If you love a bit of celeb spotting and have been wondering where to find the famous faces in Manchester, then read on. Forget hanging out at the players entrance of the football stadiums or wandering aimlessly around MediaCityUK on the lookout. If you really want to clock eyes on a known name then you need to head to The Royal Exchange Manchester. The Whisky Shop, it seems, is the place to see and be seen.

Situated near the corner of The Royal Exchange building, facing out on to St Ann’s Square, The Whisky Shop’s Instagram-able interior and team of experts make for an opulent experience for anyone entering the shop looking to purchase their favourite dram.

What you may not have realised is that you’d be in good company. Over the years the shop has welcomed many big-name celebrities through its doors . . . and we mean some VERY big names.  The Whisky Shop’s manager Phil let us into a few secrets about some of the store’s famous clientele:

• Football is understandably huge in Manchester, and many well-known footballers and football managers have frequented the shop over the years, demonstrating exemplary taste in their choices when it comes to whisky. The store was recently asked to drop off a gift for the main man in charge of one half of the city’s biggest clubs. The gift was 188 bottles of a Deanston Port Cask, one of the rarest whiskies that they stock and, according to Phil, it was very well received.

• Many actors from one of the most iconic TV fantasy series ever produced often visited the shop while in Manchester for auditions however, according to Phil, thankfully not one of them lived up to their villainous characters. One in particular, a Scottish actor from the show, paid regular visits and would open and share his whiskies in the shop with the team when he came to collect his fine choices.

• When a distinguished Academy Award winning Hollywood A-lister was in town he personally requested a bottle of the shop’s rarest whisky: a bottle of Speyside’s Finest 50-year-old Single Malt, one of only 88 bottles produced in the world. He was staying in a nearby hotel and asked for it to be delivered there later that day. Not only was he charming, but he opened the bottle and offered up a taste when it arrived.

• You’ll frequently find stars of the world’s longest running soap opera browsing in The Whisky Shop, as well as well-known actors and actresses who are in town filming the latest drama series.

• It’s also not uncommon for the shop to receive requests to deliver premium bottles of whisky to leading actors on the sets of big budget TV shows and movies as they film in and around the city. It’s a regular occurrence, and one Phil and the team enjoy.

These celebrities undoubtedly know their way around the whisky world, choosing some of the finest liquids as their favourite tipple. Not just male stars either, the shop has its fair share of female stars who love a good glass of whisky.

Are we going to name names?  Absolutely not!  But if you’re looking for advice on the best and finest whiskies, it’s obvious where you need to go. Remember to keep alert, you never know who may be browsing nearby.