A dram good match: Enjoy rare scotch with Catalan tapas at The Fullerton Hotel’s Signature Reserve
Tapas gets a bold new spin at The Fullerton Hotel’s Signature Reserve, where Catalan small plates meet rare drams in a collaboration with FOC Restaurant.
A new menu at The Fullerton Hotel's Signature Reserve pairs the bar's most collectible drams with tapas-style dishes. (Photo: Signature Reserve)
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When people think of tapas, they think of sherry, not sherry casks. Spain’s small plates tend toward lighter, brighter flavours, and therefore traditionally pair easily with light and dry wines that enhance, rather than dominate the food.
But at Signature Reserve, where Scotch reigns supreme, a new menu developed by FOC Restaurant – running until at least October – might just change your mind.
In the bar’s first collaboration with an external restaurant, tapas-style dishes go head-to-head with the bar’s most collectible drams. Given tapas' diversity of flavours, Michelin-starred chef Nandu Jubany leaned heavily into richer, creamier profiles to stand up to whisky’s complexity. There isn’t a rigid pairing list, so diners are free to experiment, but you can follow along with their selection if you need a little guidance.
To start, there’s a thrillingly airy foie gras mousse with a heady vermouth jelly to cut through its luscious creaminess. Here, you’ll want to reach for Frank McHardy Grain Series North British 30YO as it punches through with vanilla and banana notes. The crab croquetas, so finely breaded they yield at the lightest pressure, conceal a molten centre that plays beautifully with the subtle spice and brooding malt of the Frank McHardy Signature Series Braeval 24YO Distilled 1992.
The “Trikini” sandwich – a hot, indulgent stack of Serrano ham, mozzarella, and black truffle – is practically sweating delicious fat, and finds its match in the savoury peat and punchy cask strength of Cadenheads' Bunnahabhain 10YO. The roasted Atlantic octopus with pork jowl is another salty triumph, but a switch to the sweet vanilla character of the Tomintoul Single Cask 14YO helps lift the palate before it tips into overload.
Dessert arrives as a mango burnt Basque cheesecake and mousse – texturally redundant, yes, but well-mannered enough to let the evening’s true star shine: the Frank McHardy x Signature Reserve Invergordon 1965 Single Cask 58YO. Bottled in tribute to a distilling legend whose career predates most people reading this, it’s a silky, profound dram of caramel, oak, and tobacco that actually enhances any lingering trace of mango.
This is far from a typical pairing – and probably a little too decadent to be anything but an occasional indulgence – but what a glorious indulgence it is.
