Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Inverness whisky bar owner on being named one of the world’s best

The Malt Room was joined on the list by bars from USA, Canada, Japan and Australia.

The Malt Room in Inverness was named one of the top whisky bars in the world. Image: Scrathkatshots
The Malt Room in Inverness was named one of the top whisky bars in the world. Image: Scrathkatshots

An Inverness bar has been named as one of the best whisky bars in the world.

The Malt Room, based in Church Street, was named in the top 50 list by New York-based lifestyle magazine, Inside Hook.

It was ranked alongside bars from the USA, Canada, Japan and Australia.

Being named on the list came as a complete surprise to co-owner John Donaldson.

He said: “We got a email from Inside Hook asking us for some photos of the bar for an article but didn’t know we were in the running for the list.

The Malt Room in Inverness stocks a number of different whiskies. Image: Scrathkatshots

“We’ve had a few national awards but this is the first time we’ve been recognised on an international level.

“There were bars from the US, Canada, Japan and a few in Scotland so it was nice to be in the top 50.”

Tourist season positive for business

Inside Hook reached out to people in the whisky industry and asked the professionals to name their top bars. The Malt Room was recommended by Matt Powell, the owner of The Doctors Office, a bar in Portland, Oregon.

The Malt Room has been open for nearly seven years and is gearing up for the start of the tourist season.

John is also the co-owner of Inverness Whisky Shop along with Duncan Ireland and Matt Macpherson.

The shop opened in Market Close in July last year and has enjoyed a great first nine months in business.

Duncan said: “It’s been really good. We started essentially in season so it was straight in to nice and busy times.

Duncan Ireland, co owner of the Inverness Whisky shop in Market Close, Inverness. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson

“Then it followed the retail pattern you would expect. A bit quieter leading up to Christmas, a busy Christmas and then a peaceful January and February.

“From March we are seeing an upturn in life about the town but also the amount of tourists going about this early on.”

Expand online

The next step is for the shop make its products available across the globe.

Duncan said: “It’s about us establishing ourselves and getting ourselves into the local consciousness. That seems to be happening nicely.

Inverness Whisky Shop owners are looking to launch a website. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson

“We want to build and establish what we have started and expand online.

“It’s very much our next step. We are very keen to be online but not quite there yet. We can sell remotely and ship within the UK but no formal online offering yet.”