I had such an amazing time during our recent trip to Edinburgh which I can partly put down to finding some fantastic foodie treats! Here’s the lowdown on my Edinburgh food haul…

You can’t walk far in Edinburgh without seeing a shop selling whisky. Neither Mark nor I have ever been whisky drinkers and yet we found ourselves wandering in to the stores with their classic décor and shelves upon shelves of whiskies to cater for all manner of tastes. We were suddenly inspired to learn to like whisky so that we can go back to Edinburgh and do a tasting experience or something! This miniature set was perfect for us – it’s a trio of lighter, sweeter whiskies each matured in a different cask: one oak, one sherry, and one port. We’re planning to have a tasting session perhaps over the Christmas holidays.

Another great little gift especially as we get towards Christmas are these cute hot whisky toddy sachets. A hot toddy is the perfect winter pick-me-up and I can’t get enough of them at the moment now that the weather has really cooled off.

We found this smokey whisky salt in the whisky shop in Edinburgh castle and were immediately intrigued. It’ll make a perfect gift to go in Christmas hampers, particularly for foodies and whisky lovers. I can’t wait to use the salt to season some beef and serve with a homemade whisky sauce and I reckon it’ll see some use for a recipe I have planned for Burns Night too – watch this space!

Of course not everybody likes whisky and gin seems to be a tipple of choice for a lot of people right now. I’m a huge rhubarb fan so when I saw this cute little miniature of Edinburgh Gin’s Rhubarb and Ginger liqueur I was sold. Edinburgh Gin have a range of flavours each in a beautifully designed bottle making them a great gift for gin lovers.

You might have come across this chocolate brand and their Great-Taste-award-winning Gin and Tonic flavour, but they also do a Haggis Spice flavour! I haven’t tried any yet but it smells incredible with a definite peppery spice hit. Their Hazelnut and Isle of Skye Sea Salt flavour somehow made it into my shopping basket too…oops…but doesn’t it just sound so dreamy?!

Walkers Shortbread is such a classic gift to find in Scotland and so we both wanted to get some to take in to the office. Mark went for volume with a big pack of plain shortbread, but I found this toffee and chocolate version that sounded delicious. The staff in the shop said they highly recommended it too and I can confirm that it more than lived up to expectations. The only drawback is the size of the packet which is quite small and so you don’t get many.

Well there you have it, my guide to some of the best foodie finds in Edinburgh and some great gift ideas if you’re heading that way before Christmas!