A Macallan bar and restaurant takeover at The Ned and a luxury ski chalet at Rosewood London – both with fabulous seasonal cocktails
The Library Bar's cocktail list includes The Macallan Sherry Oak 18 Years Old and The Macallan Sherry Oak 25 Years Old
The hotel's 22ft Christmas tree is decked out in the distillery's colours
The Macallan at The Ned
During the festive season, there’s only one thing more impressive than inviting your guests to The Ned: ducking out of the Christmassy chaos of the main banking hall and into one of the club’s private spaces.
And this year, The Ned’s Library Bar and Lutyens Grill have partnered with The Macallan to offer a limited-period list of winter cocktails and some very rare drams… As signalled by a 22ft Christmas tree in the lobby decked in the distillery colours, as well as berries, acorns and foliage.
Tucked behind heavy, sweeping curtains on the ground floor, The Library Bar is intimate but far from cramped – how can it be with that ceiling height? The cocktail list includes the very seasonal-tasting “Timeless Mastery” (£22), which combines The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old with spiced orange, the criminally underused Galliano vanilla-and-herb liqueur, bitters and soda; and a rich but earthy “Honeyed Hearth” (£42), mixing The Macallan Double Cask 15 Years Old with honey aperitif, manzanilla and ginger ale.
Fair warning, there is a reason we mentioned “exclusive” in the title – the next two on the list rise to £64 (based on The Macallan Sherry Oak 18 Years Old) and then £220. The latter, “The 1824”, includes The Macallan Sherry Oak 25 Years Old, Sazerac de Forge cognac, pineau des charentes, saffron honey and a bespoke bitters blend.
The rest of the whisky list is an impressive gathering of Macallans you won’t encounter on most back bars, including a couple from The Macallan Harmony Collection (£47 and £49), The Macallan Rare Cask (£68), TIME:SPACE Mastery (£200), that Sherry Oak 25YO (which, at £350 might have you regarding the cocktail with a smaller measure of it as a bargain!), and, for complete Christmas indulgence, a drink from The Macallan M Decanter (£755).
The list is also available in the cosy Lutyens Grill on the ground floor, where it accompanies prime rib, steaks, beef wellington, turbot or lobster in a setting that is like contemporary Dickensian (although definitely more Pickwick than Dorrit).
The Macallan x The Ned runs until 27 December. The Library at The Ned is sometimes members-only but at times can be booked. Call 020 3828 2002 or email memberservices@thened.com. The Lutyens Grill can be booked online at thened.com. For more details of the whiskies, visit themacallan.com
This year's pop-up is inspired by Courchevel 1850
The Singleton Speyside whisky provides the basis of the cocktails on offer
The Chalet at Rosewood London
There is always an annual pop-up in the Rosewood London Hotel’s inner courtyard (ask cabbies about the year with the dry-stone wall). And this year, it is a luxury ski hut inspired by Courchevel 1850 (home to some of the world’s finest hotels, such as Six Senses Residences), created in conjunction with The Singleton single-malt whisky and Goldbergh, the luxury skiwear brand.
The reason for the theme is that this month, a sister hotel opens in the Three Valleys: the Rosewood Courchevel Le Jardin Alpin (the Billionaire’s Row of the already high-end French resort). It will, naturally, have a Goldbergh boutique incorporated – it is, after all, the glamorous ski label de nos jours.
Anyway, the Chalet at Rosewood London is an elegant mountain dining room – wood-panelled with white tablecloths on the tables, rather than a rough-and-ready ski hut feel. The menu has many Savoyarde and Savoie-adjacent dishes. I recommend a bleu d’Auvergne cheese and pear salad to start; a raclette sandwich (with cured meats, pickles and mustard) as a main – or, if you must, share a fondue – and finish with a chestnut Mont Blanc with whipped cream.
The Singleton Speyside whisky provides the basis of the cocktails, which include some stunners. Chestnut appears again, mixed with the fruity Singleton 12, citrus, maple and bitters, and garnished with pine and fudge, in “The Siren’s Song” (£21). “I Shine Not Burn” (£24) uses the smooth and spicy Singleton 18, with a plethora of fortified wines – oloroso sherry, madeira, marsala, port and vermouth, enhanced with smoked moss.
There are winter warmers too, including “Jock’s Well Hot Teddy” (£21) (which might be an in-joke, or is simply a typo!), a toddy of Singleton 12, beurre noisette, chamomile and heather honey, with a shortbread garnish.
The Chalet at the Rosewood London, on High Holborn, will be in situ until the end of February 2026. It can be booked at rosewoodhotels.com
