The Taychreggan Hotel:

A look at how one hotel has used our national drink to build business

The Taychreggan Hotel, in Broughty Ferry was purchased by Mark and Suzie Barton in November 2001. Since then they have invested heavily in the hotel’s refurbishment, culminating in the hotel being awarded three stars by VisitScotland and achieving an 85% rating for service and hospitality.

With Mark’s passion for his national drink, whisky was always going to be central the hotel’s success and early-on they arranged for two of their members of staff to attend the Scotland and Whisky training School delivered by the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre– both passing the course’s exam with distinction. Accordingly, the Taychreggan Hotel is a Scotch whisky Embassy; fulfilling all the requirements of the scheme.  

However, at the Taychreggan they go that one step further. Not only do they stock the required range of Scotch whisky for Embassy status, the hotel’s fantastic bar stocks over 280 malts, so many in fact that they have had to add new shelves! But this vast collection is not just for admiring; holding such a great range is expensive and it must pay for itself.

As Mark says “Our extensive whisky range makes us a destination for whisky appreciation, but my team still need the knowledge and confidence to be able to guide customers. This is where the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre’s school comes into its own. Having passed the course the guys are far more willing to recommend malts and we have seen a real impact on their ability to up-sell. Moreover, they are now regularly holding impromptu tastings in the bar, particularly for groups after dinner encouraging them to staying a little longer – it’s a great way of striking up some rapport with guests.”

To encourage his guests to try from his extensive range the bar also displays Scotch whisky menus to catch their interest. Adding to the feeling of authenticity each dram at The Taychreggan is even served in a Glen Cairn nosing glass. All these activities have seen the hotel’s whisky sales quadruple over the last four years.

The Taychreggan’s use of whisky does not finish in the bar. In an innovative move Mark set-up the Taychreggan malt whisky society with a membership of sixteen of the hotel’s regular customers. The society’s annual programme of events consists of two formal whisky dinners, four tastings held at the hotel and a distillery visit. In the last year alone they have visited Benromach and Glenrothes distilleries and had tastings from Macallan, Glengoyne, Glenfiddich and Burn Stewart Distillers. In the forthcoming year the group are planning another visit to Speyside, as well as tastings from Gordon and MacPhail, Whyte and Mackay and Morrison Bowmore.

It is no wonder that in 2005 The Taychreggan was awarded the Gordon and MacPhail Malt Whisky Bar of the Year at the DRAM Scottish Licensed Trade Awards.

The Taychreggan Hotel, 4 Ellieslea Road, West Ferry, Dundee DD5 1JG. Tel: 01382 778626 www.taychreggan-hotel.co.uk

ScotlandWhisky is lead by Chris Conway, who is based at the Scotch Whisky Experience, Royal Mile, Edinburgh. Chris can be contacted on tel: 0131 478 7120 or by email: c.conway@whisky-heritage.co.uk