If only more off licenses were like WoodWinters…read more... An independent business run by passionate wine and whisky lovers, WoodWinters is beautifully laid out with crates of wine and liquor on polished wooden floorboards. There's a staggering array of fine red, white and rose wines and a small but impressive selection of whisky. Run by knowledgable Scots, there's mini and full size bottles from a variety of national distilleries like Ardbeg, Bowmore, Benrinne, Linlithgow, Dailuaine and Port Ellen. Whilst you can get a good bottle for around £30-£40, they also sell some spectacular 25 and 30 year old whiskies from Rosebank, Tomatin and Glenfarclas. Samples are available but be prepared, you'll have to splash out £150 - £330 if you want to take a bottle home.

Came in for a tasting. £5 to taste 6 summer wines, with pizza and water to wash it all down. Left…read morewith 3 bottles of wine and 2 bottles of heather ale. This marketing scheme, it's working! Actually, what really works here is the passion and friendliness of the owners, who will chat with you about the wines, the weather and everything in between, who clearly care enough about their wares to learn all about them and to recommend you a wine that might be entirely different from everything you're tasting. The selection is great, from lower-priced wines that don't taste like low-priced wines to the top-shelf stuff. There's also whisky, brandy and port, some ales and a few local liquors. Oh, and they do stamp cards! I was won over after one tasting. It's not even remotely in my neighborhood, but you bet I'll be back for my future wine purchases (working up to that free bottle)!

Fast, friendly and convenient. Not the greatest selection of anything from the vegetable kingdom,…read morebut if you're looking for essentials, you've found the spot.

Decent quick tiny grocer in Edinburgh. 4stars only bc they were out of many items we wanted. 2…read moretimes we went .

This place has a pretty good variety of wines as well as beers and other spirits. Being a Majestic…read moreshop you can easily order something from the catalogue if they don't have it available in the store. They also offer the rather useful choice of crates options, with a variety of wines in each crate from New and Old World or a selection of both wines. In addition this shop offers home deliveries. They also sell individual wines at quite reasonable prices and being Majestic their stock is of a fairly good standard. Moreover, they offer next day deliveries. Their service is quite helpful although I found out of the three occasions I have been there, twice the friendly service was overshadowed by a general lack of knowledge of wine. However, overall I have had positive experiences with this store and would recommend it to friends seeking slightly different (more sophisticated) wines, or if you are holding a party and want delivery of large amounts of alcohol at reasonable prices.

If you love your wine and want to buy loads of it then Majestic Wine Warehouses is the place to…read morecome. This is where industrial bulk meets culinary expertise. I used to work for a building supplies company where they sold bricks, paint and timber in massive quantities for cheap prices, and it seems kind of strange that wine should be sold in the same way. Who cares though? They sell good quality wine at cheap prices! You can buy crates of wine from a variety of locations from around the world, letting you mix and match as you please. It's a unique concept and the staff seem friendly and keen to let you know about the available deals, rather than the actual wines themselves. It's a good place to come if you're looking for a variety of cheap wines.

Great and efficient customer service. It's smallish so not a great selection, but what they have is…read moregood. They definitely need to expand their cheese selection--it's pretty much cheddar, blue Stilton, and a few sliced cheeses. On the whole, though, everything there is good with a decent selection. It's near me and my go-to for basic shopping.

My experience with the Scot Mid chain has hardly been before midnight, as it's very popular with…read moreparty-goers, myself included, and sometimes that's just how I roll. Ahem... I've heard the funniest stories from the ever patient staff, who amusingly resemble bouncers the later it gets, for saftey reasons I suppose. For example, it's a regular occurence that they have to enter in credit card PIN numbers for their inebriated clients, and frequently have to chuck quite a few out. Just like bouncers. I was quite pleased to see Marchmont gets to share the fun with its own branch, which did look decidedly more tame than it's sister branch on Nicolson Street. Then again, it was just 3pm, so things couldn't have really kicked off yet.

This is a really convenient OddBins and the staff is friendly. They have a good beer selection,…read moreincluding many in the fridge. The wines are labelled by region and they always have some on sale which is great!

Not a bad little wine shop at all. I have walked past this place lots of times and still I had not…read morestopped in. So today the god of wine Dionysus must have struck me because I had the worst hankering for a nice bottle of Syrah. I went on in and had a look around. The place is a good size and had a massive selection as well as good prices. The lady up front asked me if I needed any help, I politely told her I was just browsing and continued to walk around the store. I was throughly impressed. There was a good selection based on different countries like France, Italy, act. I usually drink my Italian wine, got to stick to my roots and keep it real ;) but I saw a good priced bottle of French Syrah. Its one of the best Syrah I have ever had. I let it breath for about 30mins before dinner and then had it with some chocolate! So if your looking for a good bottle of wine or whiskey or other spirit and not at a bad price head on down here. They also do wine tastings ( not sure when) so you can try their goodies. So check this place out even if its just to browse , as I will be back for another bottle of the French Syrah!

The brainchild of ex staff members of WIne Rack, Vino is a wine merchant that knows its stuff. Only…read morerecently opened it has an impressive selection of wines, both the popular well known ones and more obscure ones. The staff have an extensive knowledge of the products they sell, and are happy to help out. I am no expert when it comes to wine but they were really helpful, telling me the breakdown of the grapes and what that means, as well as which wine complements certain foods. The beer selection is good as well; they have a few standard lagers but pride themselves on their ales and more unusual beers. My particular favourites are their Brewdog selection, including the amusingly named Tactical Nuclear Penguin, a 32% beer. The prices are reasonable, obviously depending on the quality of the wines, but are competitive with other wine merchants. Owing to the sheer knowledge and experience of the staff I would definitely recommend this place to anyone looking to replenish their stocks, whether for a quiet night in with a film or to be served in a dinner party.

What a brilliant independent wine merchant! They possess a…read moregreat knowledge of their wines & are always eager to help suggest something special when I'm looking a little lost & don't know what to buy. I love the frozen cooks meals when I'm not in the mood for cooking & the suggestions of wine to accompany my meal are brilliant. Perfect local.

Thank you Scotmid. You've managed to make me feel at home... back in communist Poland, by…read moreconsistently providing the most atrocious customer service. Like in Polish grocers' in the olden times when shopping assistants were the kings and queens in their little fiefdoms. I keep using the shop out of convenience, living a mere 5-minute walk away. And the range of products is not bad either. But, with notable exceptions, the service is awful. I'll give you several examples, all from the same place. 1/ I live in a flat-share that uses electricity meters operated by coins. During the worst of the pandemic, the landlady would provide us with the change we needed. Now that it's eased up I use the post office and shops to get the necessary change. That is in all the shops - when I ask nicely - apart from the Scotmid. I'd say it's fifty-fifty there, depending on whom you ask. I managed to get some change last Friday, but today was refused. 2/ When, during the bad period of Coronavirus, shops were introducing more and more safety measures, some of them were one-directional 'traffic' of customers, another you couldn't enter the shop with your spouse, friends or family. Fair enough. On the first day of the one-way 'traffic' at this shop, I entered just to get a bottle of mineral water. It was right by the entrance, with the checkout just next to it as well. I grabbed the bottle - in an almost empty store! - and went straight to the checkout. I was stopped by the cashier, informed it was one-way traffic and made to walk around a shopping isle - let me repeat, in an almost empty shop - to return to the same place and pay for the goods. That felt - I know it shouldn't but it did - really humiliating. 3/ Another time I entered the shop to the sounds of commotion. It turned out the shop's security officer was noisily berating a young couple who both tried to enter the shop under the false pretence of being unfamiliar to each other. I had a bit of an Orwellian moment and left feeling a bitter taste in my mouth. 4/ Sometime before that, I entered the shop with my brother-in-law and his 17-year-old daughter. Let me stress here it was the middle of the day and we were perfectly behaved and sober. We wanted to get some beer and a bottle of wine. A shop assistant stopped us at the automatic checkout claiming he believed we were trying to supply alcohol to a minor. I said I'd been a regular at the shop for years, there was evidence they were father and daughter (they are German, had their passports on them), this was a batch of moonshine purely for our own delectation. To no avail. The shop manager said he was sorry but he couldn't undermine his employee. As above, this was loud, with lots of witnesses around, and so quite humiliating to experience. 5/ A shop assistant who had known me a bit better knew I was doing studies at Napier. She said this entitled me to a 10% discount on proof of my studies. I had my Napier student card, not the NUS one, so I actually double-checked with the store manager present at the time. She confirmed I was okay to get the discount. After using it for about o month a cashier stopped me at the checkout saying I was illegitimately claiming a student discount I was not entitled to. Again, in front of other people in a queue. I tried to explain, said I'd even had a hunch I should have procured the NUS card that I was entitled to (but too lazy to claim), but had double-checked and was said ... yada yada yada. Anyway, I was refused the discount, which was okay if I was not entitled to it, but - yes, again - it felt quite humiliating. I'll stop at this, you get the picture. If you believe the staff were acting appropriately and courteously, whatever rocks your boat, feed your inner masochist and do your messages at the shop. I shop there out of laziness and kind of accept the consequences but others beware. Shopping at this place is Russian roulette, you never know what you're gonna get. And, be forewarned, not in a Forrest-Gump, box-of-chocolates kind of way. #ScotmidLevenStreet

I've always thought places like Scotmid and Sainsburys don't really need to be reviewed. You know…read morewhat you're going to get. There's rarely any huge variations between one store and another. But this Scotmid is different. This Scotmid has Chuckles. Chuckles is a person. An employee. She has worked for Scotmid for 18 years or something. If she is working, she makes any visit to this Scotmid memorable, both negatively and positively. If you're in a hurry, she'll start to drone on about whatever ailment is plaguing her at that precise moment. If you've forgotten your ID, she'll make a scene then derail the situation into some 'round-the-dinner-table racism. She'll turn buying milk and bread into an absolute nightmare if you ask how her day was. Anyway, these are all negatives. I did mention that being served by her can be a positive experience. I lied. Chuckles can and will ruin your day. Her outlandish displays of horrendous customer service are legendary in these parts. Enough to knock two (2) full stars off this review of an otherwise quite decent Scotmid.

Despite getting the wellies out, the poncho's purchased and the ark carved for Taste, it was sadly…read morecancelled, so Saturday was spent checking out the great places Edinburgh has to offer. Also, thanks to twitter, I found out that we could still 'taste' as The Bon Vivants Companion and Sipsmith had hastily arranged a tasting in place of the scheduled stand at Loch Meadows... The Sipsmith tasting was fab and the Summer Cup with its fresh hints of cucumber (which I normally loathe) was a revelation and has ruined Pimms for me due to its superiority. The Sipsmith Gin was also great - even neat and is a new favourite. Could I be biased about TBVC? Well, as someone who loves the Bon Vivant, I've also checked out TBVC which is also totally fab all of the time and never disappoints which is why all these reviews are all 5 stars. . Staff really know their stuff - I hate discovering a certain type of wine when I've been travelling to discover, I'll never see it again just because I've returned home and I speak to someone in a Wine Merchants who has no idea and won't offer to do a bit of hunting for me. Not the case at TBVC and even 'Its really rare' won't put them off. If you are looking for some of the rarer spirits and great wine, this is the place to come as a first stop instead of trudging round town and getting sore tootsie's. Yes, there is some high end stock but there's also some reasonably priced bottles. It is definitely the place to come for some special occasion wine or a boozy gift :-) I'm hoping to attend some of the regular tastings held in the basement this year now I'm twitter stalking and at the risk of letting the secret out, this is a great way to find out what is happening here. The guys at the Bon Vivant and Bon Vivant's Companion are great at posting events on twitter, hence attending the last minute Sipsmith tasting. TBVC - just awesome and I love it :-)

I've joined the raving party as The Bon Vivant's Companion literally made my night after a…read moredisappointing meal out. Anchor Steam? In Edinburgh? Snuggled in beside Le Chouffe? Interested in my recommendation to check out Lost Coast (Downtown Brown and Tangerine Wheat Beer.... YUM) to import? Bring these babies in as well as the summer beer from Anchor Steam and you have my heart in your hands. Oh and Zichichi wine too, please. When the designated driver more excited about finding beer than eating food, you know you are onto a winner. Hugs to this place, and lots of them!

We popped in on a whim while on holiday because it was cold and I spied the liquor! We were very…read morepleasantly surprised. The ladies there were very knowledgeable, answering any and all questions we had, and offered samples as well! Who knew? The liquors we tried were all very good, flavorful, rich and definitely lend themselves to experimentation. My favorite was the Gooseberry however we enjoyed the Black Currant as well. Honestly, we didn't try one thing that wasn't exceptional. The down low is that if you use or enjoy oils, vinegars, or liquors, you really should stop in. Small batches of all these items. You get great information while trying before you buy. Bring back your bottles for discounted refills! We ended up making a purchase as a gift and some to fly home with. We most definitely will go back on all of our return trips.

I stumbled upon Demijohn by mistake and then entered the establishment with the express intention…read moreof not buying anything at all. What. A. Fail. Demijohn is a so-called 'liquid deli' on Victoria Street, right off the Grassmarket, which is, in my most humble opinion, the place for quirky shopping. It's also the area that will have your money flying out your pockets before you've had the chance to figure out what's going on. So, my flatmate and I stumbled into the shop, dazzled by the large curvaceous bottles on display in the shop window. These are the kind of bottles that look like they belong in an apothecary or in a giant's chemistry lab. All we wanted to do, in that very naive way of ours, was to have a few tasters of the delicious, decadent looking alcohol. The woman who worked there was very kind and patient, and not at all put off by our excited yelps at all the different delicious liqueurs and spirits that swam in the bottles, which were many times the size of our heads. Me, I'm a fan of port. I know some people find it sickening, but I'll choose port over dessert (almost) any day. I also love elderberries. Demijohn, would you believe, has elderberry port! We were sold. Apart from deliciously fruity liqueurs, whisky and sloe gin, Demijohn also has an array of olive oils and vinegars that look to die for. The deal with this place is that you have to buy a bottle. The apothecary kind. The prices range from 10 pounds up, depending on the size of the bottle. Then, you try the different delectable boozes, point excitedly at the one you crave, and get your bottle filled. Not only do you get tasty liquids from this process, but a pretty snazzy vessel for it too. You can come back and refill your bottle at any time so that you don't have to spend money on another. Demijohn is just plain awesome. I highly recommend stopping by to have a look. At your own risk, that is.

Stopped in here while touring through the Royal Mile and was not disappointed. Excellent selection…read moreand variety as well as multiple people in the shop to assist with questions and suggestions. Loved the organization and overall atmosphere in here as everyone seemed highly passionate about providing top notch service.

We flew from Santa Barbara to Edinburgh over Thanksgiving by way of Seattle and London. Our son…read morelives in Edinburgh and the last 2 times we have visited him, British Airways has lost our luggage. One time, we didn't get it back until 3 weeks later, just a few days before our departure. The luggage sitch in EDI is an utter nightmare, and has been the subject of numerous travel articles I've read. So, this trip, I was ready for it and had bought and tucked some Apple AirTags into our check-in bags. I noticed when we departed Seattle that it looked like hubby's luggage was still in Seattle, while mine was clearly on the plane. I mentioned it to him, but he wasn't concerned, saying the app was not updating or some such other techno BS. Hours later, over the polar cap, I noticed his bag was still in Seattle, while mine was in the plane and suggested again that his bag was "lost" in Seattle. Nah, he replied. The software wasn't working properly. Now, hubby is a senior software developer and he spent a good chunk of his career as an Apple developer. So, this guy was telling me that the tech wasn't working on an Apple product? Ha! So, I wagered a friendly bet and we shook on it. If his luggage was on the plane and not lost in Seattle, I would treat him to whatever he wanted to do in Edinburgh. But, if his luggage was lost in Seattle as I believed and the AirTag indicated, then he would owe me a whisky tour of Edinburgh, something I've always wanted to do. Hours later we landed in London and could clearly see my bag was with us and his was in Seattle, but the BA desk could not confirm that and hubby stuck to his guns that the software wasn't working properly. Meanwhile, I was planning my whisky tour! Well, you can guess the next part. One short flight to Edinburgh and we arrived on a cold, wet night and guess whose bag didn't make it? And guess who won her whisky tour bet?!!! I'm not really much for organized tours, so I decided to create my own whisky tour and it was fabulous! Here's how it worked... Having had a major foot surgery about 6 months before the trip, I would periodically have some foot pain, what with all the cobblestones and hills in Edinburgh. Whenever that happened, we would stop into a pub and ask the bartender to give me a double shot of his or her favorite, smoothest peaty scotch whisky, along with some sparkling water. I ignored the smirks I got over the sparkling water, which a Scot would NEVER put in their whisky, and I wound up drinking some wonderful whisky that way and learned a lot about them from the bartenders! At one stop, the bartender met with my request by serving me Raasay, which was hands down the best scotch whisky I had on my self-directed whisky tour!. The Raasay is produced and distilled on the Isle of Raasay. It is a single malt, lightly peated scotch whiskey, balanced with rich, dark fruity flavors. A few days before we left Scotland, I began the search for where I could buy the Raasay batch RO2.1 to take home with me. I tried a few places, but they either didn't carry Raasay or didn't have the same batch. That is, until I walked into Royal Mile Whiskies. Not only did they carry the Raasay, but they had the right batch. They also offered me another similar whisky to sample that they thought I might like, and I did, so I bought that one too! It was an easy transaction and they beautifully packed up my whisky purchases in bubble bags to fit safely in my luggage all the way back to CA! Also, I noticed the price I paid was the same as Raasay has on their website and was not more expensive just because I bought it on the Royal Mile. I got home with unbroken whisky in my luggage and have enjoyed the heck out of it. Next time I'm back in Edinburgh, I'll be stopping in for more Raasay and whisky recommendations from the knowledgeable and very accommodating staff. It remains to be seen if hubby will wager an AirTag bet with me again, but here's hoping!