Dram!, Woodlands, Glasgow

As the name suggests, this is a specialist whisky bar which rather fortunately also happens to serve a couple of real ales. The bar is surprisingly large, with entry into a parquet floored main bar with the servery along the rear wall. The bar has a wood timbered counter front with some nice decorative metal detail worked into it. A high bar back is stacked with whisky bottles and has some Celtic-style carvings in the supporting pillars. A stag’s head has been mounted on the bar back and there are TV screens at either end of the bar, each showing muted Sky Sports News. The room has exposed stone walls which have been clad in places with chunky wooden plank panelling. High tables and stools fill the room for the most part, but there are a few sofas close to the entrance. To the left there is a door for the ‘Wee Dram’ room, but there was a comedy night taking place which prevented me from exploring. Meanwhile, to the right there is another room with long banquettes along the rear wall under some old portraits and benches and long tables through the centre. Amazingly, there is another room beyond this, possibly more suited to dining, although this seemed to be hosting some sort of private event. Contemporary R&B was playing away throughout my visit and the pub seems to be dog friendly, with what can only be described as a miniature wolf sprawled out under my table. Both handpulls were in action on this visit, offering a choice between two Loch Lomond brews - Ale of Leven and Meg’s Tail. A friendly and helpful barmaid advised me that the Meg’s Tail was peat smoked and offered me a taster before I committed to a pint, but I decided to be bold and risk it, which probably wasn’t very prudent, as I didn’t really enjoy it, although it seemed to be in good shape. Obviously the real draw here is the whisky, about which I know nothing, but there are helpful menus to guide the uninitiated. I didn’t think I’d like this place but was pleasantly surprised and thought it was a decent enough spot to round out a day’s drinking. Despite promoting itself as a whisky bar, it didn’t really feel all that different to a regular pub and I was more than happy sat here with my pint.

A couple of hand pumps serving Loch Lomond Bravehop and Stewart Hop Jock at the time of my visit - no prizes for guessing the beer styles. On keg there were Williams Brothers Joker IPA and Drygate Bearface Lager as well as the usual Scottish fonts. The bar staff seemed a little perplexed as to how to serve real ales and we paid more than £4 for our two halves. Several dogs seemed more at home than we felt, so we picked our way carefully past their recumbent bodies and into the street. Date of visit: 31st May 2015