals as well and not just for the guests or tourists. 

Here are some of the best traditional Scottish drinks you can enjoy in the country’s drinking establishments:

1. Scotch Whiskey

You won’t be surprised to hear people say ‘whiskey’ when they’re asked what is Scotland famous for. In Scotland, this drink is made using barley, yeast, and water. What makes this drink so special is that it gets better with age. It must be aged for at least three years in Scotland. 

The type of barrel used and the length of maturation determine the whiskey’s taste and price. In recent times, there are over 100 distilleries that produce Scotch whiskey. This makes it really difficult to tell which one is the best. You can savor one when you visit any of the pubs or bars in the country.

2. Drambuie

This Scottish liquor is produced in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is a sweetened form of whiskey made by combining honey, whiskey, and herbs. Drambuie is popularly used in a cocktail called Rusty Nail, which is a mix of whiskey and Drambuie. Rusty Nail is one of the most famous Scottish cocktails, but most people don’t know what it contains.

3. Scottish Beers

Beer lovers can find an excellent selection of Scottish beers during their visit to this country. They include pilsners, lagers, Scottish cask ales, Scotch ale, and craft beer. When you look behind the bar in a pub, you’ll mostly see two types of beer taps. 

One would be the tall, traditional tap and the other would be a shorter tap. Lagers and craft beers are drawn from the tall tap and cask ale from the shorter one. Cask ale is unfiltered and unpasteurized beer unique to the UK. There’s another variety of beer in Scotland known as Scotch Ale. This kind of beer is dark, malty, and sweet.

4. Scottish Cider

This is a good alternative to Scottish beer and is widely available across the UK. Among the most popular commercial brands of Scottish cider is Magners. If you like cider and are interested in tasting one at a local pub, simply ask the bartender. 

Some of the local ciders are Waulkmill Cider, Thistly Cross Cider, and Clyde Cider. Gordon Castle, located in a government council area called Moray, produces an uber-local whiskey cask cider. This would be the best drink to try if you happen to visit Moray.

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Such has been the quality of the single malt Scotch whiskey that it still rules many hearts. Over the past few years, the costs of single malt Scotch whiskey have been dramatically soaring. The rise in its overall value was 40% in 2018. Among the most expensive whiskeys in the world, many are Scottish. 

Uniqueness

A bottle of the early 20th-century Macallan was bought for £1,200,000 at Christie’s in London in 2019. Whiskeys from any of the other countries in the world may not fetch such a huge amount. Upon looking at these facts, you may wonder what makes single malt Scotch so popular.

Single malt whiskeys are not just found in Scotland, but many other countries of the world. They include USA, Canada, Sweden, Spain, Ireland, Japan, and India. Barley is the ingredient used in the making of a single malt whiskey at one particular distillery. 

However, Scotch single malt whiskey is special, as it can only be made in Scotland. This is because it has a protected Geographical Indicator (GI) status. It is also distilled and matured in a particular manner. Owing to this exclusivity among all the other features, Scotch single malts are the most desired ones.

Quality

As this is a protected product, Scottish single malt whiskey cannot be replicated. Else, distilleries in any other country could use the same process to make a Scotch. Although the process of distillation can be replicated, there are certain things that are not replaceable. They are the geology, climate, and water of Scotland. 

Even within the country there are diverse landscapes, which also makes each of the distilleries unique. Macallan, which comes from the north-eastern part of Cairngorm Mountains will always taste like itself. Imitating a Scotch whiskey would never produce a distinct Scottish experience in the drink.

Experience

There’s something else, which makes Scottish single malts so different from the other quality whiskeys in the world. It is the sheer romanticism that they evoke in the drinker. A premium Scotch single malt comes with an intense history and from a unique geographical region. 

Upon drinking it, the images of the Scottish culture, landscapes, and people surface in the drinker’s mind. This instantly elevates the drinking experience to a whole new level. Some of these special areas of Scotland have been instrumental in the success of Scotch single malts. 

When you drink a Scottish single malt, the visions you get make the entire experience a special one. One of the best experiences would be savouring a Scotch beside a fireplace in the middle of a chilly winter. It won’t be wrong to say that the heart and soul of Scotland reside in a Scottish whiskey. This is another big reason why it has found a place in the hearts of millions across the world.

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