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SMWS to open second London bar
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) is to open a second whisky bar in London following the Kaleidoscope format of its Queen Street Edinburgh venue.
Kaleidoscope at Devonshire Square is due to open on 2 June to Society members and non-members, and will stock more than 200 of the Society’s single cask whisky bottlings.
It follows the opening of SMWS’s first non-members’ bar at Queen Street, Edinburgh, in August last year.
Located beneath Scottish restaurant Mac & Wild, close to Liverpool Street station, the new London site will offer whisky cocktails from Michael Cook and Jamie Meehan. Serves on the menu include the Bloody Scotsman, Blood and Sand, and the Old Fashioned.
In addition, punters can enjoy wines, Champagnes and Edinburgh draft beers, with light snacks and food from Mac & Wild, a Society partner bar, available.
Kaleidoscope at Devonshire Square will host private events for up to 100 people as well as Society tastings and dinners.
The London members-only bar at 19 Greville Street will remain open.
“We’ve been catering to our members for 20 years at 19 Greville Street, and it will remain an exclusive members-only venue,” said Jan Damen, SMWS operations director UK.
“With Kaleidoscope at Devonshire Square we want to open up our amazing selection of bottlings to a new audience of whisky fans, so that they can discover this fascinating world of single cask, single malts.”
While the bar will not formally open until 2 June, the site is due to open its doors for a one-off event on World Whisky Day on 20 May.
The move to open a new non-members’ site in London follows SMWS’s first bottle redesign in a decade, which “defines whisky more by aromas than region”.