St Machar Bar tasting room and gift shop

For 120 years, the St. Machar Bar has been more than just a pub - it’s been a much-loved cornerstone of Old Aberdeen. Throughout years of change, we’ve been proud to offer a welcoming place where memories are made and traditions carry on, all while growing alongside the community that has shaped us as much as we’ve shaped it.

However, our business, like many others, has faced several challenges over the years.

Just six months after I took ownership, the COVID pandemic hit, bringing everything to a halt. But with the support, dedication, and encouragement of colleagues, friends, and patrons, we managed to keep the St. Machar Bar open by pivoting to an off-license and takeaway restaurant. With only myself and one other team member working daily, the hours were long and the work intense, but we made it through. Our hard work, alongside a few creative ideas- like online whisky tastings and rotating takeaway beer options - not only helped us survive, but also brought us closer to our community. People valued our commitment to prioritising their safety while allowing them to feel connected, and we emerged from that challenging time with a stronger following and an even more meaningful connection to our customers.

Yet, as we all know, the challenges didn’t end with the pandemic. The energy crisis hit hard, sending costs soaring and forcing many beloved establishments in Aberdeen to close their doors. For our small bar, energy bills alone skyrocketed from £750 to over £3,000 a month.

But, of course, adversity breeds innovation and resilience. We’ve endured and we’ve grown, transforming the St. Machar Bar into a celebrated whisky bar in our city and the region. Our efforts have even earned us national awards and allowed us to launch a popular annual whisky festival, which has brought even more life and community spirit to our pub.

So – what is this crowdfunder all about then?

Why We Need Your Help

Despite our hard work and dedication, we’re still feeling the financial strain, and we’re constantly looking for ways to grow and sustain our business. To give us some breathing room, we began exploring an idea that we’re excited to share: opening a small gift shop and a tasting room! The shop will serve the many tourists, students, and locals who visit the area while the tasting room will allow us more space for our monthly tastings and the ability to hold onsite private tastings. As luck would have it, the tenant above our bar recently announced they’d be moving, opening an opportunity right above us, with easy access to the pub. After consulting with architects, we now know this plan is achievable, but this is where your support is needed…

Our Vision for the Shop

From the start, our dream for this shop has been to showcase locally produced goods, celebrating the talent of artisans and creators in our community. We envision stocking unique products from small local businesses—many of which you’d typically find only at seasonal events, like Christmas markets and country fairs. These items showcase the exceptional creativity and craftsmanship in our area, but they’re not widely available. This also gives our local producers (of any scale) a space in which they can showcase and sell their work. Our goal is to give these products a permanent home where they can be appreciated year-round by locals and visitors alike.

Our Vision for the Tasting Room

When we decided to pursue the upstairs flat as a shop, we also realised it could be adapted into a dedicated whisky tasting room. This would allow our customers to enjoy whisky tastings in a purpose-designed space, without interrupting the flow of the bar downstairs (or the flow of the bar interrupting our tastings!) With such a space, we could also stock a wider selection of whiskies and invite distillery representatives to host more tastings, making each event a richer experience. Currently, we host monthly tastings in the bar itself, which, though popular, is too small to comfortably accommodate our guests. A dedicated tasting room would improve the experience of these events and allow us to welcome even more whisky newcomers and enthusiasts.

How You Can Help

Of course, transforming this vision into a reality requires funding, and we’re eager to get started as soon as possible to make it a success. We’ve set our funding goal based on rough estimates for the work, much of which we’ll handle ourselves to keep costs down. Every contribution brings us closer to a thriving, sustainable St. Machar Bar, where we can share our love for the community and create a special space for locals and visitors alike.

Thank you in advance for supporting our journey and helping us keep this community spirit alive!