The Bothy Wine & Whisky Bar

Went to the Bothy on 124 Street tonight to use my Groupon and they were closed, so I called the south side location to find out the hours. They told me it shut down for good on Sunday July 19, 2015. Sad!!!

Exquisite whiskey selections. Great service and very accommodating for large groups. I didn’t have any food, but everything that came out looked marvelous!

If I’m going out on a weekend (which is rare), I’m probably going to the Bothy.
The most obvious reason to go here is for scotch. I feel like their scotch menu has gotten smaller, but it’s still a few pages long. Sometimes the servers know things about scotch, sometimes they don’t, so that’s a bit hit and miss. They also have a decent wine and cocktail selection, but, really, scotch.
The food is pretty good here too. They have a nice selection of mains, as well as build-​your-​own charcuterie plates, which are a nice snack if you’re just there for drinks.
Honestly, one of the biggest draws for me here is that I can get a seat at any time I am still awake on a Friday or Saturday night, which is really nice. Couple that with good food and drink and I’m happy!

The Bothy Downtown is a cool place to relax and enjoy a glass of wine or a dram. The staff are friendly, helpful and very accommodating with group reservations.
I love charcuterie, and The Bothy’s selection is awesome. If you like soft cheeses, I recommend trying the Port Salut from France. For meats, try either the smoked bison or smoked duck.
There is wine or whisky to suit anyone’s preference. I’ve been told The Bothy has the best whisky selection in the city.

The create-​your-​own Charcuterie was very fun and delicious with very original spreads included. I had the Lamb shank that did not leave me disappointed. Meat was super tender and the whole dish was very flavourful. My friend was also pleased with his meal: the special of the night which was a pulled pork sandwhich.
I don’t know that much about whiskeys but our server was able to recommend ones that we might like — and we did!
Staff are very personable and make an effort to give you a great experience.

I love the Bothy probably more than most restaurants. However, they always seem to land short of a prefect score. We started with a charcuterie board of 2 meats (lamb sausage & smoked duck) and 2 cheeses (Port Salut & Mansango) (24 $). The entrees were the lamb shank (27 $) and the chicken pie (19 $).
The charcuterie was very good. Had some nice jellies and tasty bread. The shank was cooked perfectly. Nice semi mashed potatoes with veggies like squash and carrots. The chicken pie was a bit burnt. On top of that the side of mashed peas, which were delicious, were sparse. What’s with the skimpy serving of mashed peas? Would it kill you to give a bit more? So hit and miss for the entrees.
The scotches as always were spot on. My Favourite was there, the Highland Park 18. Smooth with just the right amount of peaty.
The scene on a Friday night was very investment banker. Smart looking couples sitting at tables and the bar. Ladies in their chic dresses, guys in blazers. Very classy place.
I love it here, especially the scotches. The service was also excellent. They even called me to remind me for my reservation and even had a Valentine’s Day name tag on my table. One of my favourite places in the city.

The Bothy Downtown is my go-​to in town when I want to get out of the house, spend time with friends and still be able to hold a conversation. The room is small, long and narrow with dim lighting, candles on the tables, dark colours and low music playing.
Servers are really personable and always know what they’re talking about. All of drinks on the menu are impressive and there is sure to be something to please everyone in your group. I haven’t had the pleasure of dining here yet, but the menu items look really comforting and delicious. I’ve tasted nibbles of beef carpaccio (not on the menu anymore) and bread pudding and they certainly left me wanting more. Would like to come here for a nice, chill date night.

You know the saying «lightning doesn’t strike twice»… well, it sure came close with the second Bothy. While it lacks a bit of the charm and warmth of the original south-​side location, the 124^th Street Bothy still has that winning combination: A Scotch tavern, a wine bar, a chic bistro with one heck of a charcuterie selection! It is comfortable and classy all at the same time. The Bothy boasts the best Scotch selection in the city, and is one of the few place in town to have an Enomatic wine system. That makes for wonderful freshness of the wine, thus allowing high end varieties that are usually only sold by the bottle to be served by the glass. I’ll cheers to that!

Great food, great service. A wonderful place to go and have a glass of wine with friends or have an intimate dinner. One thing that I really love is that they have the Enomatic wine dispenser that means the wines by the glass are really fresh! The Parmesan risotto balls were amazing. I’ll be back!

My boyfriend and I checked out The Bothy with another couple (who had been several times) and we were blown away. The building itself has a homey, neighbourhood pub vibe, all while remaining classy and chic.
Our server was fantastic, recommending cheeses and meats to pair together, as well as suggesting wines. The charcuterie plate we ordered had 2 meats (a Hungarian sausage and smoked bison), 3 cheeses (applewood smoked cheddar, a double-​creamed Brie, and a Prima Donna), and 4 sauces, all of which were delicious. There was enough for each of us to get a couple samples. Definitely a nice start to the evening.
The Bothy advertises itself as a whiskey and wine bar. I’m a huge wine-​lover, but I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and try a scotch. I was impressed by the extensive lists of both, but again, our server was knowledgeable and quick to recommend her favourites. I chose a McCallan Amber that was very smooth — perfect for a newbie scotch drinker.
The food was all phenomenal. My boyfriend ordered the haggis (!!!) and we were both pleasantly surprised with how tasty it was… like a salty, tender meatloaf, but way more delicious. The pasta dish and soups our friends ordered were really good as well. I ordered the steak and mushroom pie, but was a little disappointed when it didn’t arrive at the same time as the other meals. However, both the chef and the waitress came to apologize and explain why my meal was taking a bit longer. It was only just over 5 minutes, and when the chef did serve it, he apologized again. It was nice knowing that they genuinely cared about our dining experience.
It was 100% worth the wait, and my meal choice was deemed as the winner of the night.
I have a feeling that The Bothy is going to be a new fave.

After eating at a loud restaurant downtown with a group of friends, we decided we wanted to go to a place a little quieter so that we could actually have conversations. It’s hard to find a place in the city that is chill, has a decent atmosphere and is actually quiet enough to talk to the people you are with.
But Bothy was exactly that. There’s a good beer selection, and obviously a great whisky and wine selection too.
Went back a second time and was equally impressed. Had my first old fashioned, which was delicious.
If you’re not a good lip reader and hate lounges that have obnoxiously loud music, definitely check it out. I’m excited to try the food!

My boyfriend and some friends went here for his birthday, he loves whiskey so we thought it would be a great choice. We had a fantastic time, we all had whiskey flights and the server was very knowledgeable and helpful at choosing them based on our different tastes. The food is great, typical hearty scottish food. We’ve gone back several times and always purchase the groupons when they come out. The crowd is nice, not too young and pretty sophisticated. They also have a great wine selection!

After stopping in at The Bothy on the south side I figured I had to check out the downtown location and I must say it was just as fantastic except for one thing: the service. By no means was the service at the downtown location bad, I just found there service on the south side was better.
Other than that I would definitely recommend this Bothy location, they have a great scorch and wine list with some fantastic specialty drinks, the cheese plates are to die for, they come with an assortment of delectable jellies, my favourite was the zinfandel jelly — seriously who makes a jelly out of wine!
The atmosphere is calm, but somewhat sophisticated. You won’t find any 18 year olds here, I can assure you of that!

I went to The Bothy because I had a groupon (I buy a lot of groupons)
My first experience here was a good one — it won’t be my last visit:
We ordered the Alaskan crab dip (real crab only, I asked), the Blast Sandwich (bacon, lettuce, avocado, smoked salmon, tomato) and the shrimp and scallops with the ginger beurre blanc.
The shrimp and scallops were cooked perfectly, tender and sweet — the scallops had the perfect sear, served with pickled asparagus it was a great accompaniment. I wish the beurre blanc had a bit more of the ginger flavor but it was delicious anyway :)
Michelle had the sandwich but as always I had to have a bite, the sweet corn and truffle with turkey meatballs was very good, thin consistency, very flavorful, meatballs tender and yummy. The smoked salmon was heaped on the sandwich and the Irving farms bacon was the icing on the cake. My favorite supplier of bacon and all other pork products in the Edmonton area.
The Alaskan crab dip was great too, creamy and delicious with a hint of crab flavor, I would have liked chunks of crab in it but it was still really good for $ 14, I can’t complain.
The service was lovely, a well groomed, attractive man bringing you food and drinks is always a plus in my books :) We had an Innis and gunn and a glass of wine with lunch and it was just perfect, bill came to $ 24.94 after the groupon.
We’ll be back!

I’ve only been here once, but the experience made me happy enough to write a review.
My guest and I arrived on a cold winter night, and were compelled by the idea of a glass of good one and some charcuterie. The Bothy didn’t disappoint!
The weather was so brutal that I couldn’t help but order the Lobster and Corn Chowder, while my friend went for the planned-​for charcuterie platter. The soup was absolutely delicious and was so hearty and chunky that it better resembled a stew than a chowder. I could barely finish my portion, which was only the «cup» size. Well worth it.
The charcuterie board was met with unequivocal approval from my friend, who loves charcuterie. In fact, he indicated it was one of the best he’d had in the city, which is high praise.
Drinks were lovely; we had prosecco and red wine, both of which were pricey but delicious.
The server was extremely friendly, knowledgeable and attentive. I’d look forward to having him watching over another dining experience at the Bothy.
I’m glad to have this option so conveniently located on 124^th Street, and look forward to diving into the rest of their menu!

I think my favorite part of Bothy is that they offer a huge selection of higher end wines by the glass and even 2oz portions! I believe that variety is the spice of life so I always want to try different bottles and this method gives me that opportunity.
I’m also a fan of single malts and they have a large selection including my favorite distillery, Balvenie. If you haven’t had it before then start with the 12 year and move up to the 15 year.
I had already eaten dinner before coming to the Bothy for drinks so I didn’t order any food but the charcuterie options looked great.
I’ll be back to the Bothy very soon but I also want to check out the original location since the first is usually the best.

I came to the Bothy last night for the first time to attend a private function for the book release of Love Lies Bleeding by Laini Giles.
The atmosphere was absolutely perfect for the book release.
The staff were friendly and informative — attentive but not overbearing. I really appreciate a place that keeps my water glass full and I know this is no easy task. I usually joke that I’m part camel to give a hint but it wasn’t necessary at the Bothy.
I enjoyed the cocktail of the night, the French Kiss of Death: gin, bubbly, elderflower liquer over ice with a strawberry slice.
Their scotch and whiskey selection was the best I have ever seen in Edmonton and the menu broke down the options with more details than I can wrap my mind around (as a non-​scotch drinker of course).
We enjoyed a sampling of appetizers — the highlight for me being the spinach and artichoke dip, the Alaskan crab dip, and of course the various platters of olives (including an almond stuffed green olive), an excellent array of cheeses, and smoked and cured meats to keep the heartiest of carnivores happy.
They also offered an array of chutneys and sides — the hightlights for me included a pickled chutney and their olive tapenade which was blended perfectly with garlic.
The Bothy was clean and inviting. The seating plenty. The service wonderful. The food and drinks perfect.
I definitely look forward to returning for a date night out — I can imagine sharing a charcuterie board by the fireplace with a nice scotch in hand this winter.

We arrived late at night only 20 minutes before they were closing. The server was super friendly however and told us we could still get some drinks!
We just really wanted to try their scotch. She was super knowledgeable, and didn’t brush us off because they were almost closing. Going to a whisky bar is a great way to sample scotches you’d otherwise never be able to afford if at the liquor store.
Really enjoyed my time there.

I am surprised that there aren’t more wine bars on 124^th, given that this is «street du jour.» The Bothy is a decent stop for vino, though the food was solidly middle of the road.
A brief wine list can be sampled as a «taste» pf 2 oz, a glass of 6 oz., or an entire bottle. One is better off getting a bottle, as the prices for a glass are a bit steep. Le Petit Bonhomme is a lively red that leaps about and is suited to just about anything.
Brie with honey and pistachios was the evening’s special. It came with some toasty baguette slices (some of which had huge air bubbles in the middle and were not at all amenable to spreading cheese) and some lovely, yeasty, tiny flatbreads. The trio of flavours — cheese, nuts, honey — worked well together, but the whole works should have been warmed up to make things mingle better.
House-​made sliders were enjoyable. Not overcooked, not chewy, nice but, but not sliders that I will be dreaming about in future food fantasies.
Bananas Foster for dessert were pleasant, but a little skimpy on the bananas.
It didn’t help that the place was practically empty for the evening, perhaps because an ill-​tempered thunderstorm was brewing outside. I didn’t try their whiskey offerings, and that is clearly a main component of their identity. All in all, great wine, ok food.

My last review was done on the weekend when things were really hopping.
This weeks visit was a weekday at 6pm and it was much quieter but not to my experiences detriment. I went for dinner before a friend joined me for drinks. My brother from Van always talks about the tomato bacon soup so I had to give it a go. I was not lead astray and really liked the dish. I had the bowl and not the cup which can be a tough call when trying something for the first time.
They let me know that everything is made from scratch and an assortment of veggies are pureed to make the soup. It’s not the smooth thick Campbell’s tomato soup but I’m glad it wasn’t. It was a wonderful consistency and it was the perfect temperature for a cool evening.
What blew me away was that the server recognized me from a visit weeks ago at thanksgiving. That’s always going to win me over! A fellow, who I suspect was apart of the ownership also brought me an Arran Machrie Moor that he had in his car to try. I can’t help but to say it but I’ll be back again and again!