Ask a whisky purist whether it’s acceptable to put the spirit into a cocktail, and you’re likely to get a mixed bag of answers.
Some may argue that it needs be confined to the neat pour, while others may vouch that its complexity is the ideal starting point for an aperitif. Across Scotland in particular, a new generation of bartenders is treating whisky as a versatile ingredient – one that is a contemporary cocktail staple as well as a drink in its own right.
Scotland Served, a new cocktail festival involving more than 400 bars, restaurants, hotels, and pubs across the country, and running from October 14 to November 1, offers a snapshot of that shift.
A cosmopolitan hospitality scene has emerged in the country; one where bars and bartenders are drawing on new techniques and ideas from major hubs such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and London. Barry & Kirstie Oattes, the owners of Kelvingrove Cafe in Glasgow, agree, telling Elite Traveler that “Scotland’s hospitality scene has evolved enormously. We’ve moved beyond the traditional ‘shortbread tin’ aesthetic and embraced a much more cosmopolitan approach. There’s a real appetite among Scottish hospitality professionals to learn, travel, collaborate, and bring new ideas home.”
What’s particularly exciting, they say, “is seeing those global influences being interpreted through a Scottish lens rather than simply replicated. We can take inspiration from New York, Tokyo, or Barcelona, for example, and adapt it to our own produce, people, culture, and style.”
At the same time this is happening, whisky itself is being presented to consumers in new and interesting ways, and brands are investing in more immersive experiences. Johnnie Walker Princes Street in Edinburgh, for example, now offers an eight-floor visitor experience that ends at the 1820 Rooftop Bar, while Eden Mill’s new St Andrews distillery, which opened in 2025, has a visitor center and a top-floor cocktail bar overlooking the Eden Estuary.
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“At a time when Scotch is being embraced by cocktail culture around the world, Scotland Served is an opportunity to celebrate the creativity happening in bars across the country,” says James Kemp, head of luxury customer marketing and trade advocacy at Diageo. “Scotch whisky is something that we should all be extremely proud to call our own.”
The festival, which is in partnership with Johnnie Walker and The Singleton, will stretch across the entire country, from Edinburgh’s Panda & Sons, Hey Palu, and Bramble to Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Café, Pot Still, Absent Ear, and The Gate.
There will be appearances at luxury hotel Gleneagles and The Singleton of Glen Ord Distillery Bar, where bartenders will be putting their own spin on Scotch cocktails. Eleanor Morgan, head of whisky at Diageo GB, describes Scotch as a spirit of “incredible depth and versatility,” adding that there are “so many new ways to experience it that go beyond traditional expectations” – something visitors can expect to discover for themselves throughout the festival.
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Running alongside Scotland Served is the World Class Global Finals, bringing more than 50 of the world’s leading bartenders to Scotland to compete for the title of World Class Bartender of the Year 2026.
Some of the industry’s most recognizable names will be stepping behind Scottish bars during the festival. Ago Perrone of The Connaught Bar and Erik Lorincz of Kwānt Mayfair will take over The American Bar at Gleneagles Hotel on October 17. Later that evening, Lorenzo Antinori of Bar Leone in Hong Kong will appear at Kelvingrove Café in Glasgow. Bannie Kang of Singapore’s Side Door follows at The Gate on October 18, while Maura Millia of The Rosewood Chancery heads to Hey Palu in Edinburgh on October 21.
