More than 400 bars, pubs, restaurants and hotels across Scotland will take part in a new nationwide cocktail festival this autumn.
Scotland Served will run from 14 October until 1 November, bringing together venues from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Aberdeen, Dundee, Perthshire and the Highlands.
The World Class Cocktail Festival is being staged in partnership with Johnnie Walker and The Singleton, with organisers aiming to showcase new ways of drinking Scotch whisky through cocktails.
Some of Scotland’s best-known cocktail bars are among those taking part, including Panda & Sons, Hey Palu, Bramble and Gleneagles Townhouse in Edinburgh.
Glasgow venues include Kelvingrove Café, The Pot Still, Blue Dog, Absent Ear and The Gate, while Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Ninety-Nine and The Tippling House in Aberdeen and Draffens in Dundee are also involved.
The Singleton of Glen Ord Distillery Bar and Malt Rooms in the Inverness area will be among the Highland venues participating.
The festival will coincide with the World Class Global Finals, which will bring more than 50 leading bartenders from around the world to Scotland to compete for the title of World Class Bartender of the Year 2026.
A number of international bartenders will also stage guest shifts and bar takeovers around the country during the festival.
Ago Perrone of The Connaught Bar and Erik Lorincz of KWANT in London will appear at The American Bar at Gleneagles on 17 October.
Lorenzo Antinori of Hong Kong’s Bar Leone will take over Kelvingrove Café in Glasgow on the same day, while Bannie Kang of Side Door in Singapore will appear at The Gate in Glasgow on 18 October.
Maura Millia of The Rosewood Chancery in London will be behind the bar at Hey Palu in Edinburgh on 21 October.
James Kemp, Head of Luxury Customer Marketing and Trade Advocacy at Diageo, said: “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.
“Scotch whisky is something that we should all be extremely proud to call our own, and by bringing together more than 400 venues, we’re giving consumers the chance to discover Scotch served differently, from bright and zesty Johnnie Walker Highballs to flavour-forward Slowed-Down Sours made with The Singleton.”
Eleanor Morgan, Head of Whisky at Diageo GB, said the festival was designed to demonstrate the versatility of Scotch beyond more traditional ways of drinking whisky.
She said: “Scotch is a spirit with incredible depth and versatility, and there are so many new ways to experience it that go beyond traditional expectations.
“Scotland Served is a chance to explore that versatility through cocktails, with bartenders experimenting with different flavours, techniques and ingredients to reveal new dimensions of Scotch.”
Scotland Served runs at more than 400 venues across Scotland from 14 October to 1 November.