No flashy neon lights signalling us in. Not much of the traditional Victorian window dressing I had hoped for. Nothing of the kind. I even had to turn around and walk back down Hope Street to find the unobtrusive entrance. Finally I was there: The Pot Still.

I love Whisky

A leveled bar, so to speak. Two sitting areas, one my right and one a few meters up at the back. I felt being among groundlings in front of a bar with a beer and whisky drinking Friday afternoon crowd. Four French tourists before me were leafing through the whisky pages undecisive what to order. The I Love Whisky girl behind the bar had expertise, was helpful, friendly and very patient. I guess it took my European friends half an hour to come up with a 90 euro line-up. So far for Scottish French relationships…

Prizes

My eye caught the £ 2.50 Malt of the Month, Bunnahabhain 12 y.o. Once I had my nose in the glass, she must have noticed me looking up at her whisky wall at the same time. ‘We do have some sort of order in our 750ish whiskies I guess. Starting from the left….’. She talked me through her whisky library with contagious passion. While listening I changed focus triggered by the white lettering on the back of her black T-shirt. It listed all the prizes of recent years: Pub of the Year 2018 Scotland, Icon of Whisky Scotland Whisky Bar of the Year 2019 and ……maybe an upcoming prize for Global Whisky Bar of The Year 2019?

The French folks in the corner were chatting, scribbling away in small notebooks and up for another order at the bar.