Champion

Happened to be browsing the Mountain Bike tabloids, scanning the bike porn for more sexy (and very expensive) bits of kit that are a must have for all avid bikers, when I came across another little feature on The Grog & Gruel's favourite World Champion, Steve Peat. Check out the digital magazine here and pay particular attention to the bottle of malt on the spread over pages 5 & 6.

We thought it would be a little fun to create a Peaty Malt in homage to our hero when the World Championships came to Fort William a couple of seasons ago.


Apart from Nick's rather embarrassing spelling of the word 'Whisky', it turned out a treat! Unfortunately it didn't inspire Steve to put in a win on home ground. Cheer Steve on when the Mountain Bike World Cup come back to Fort William later in 2010.

West Highland Way Gains a Mile !

People travel to Fort William for many reasons, mostly to take part in some kind of outdoor activity in the wonderful natural surroundings in and around Lochaber. One of the most popular activities is walking and by far the most popular route is the West Highland Way. For those who don't know the West Highland Way is a 95 mile walk from Milngalvie, North of Glasgow, to Fort William. The walk uses old Drovers paths, military roads and coaching routes to take you through some of the most spectacular scenery Scotland has to offer.
Since its official opening in 1980 the walk was 95 miles and terminated at a roundabout at the end of Glen Nevis about a mile out of Fort William. Not the best end to a hard 95 mile walk. So, after many meetings and discussions, the end of the West Highland Way has moved 1 mile to terminate at the end of Fort William High Street at Gordon Square (pictured here on a cold January morning). Not only is this a much more central location for the 85,000 walkers who use the path every year but also leaves you seconds away from The Grog and Gruel and a hearty welcome. We think this will prove to be a great move and when the "iconic feature" is unveiled for Gordon Square I'm sure you'll agree.

Japanese Whisky ?

With over 70 bottles of single malt whisky on the shelves at The Grog and Gruel, we try to feature whisky from every area available. As whisky gets a lot of its flavour from the water of the area it is produced in, regional variations give each whisky a distinct unique flavour. We have a couple bottles of Irish whisky hidden away for those who wish to drink whisky from our celtic cousins and now we have a Japanese whisky available also.



YAMAZAKI single malt whisky is made from the purest natural ingredients distilled through the art of Japanese craftsmanship in perfect harmony with nature. The whiskies are handcrafted at Japan’s oldest distillery, built by Suntory founder Shinjiro Torii in 1923. The distillery is situated in the Vale of Yamazaki on the outskirts of Kyoto, an ideal environment for whisky production where the same exceptionally pure waters used in Japan’s most esteemed tea ceremonies are used to produce YAMAZAKI whiskies.



So if you are looking for a good dram in Fort William, The Grog and Gruel is the place to go. Choose from our massive selection of great Scottish whisky or for something more unusual, why not try Japanese whisky?? Maybe one day we'll be brave enough to stock English whisky too (but probably not :))

Fort William Mountain Festival 2010

The big freeze is here. Fort William is covered is frosty snow and Scottish skiing conditions haven't been so good for years. Attention is being turned to the winter mountain sports like skiing and sledging (when I was young it was plastic animal feed bags instead of sledges, sore on the bum but a much greater sense of danger). So just a quick reminder to folk that Fort William will be hosting it's annual Mountain Festival from February 11th - 15th.


Although this is a festival for those with a keen interest in the outdoors, most of the lectures, workshops and events are entertaining for anyone and well worth supporting. A full list of events can be found here. You'll also find events to keep the children amused. Over the past few years Fort William Mountain festival has made a great reputation for itself.


Hopefully you'll find something at the festival you'll find interesting and maybe pop into The Grog and Gruel for a pre-event meet up or post event discussion. I hope I'll get a chance to see some of the festival myself

Festive Williams Brew

This weekend at The Grog and Gruel we will be featuring a great winter brew from The Williams Brothers Brewery. "Yule Smile" at 4.5 % has become available over the past couple of weeks to tie in with the festive period. With a great evening of music from Sandra MacBeth on Friday night, we thought there would be no better time to try it out.

So if you are out and about over the weekend and fancy a nice beer, awesome music in great surroundings then The Grog and Gruel is the place to be. Only a limited supply of this great ale is available so try it while you can.

Hot Festive drinks.

So finally I put up the decorations in the bar. Before folk started calling us "Bar Humbug". Now full of festive cheer its time to unveil the Grog and Gruel Hot Winter drinks selection, made from the very best quality ingredients to old Grog and Gruel recipes.

You can choose between either our hot mulled wine or our warming hot toddy. Both guaranteed to keep you warm on the coldest of days. Both are available in the bar and the restaurant and will be available until the warm weather returns. Well worth popping in for.

Stuck for a present at Christmas??

Only a few weeks till Christmas, I bet there are still folk rushing about looking for those last minute stocking fillers. Some people can be so hard to buy gifts for. Here at The Grog and Gruel we can help with our limited edition "Champagne Heather Ale" made to celebrate 20 years of Williams Brothers Brewing Scotland's wonderful Heather Ale

We have only managed to get our hands on a very small number of these bottles, which are individually numbered, and there is already interest in them. At 11% and matured in ex-sherry casks used to mature single Speyside malt, these unique bottles of ale will prove to be a memorable gift for any ale enthusiast. At only £9.95 per 75cl bottle, you won't want to miss out on this rare opportunity to taste part of Heather Ale history.

Piggy Gifts

On trips to The Grog and Gruel you may notice the many pigs and pig related items around. Since before we opened Horace the Hog was planned as the mascot for The Grog and Gruel. Customers seem to really identify with our piggy friend and most of the pig gifts and items around the bar have been given to us by customers and friends. You may notice The Mighty Boar head of Sven above The Grog and Gruel bar, a gift from our local boar farm upon Sven's "retirement".

So just a note of thanks to one of our regulars who gave us this amusing salt and pepper set in the style of an amusing "piggy back" ride. Yes, that's what I said, "piggy back" ride. We are not an adult only blog. They will join the ranks of other piggy collectibles in the bar helping us pay homage to Horace The Hog !!