What Scottish Whisky do they sell in Poland?

Hi, i'd like to know because i'm buying Whisky to bring over to a friend in Warsaw. I don't want to bring him over a bottle which you can already buy in Poland however, I was thinking of Isle of Jura, could anyone inform me if this can be bought in most supermarkets and shops? if so the next bottle i would get would maybe be Aberlour. I was over last year but didn't look to see what Whisky shops like Tesco and Carrefour sold. Many thanks.

A vast number of Scotch is available to those who look (in the specialist shops). There are very few that cannot be bought out here, although often at very inflated prices, have a look at this site: sklep-ballantines.pl

Personally I'd suggest something like Glenmorangie Lasanta or Quinta Ruban. It's hard to dislike and many supermarkets sell the ten-year-old Glenmorangie, so people may well have seen it.

Excellent Harry, thanks very much. I'm not much of a drinker myself, so i know not too much. I know my friend doesn't go to specialist shops but i'd rather buy him something that's not so common on Supermarket shelves. Thanks again.

Every manner of whisky and whiskey (scotch, Irish, borubon, pure malt, blended American, Polish imitiaton, etc.) is avialbale in Poland, but where have all the brandies gone? The true cognacs as well as many quite good French brandies (Bardinet, Seguin, St-Rémy, Chantelle and others labelled Napoléon for $3 a throw) were once widely avialable in Warsaw. Now a supermarket may have only Bulgarian Pliszka or Hunagrian Budafok for sale. Anyone know why? To me all whisky, whether straight or blended, malted or shmalted has that stomach medicine (krople żołądkowe) aftertaste and is best avoided altogether..

It depends on the supermarket you go to

I noticed Remy Martin in my local Biedronka the other week (admittedly only the VSOP). It was in a different aisle to the VIP.

Mine was not a personal (wheree can I get) query since the 24/7 of-licence places stock a wide range of tipples. It was more anthropo-sociological: so few brandies and so many whiskies?

Brandy (except Hennessy) has a huge image problem, as it's seen as a "old person's drink". On the other hand, there seems to have been an agreement made to market whisky in Poland as an upmarket drink, which in turn drove its popularity among the nouveux-riche.

It's quite painful to watch Poles drink absolute swill like Johnny Walker like it's something special instead of actually drinking good alcohol.

So it's all about snobbery and keeping up or overtaking the Joneses, not the flavour and health benefits!?

No special health benefits to brandy that whisky doesn't have and plenty of flavour in a good malt.

Only if one fancies that particular flavour (krople żołądkowe aftertaste!)

So many people do, and certainly that product is very popular in Poland.

Nouveaux-riches (it's plural).

First off you sip good Scotch, you don't drink it.
Johnnie Walker Blue Label Scotch is very special and only ordered when someone is trashed and tells you to put one of your choice on their tab. :-)

A double here in the States will set you back about 75 zloty.
Smoother then a school mom's leg.
Do they even have it in Poland ?

It exists here - I'm not sure how much is sold.

People tend to buy blended in Poland and mix it with coca-cola :-(

Though not in my home...

I like both and also agree that the choice of brandy is often too small - one difference seems to be that there is an active whisky community - a few decent shops, tastings and mailings, some active forums. Brandy does not seem to have many champions !

The cigar bar on Nowy Swiat - Casa de Habano- has a very good list of cognac and a few calvados too. But that is the only place I consciously go to have a brandy.

This can not be true !
Oh my lord and savior what a sin !
If anything "maybe" bless it with a few drops of Drambuie.

A Rusty Nail which is still to sweet for me personally.
2 ounces whiskey -- Scotch
1/2 ounce Drambuie

I can't wait to come to meet you guys and teach you how to drink......well, except for Hazzard, he may give me a run for my money.

My Polish Babcia always said that if you can still walk you are not drunk.

Much less than was sold a decade ago. Poles have now learned that JW Blue Label is simply a joke and that there are far better whiskeys out there for a fraction of the price. Somebody I know who owned a bar here a decade ago had a bottle of Blue Label on the shelf (it has been given to him by the rep, as his was the kind of bar they wanted people to think Johnny Walker was drunk in) along with a couple of Johnny Walker Blue Label branded glasses, which were referred to as the moron glasses.

glenfiddich is pretty good, i just learned somewhat recently about how the burn covers over the flavor so if you really enjoy it try mixing it with water. if i drink now though the "bliss elixer" is my fav creation, quality 100% agave tequila filled in a pint glass to about half way then the rest with water & about 4-5 drops of peppermint extract. na zdrowie x)

Glenfiddich is VERY GOOD !
One of my favorites around the holidays.
One ice cube in the glass and drowned it with a good Scotch. Aye captin'. :-)


Understandable when you have them mixing it with coke in a low life corner bar full of suds drinkers that have their names etched in their personalized beer glasses that hang above the bar for their personal use only.

They wouldn't know a good Scotch if you intentionally spilled it on their leg as they would think it was just raining.

Try adding just a few drops only of warm water to open up the flavour...

I can still remember some traditional bars in Britain, especially the North and Scotland which used to have little jugs of hot water on the bar for that. Some in Scotland still do. I've encouraged friends to do that here in Poland. It does make a difference.

There's also ginger wine which goes nicely in whisky however I wouldn't add that to malt.

Adding anything other than water to a malt (or even to a decent blend) is the mark of somebody who either knows nothing at all about whisky (or more probably whiskey) or who drinks such cheap rubbish that they have to kill the flavour with something.

I don't know if it's a good idea to tell a Scotsman how to drink whisky. And if you go to Scotland you will find that most people do drink whisky. Why sip it when there's plenty more to drink?!?


Wouldn't wash my feet with the stuff. We had it as malt of the month in my pub because our buyer was swooned by discounts and free stuff, had to extend to 3 months because it's terrible.

If anyone is looking for a good single malt to take abroad, Scapa is a personal favourite and it's hard to get outside of Scotland (in fact, it was impossible to get here for a good few years!). For something in a decent budget and good for palates that are not used to single malts I would say Auchentoshan American Oak is a great starter malt (at the distillery they call it a good breakfast whisky...)

Quite. The idea of sipping whisky is insanity, and rather proves that the drinker can't handle the taste in their mouth.

Whisky and (maybe) a drop of water is all you need, but only if it's one of the stronger ones like the stuff from Jura.