Mountebank Comedy Whisky Tasting

Daniel Downie brings his Mountebank Comedy Whisky Tasting to The Stand Comedy Club on Saturday 27 November. It's a night that pairs the distilling process of Scotch malt whisky with the history and cultural significance of production in Scotland, washed down with a flight of four whiskies, each from a different distilling region.

Downie is an Edinburgh-based stand-up and a historian of Scottish history, with an MLitt from the University of Dundee. He's a regular on the Scottish comedy circuit and hosts the Mountebank History of Scotland podcast, and he's brought several sell-out shows about Scotland to the Edinburgh Fringe. His act tends to poke fun at the hysterical and ridiculous side of Scottish history, from William Wallace to Susan Boyle, so the comedy here sits alongside the whisky rather than as a separate act.

The tasting itself follows the distilling process, with the history and cultural weight of Scottish production running through it. You'll work your way through four whiskies, one from each of the distilling regions, so you get a proper sense of how the different areas shape the drink. It's as much about the story as it is about the glass.

Downie launched the Mountebank Comedy Whisky Tasting in early 2025, following the success of the Mountebank Comedy Walk of Edinburgh, the city's first comedy walking tour, which made TripAdvisor's Top Ten Experiences in the UK in 2022 as one of only two Scottish entries. The tasting is strictly for over-18s and requires fluent English. Tickets start from £9, and the night is at The Stand, 5 York Place, Edinburgh EH1 3EB.