Leith-based whisky maker Woven has teamed up with restaurant brand Ottolenghi to create a blended Scotch designed to be paired with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. The collaboration marks the opening of Ottolenghi’s first Scottish restaurant at 92 George Street, Edinburgh.
The whisky will also be served across Ottolenghi’s London restaurants and delis.
Ottolenghi’s bar manager Oren Coleman challenged Woven to approach the whisky in the same way the restaurant approaches food: with brightness, contrast and ingredients that each bring something distinct to the final product.
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Woven drew on Ottolenghi’s recipes for inspiration, referencing well-loved flavors including preserved lemon, fennel and pink peppercorn. The resulting blend brings together Edinburgh grain whisky for lift and Speyside malt for freshness and structure. Oloroso-seasoned casks add sweetness and a fruit-forward profile.
Woven describes the final product as favoring contrast over weight, bringing brightness and texture in layers so it can sit alongside food without overpowering. It has been created to work neat, served long over ice, or as the base of Ottolenghi Edinburgh’s house highball.
“We love looking at whisky through the lens of different collaborators,” said Pete Allison, co-founder and whisky maker at Woven. “The Ottolenghi team are every bit as passionate about flavour as you’d expect, but they put things together in a brilliant playful way.”
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READ THE STORYAllison added: “We didn’t start the normal way – we sat down and talked about the ingredients they use every day and how those flavours could find a place in our whisky. It was joyous!”
Neil Campbell, executive chef at Ottolenghi, said: “We love working with local producers, and our first restaurant in Scotland is no exception. Tasting samples with Woven, we kept finding flavours from our own pantry.”
Campbell continued: “The result is an unusual profile: intentionally light, but full of vibrant flavour. This isn’t a whisky to save in the cabinet. It’s meant to be poured with dinner.”
The Woven x Ottolenghi whisky is available at Ottolenghi Edinburgh and across the group’s licensed restaurants and delis.
A limited allocation of 70cl bottles will also be available to buy at ottolenghi.co.uk and wovenwhisky.com, priced at $81 (£60).
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