WOVEN WITH OTTOLENGHI
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When Ottolenghi announced their first restaurant in Scotland, the question followed naturally: what would a whisky taste like, built the Ottolenghi way? We got our creative teams together, and many conversations later, this is the answer.
Blending our own whisky-making techniques with the Ottolenghi flavour philosophy, it pushes contrast over weight, and brightness where whisky usually reaches for depth.
This is a whisky of clear layers, built to work alongside other flavours rather than overpower them. It boasts a long, pleasing finish and is good neat, but sings in long drinks built for the dinner table.
TASTING NOTES
Preserved Lemon | Grapefruit Zest | Fennel | Pink Peppercorn
Blend Summary
OTTOLENGHI HOUSE HIGHBALL
Pour 50ml of whisky into a tall glass, fill it with cubed ice and lengthen with 150ml premium soda water.
Stir gently and garnish with pickled ginger or a fresh lemon wedge.
BEHIND THE BLEND
It started with a brief from Oren Coleman, Head of Bars at Ottolenghi. He didn't want just any whisky. He wanted one that tasted of the pantry. Bright, vibrant, made for dinner, and strong enough to carry a signature highball.
Simple enough. Until you try to make it!
First, homework. We spent time with the Ottolenghi team, learning how they build flavour: contrast over weight, brightness where others reach for depth, every ingredient earning its place on the plate. We realised we'd have to look at whisky the same way. Not "what's the richest cask we can find?" but "what does this bring to the table?"
That sent us back through Speyside with fresh eyes. The region is famous for orchard fruit. Apple, pear, the usual suspects. Lovely, but not enough for a kitchen that puts tahini on everything. We needed deep citrus and sweet plum: flavours that could sit next to preserved lemon and pomegranate molasses without looking lost.
The backbone is North British, Edinburgh's own grain distillery and the nearest grain distillery to the restaurant on George Street. It brings subtle sweetness and a clean texture. That makes it the perfect canvas for vibrant Speyside single malts from Glenlossie and Glen Elgin.
The breakthrough came from a pair of beautiful old Speyside malts we're not at liberty to name. Both spent their entire lives in Oloroso sherry casks. They brought texture, spice, and a lot of fruit- the depth that lets everything else stay light.
And that's the trick. This whisky isn't complex because it's heavy. It's complex because of layers of lightness, each one doing a job. Stacked carefully. Tasted endlessly.
Pete puts it best:
"Assembling a whisky this way reminds me of hearing how the Japanese blenders work. You're not chasing power. You're arranging delicate things together beautifully, and the complexity comes from how they sit side by side. It's closer to plating a dish than building a bonfire."
The result is bright, textured and happiest in the middle of the table. 400 Bottles.
Below is a short clip of Yotam Ottolenghi explaining the collaboration, excerpted from Rosalind Erskine's excellent podcast, Scran. The full episode covers the opening and "the Ottolenghi way" in detail.