An Inverness bar has been named as one of the best whisky bars in the world.
The Malt Room, based in Church Street, was named in the top 50 list by New York-based lifestyle magazine, Inside Hook.
It was ranked alongside bars from the USA, Canada, Japan and Australia.
Being named on the list came as a complete surprise to co-owner John Donaldson.
He said: “We got a email from Inside Hook asking us for some photos of the bar for an article but didn’t know we were in the running for the list.
“We’ve had a few national awards but this is the first time we’ve been recognised on an international level.
“There were bars from the US, Canada, Japan and a few in Scotland so it was nice to be in the top 50.”
Tourist season positive for business
Inside Hook reached out to people in the whisky industry and asked the professionals to name their top bars. The Malt Room was recommended by Matt Powell, the owner of The Doctors Office, a bar in Portland, Oregon.
The Malt Room has been open for nearly seven years and is gearing up for the start of the tourist season.
John is also the co-owner of Inverness Whisky Shop along with Duncan Ireland and Matt Macpherson.
The shop opened in Market Close in July last year and has enjoyed a great first nine months in business.
Duncan said: “It’s been really good. We started essentially in season so it was straight in to nice and busy times.
“Then it followed the retail pattern you would expect. A bit quieter leading up to Christmas, a busy Christmas and then a peaceful January and February.
“From March we are seeing an upturn in life about the town but also the amount of tourists going about this early on.”
Expand online
The next step is for the shop make its products available across the globe.
Duncan said: “It’s about us establishing ourselves and getting ourselves into the local consciousness. That seems to be happening nicely.
“We want to build and establish what we have started and expand online.
“It’s very much our next step. We are very keen to be online but not quite there yet. We can sell remotely and ship within the UK but no formal online offering yet.”