Scotia's trademark was its featuring of up to 400 whiskies at times, with more than 300 single malts on offer.
Husband and wife team Mary Jane and Mark ''Jazz'' Hewitson were contacted, but Mrs Hewitson said neither wanted to comment on the closure.
Scotia remains for sale, with the vendors stating they were ''committed elsewhere''.
Scotia initially opened at the Dunedin Railway Station, then relocated to its present site in a historic, terraced building in Stuart St, above the Octagon.
In 2009, Scotia become the first bar in New Zealand to receive the supreme ''gold bar'' award from Britain's internationally distributed Whisky Magazine.
It won the award a second time in 2012. In Scotland, the home of whisky, only four bars have received the supreme award.
The criteria the bar was judged on included the range of whiskies, the staff and their knowledge of whisky, the quality of glassware, the venue and the level of whisky promotion.
Scotia's application was endorsed by Scottish whisky ''nose'' Alex Bruce, a Keeper of the Quaich, a member of Scotland's exclusive society for aficionados of Scotch whisky, who had visited Scotia in 2008.
