Bols is set to make its mark on Scotland’s vibrant cocktail scene this October, joining Edinburgh Cocktail Week 2026 as its Official Liqueur Partner and bringing its extensive flavour portfolio to some of the city’s leading cocktail bars during the 10-day event.
The exclusive partnership will see Bols engage directly with Edinburgh’s creative bartending community during the festival, showcasing the versatility of its liqueurs at the dedicated Cocktail Village and across over 120 of the city’s cocktail hotspots. Bols will also be lead sponsor for the trade launch party launch on 1st October taking place at the Edinburgh Cocktail Week Cocktail Village on Edinburgh’s Festival Square.
The partnership comes as the spritz trend continues to evolve, and as both bartenders and drinkers look for flavour-led options such as elderflower, pink grapefruit and watermelon. Within the Cocktail Village, attendees will be able to sample emerging and trending spritz-style drinks incorporating Bols lychee liqueur and the iconic Bols Blue Curaçao as part of the brand’s Your Flavour, Your Spritz global campaign.
Bols brings more than 450 years of distilling heritage to the modern cocktail scene and as the world’s first cocktail brand, its history is closely tied to the evolution of cocktails and the liqueurs that have helped shape them. From Peach and Strawberry to Elderflower and Pink Grapefruit and the world-famous Blue Curaçao, Bols liqueurs give bartenders countless options for creating distinctive spritz serves, flavoured margaritas, martinis, sours, daiquiris and cosmopolitans. Crafted with natural botanicals, the liqueurs are designed to deliver the recognisable taste and aroma of real fruits, herbs and spices and the bottles themselves have been designed with bartenders in mind, with a shape that is easy to grip, pour and handle during busy service.
As well as sponsoring the trade launch party on 1st October, Bols will also partner with five venues across the city; each will put a different Bols serve in the spotlight throughout the festival, giving bartenders and cocktail fans the chance to explore the range and experiment with on-trend and emerging serves. Participating venues include 4042 Late Night Liquor, showcasing Bols Triple Sec; Slainte Mhath, featuring Bols Blue Curaçao; George IV Bar, serving Bols Elderflower; Paradise Palms, putting Bols Cherry Brandy Liqueur centre stage; and The Raging Bull, which will showcase Bols Pink Grapefruit and Lychee in serves created especially for the event.
To support availability across the Scottish on-trade, Bols has also announced a new partnership with Dunns, which will act as a key route-to-market partner in Scotland. Bars in Edinburgh and beyond can now access a core selection of the Bols range.
The Edinburgh Cocktail Week partnership, alongside the new Dunns distribution agreement, gives Bols a strong platform to build relationships with Scottish bartenders, demonstrate the range in action and make its versatile liqueurs more accessible to the hospitality sector.
Chris Jones, managing director at Paragon Brands, which represents Bols in the UK, says: “Edinburgh has a lively and well-respected cocktail scene. For Bols, Edinburgh Cocktail Week is a unique opportunity to get closer to the bartending community and show what Bols can bring to the back bar.
Edinburgh Cocktail Week is a unique opportunity to get closer to the bartending community.
“The Bols liqueurs range is all about creativity and versatility, from classic cocktail serves to more unexpected flavour combinations, and as cocktail culture evolves and trends change, Bols is leading the charge in bringing creative flavours to the fore.
“The partnership with Dunns is an important part of that too, making the Bols range readily available to bars across Scotland and giving bartenders the opportunity to expand their repertoires and push the limits on flavour, creativity and mixology.”
Taking place from 2nd to 11th October, Edinburgh Cocktail Week will transform the capital into a cocktail lover’s playground, inviting both bartenders and consumers to explore cocktail creations, handpicked serves and trending tipples. It brings together drinks fans, bar owners, bartenders and mixologists in supporting Edinburgh’s world-recognised hospitality scene.
With ten days of festival activity, five spotlight venues, 120 outlets across the city, a dedicated Cocktail Village presence and new route-to-market support in Scotland, Edinburgh Cocktail Week 2026 marks an important step in Bols’ continued investment in the Scottish on-trade.
To find out more about Edinburgh Cocktail week, visit https://www.edinburghcocktailweek.co.uk/
