Spirit of the Unicorn
Here at The Scotch Whisky Experience, we have been busy restoring our historic B-listed building which has provided us with a fantastic opportunity to preserve our two unicorn figures which crown the façade.
According to myth and legend, unicorns are immortal creatures, but they do sometimes need a little TLC. Our unicorns were crafted in the 1800’s, from sandstone from the Corncockle quarry, timber, and lead. Whilst their spirit is immortal, it transpired that their wooden horns were not.
Fortunately, our head of facilities and IT, Ross Morris is a keen woodworker in his free time and has undertaken the exciting project of creating the replacement unicorn horns.
It's competition time!
Did you know it’s National Unicorn Day on 9th April?
In celebration of this, and the restoration of our unicorns, we are hosting a competition to name our two unicorns. Take a stroll up to Castlehill, glance up when you reach our building, and you will see the unicorns.
To enter the competition, simply follow the link below to the Forever Edinburgh website competition page. Get creative—our unicorns deserve legendary names.
There will be two winners, each will receive:
- The kudos of naming our unicorns
- An invitation for two people to enjoy our Gold whisky tour, followed by our specially created unicorn cocktail in our Amber Restaurant and Bar, along with our signature Scottish Tapas.
- *Terms and conditions apply which are stated on Forever Edinburgh’s website.
(Competition will go live on 9th April and run until midnight on Sunday 27th April 2025).
The Unicorn's Ember cocktail
Inspired by a mystical sighting of a unicorn at Ardbeg Distillery, the team at our Amber Restaurant have come up with the perfect cocktail this month – a refreshing mix of Ardbeg 10 year old, cloudy lemon syrup and soda. If you’d like to have a go at making it at home, the ingredients and method are as follows:
Ingredients:
25ml Ardbeg 10 year old
10ml cloudy lemon syrup
Soda
Orange slice
Mint
Edible glitter (to add the magic)
Take a Collins glass and rub an orange slice around the rim, then fill the glass with ice.
Add your Ardbeg 10 year old and cloudy lemon syrup to the glass, top up with soda water and a sprinkling of edible glitter and stir with a mixing spoon for 10 seconds. Garnish with the orange slice, a straw and a sprig of mint.
The Amber team were also tasked with coming up with a name for the cocktail and ran a wee competition in-house! Yongfu was crowned the winner with the name ‘The Unicorn’s Ember.’
“The rationale behind the name was that the unicorn represents Scotland’s national animal, the legendary sighting at Ardbeg Distillery, and the refurbishment of The Scotch Whisky Experience’s iconic unicorn sculptures. At the same time, “Ember” captures the whisky’s smoky warmth while also subtly pays tribute to our bar – Amber – seamlessly blending everything together with our brand.”
Well done, Yongfu!
Unicorn map
In celebration of our newly restored unicorns, we have launched a unicorn map trail below, identifying unicorn statues, plaques and figures across Edinburgh’s Old Town. Why not challenge your friends or family on who can spot them all first! See where they are located in our map below, using the Google pins.