Notes Scotch Whisky Bar

[CruisingAndDiving]

Any scotch aficionados out there who have sat down at Notes on the Pinnacle Class ships?

 

Would lime to hear your experiences doing tastings and perhaps on the variety of offerings they have.

 

Thanks!

[sue1898]

My husband tried it on the K’dam in 2017 and enjoyed it but doesn’t remember any details. 

[bobomonkeyrage]

We spent some time there on the Kdam in June. I'm a big whisky guy. It was great! Open at inconvenient times imo. Usually when I wanted to be elsewhere, but I guess that makes sense. Prices are about what you'd expect, inflated. 
But it's got a great selection of all whisk(e)y regions, not just scotch and the two guys that were manning it both times I went knew what they were talking about. Were able to extrapolate from what I liked to find me something new in my wheelhouse and price range. 

[Sea42]

1 hour ago, sue1898 said:

My husband tried it on the K’dam in 2017 and enjoyed it but doesn’t remember any details. 

Sorry but that just stuck me as funny!

Cheers!

[sue1898]

Sea42, now that you mention it, it does sound funny! Lack of details age related rather than under the influence.

Edited November 25, 2022 by sue1898

[ottahand7]

I love Notes tastings. I started with whiskies of the world.  I found there were certain scotches I like.  We were on for 21 days on NS and the Islay Scotch and Japanese whiskey tastings were new experiences for me.  If Jarrie is pouring at Notes she is the best!

[fatcat04]

1 hour ago, bobomonkeyrage said:

Open at inconvenient times imo. Usually when I wanted to be elsewhere, but I guess that makes sense. Prices are about what you'd expect, inflated. 
But it's got a great selection of all whisk(e)y regions, not just scotch and the two guys that were manning it both times I went knew what they were talking about. Were able to extrapolate from what I liked to find me something new in my wheelhouse and price range. 

My dh's thoughts as well. Great selection from all over, prices inflated but meh. It is what it is. Getting someone to open the cases in the evening during the musical performances was at times a chore, the guy with the key was not always there. And tbh we are spoiled for choice being on the Whiskey Trail. (you should see our liquor pantry)

 

All this said, check ALL the bars for selection. Dh found a sweet little unpeated Scotch at the Seaview Bar on our cruise last month on NS that was on the Elite Bev package. Nice little find. There is zero uniformity of brand/type in what each bar offers and you might be surprised. Being on the Elite Bev Package opened up quite a bit for us. 

[fatcat04]

Okay I asked dh about what he found. 

 

Glen Deveron 16 years was at the Seaview. 

 

But his fav at Notes on the Elite Bev Pkg was Aberlour Casg Annamh Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whiskey. He bought a bottle when we got him which is now history. It will be replaced soon. Good find!

Edited November 26, 2022 by fatcat04

[iceman93]

My wife and I are whiskey fans.  Not experts, but more knowledgeable than the average consumer.  We were very much looking forward to Notes on our NS cruise last summer.

 

Our first disappointment was that Notes never seemed to be open except during their paid whiskey tastings.  But that would have been okay if the tastings were enjoyable.  We tried the first few and found that the bartender who ran them knew, literally, nothing about whiskey.  He had a script he read from, but when guests would ask him questions he would either quote verbatim from the script or just make stuff up that was blatantly wrong.

 

So after that we just ordered our own "wee drams" from bars around the ship, but Notes was one of the few things on that cruise that did not live up to (or exceed) our expectations.

[CruisingAndDiving]

1 hour ago, fatcat04 said:

Okay I asked dh about what he found. 

 

Glen Deveron 16 years was at the Seaview. 

 

But his fav at Notes on the Elite Bev Pkg was Aberlour Casg Annamh Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whiskey. He bought a bottle when we got him which is now history. It will be replaced soon. Good find!

Your DH has great taste.   I found the Glen Deveron when we were on NA 3 years ago.  I have a bottle of that in my cabinet right now! 

 

I'm looking forward to trying Notes on Rotterdam.  Thanks for your input.

[CruisingAndDiving]

2 hours ago, ottahand7 said:

I love Notes tastings. I started with whiskies of the world.  I found there were certain scotches I like.  We were on for 21 days on NS and the Islay Scotch and Japanese whiskey tastings were new experiences for me.  If Jarrie is pouring at Notes she is the best!

Love the pictures and there are a couple there I'm familiar with!  I'll be on Rotterdam with DW next year and looking forward to trying some of the tastings!  Thanks for sharing!

[CruisingAndDiving]

3 hours ago, bobomonkeyrage said:

We spent some time there on the Kdam in June. I'm a big whisky guy. It was great! Open at inconvenient times imo. Usually when I wanted to be elsewhere, but I guess that makes sense. Prices are about what you'd expect, inflated. 
But it's got a great selection of all whisk(e)y regions, not just scotch and the two guys that were manning it both times I went knew what they were talking about. Were able to extrapolate from what I liked to find me something new in my wheelhouse and price range. 

I expected nothing less than inflated prices on board lol.  For a good scotch I'll make the time work!  Thanks for sharing your experience! 

[leanstostarboard]

My experience on several ships is that if Notes is closed you can ask at a nearby bar and the Notes bartender will be called to serve you.  

 

My other experience is that chatting up the Notes server usually results in a more generous pour. 

[Balsam12]

8 hours ago, ottahand7 said:

I love Notes tastings. I started with whiskies of the world.  I found there were certain scotches I like.  We were on for 21 days on NS and the Islay Scotch and Japanese whiskey tastings were new experiences for me.  If Jarrie is pouring at Notes she is the best!

\

 

 

 

 Now this pic is definitely to my taste.... 

 

[ski ww]

I'll be looking forward to having a tasting here on our next cruise in July. Nice pictures.