#31.1 Spirit of Speyside 2023

To the mill on the hill

TL;DR: This year we finally managed to go to the Spirit of Speyside Festival! We were very excited because during this event, some distilleries usually closed to the public open their doors. We started with a very well known one (especially if you buy whisky in supermarkets too): Tamnavulin!

Among the regional events or festivals, there was one that we were eager to attend. Nope, not the Feis Ile: while some tastings look fantastic, the idea of so many people on such a small island (Islay) makes us feel claustrophobic. Not the Campbeltown Malt Festival either, more or less for the same reason. Don’t get us wrong, it would be great to attend both of them at some point, let’s just say that we don’t feel ready yet.

So, by exclusion (and of course, because of the title of this post), by now you’ll have guessed that we are talking about the Spirit of Speyside. It is a huge festival, lasting one week, with plenty of events happening in the constellation of villages and distilleries that form the biggest whisky region (not in size, but in volume produced). Other than the obviously expected tastings at various venues (hotels, bars, distilleries, warehouses, shops, etc.) and distillery tours, there are runs, whisky fairs, bonfires, walks, truck trips…Really a plethora of whisky-related activities. If you know what our trips (and thus blog) are about, you probably stopped at “distillery tours”, wondering which ones we visited this time. And you’ll be right, one of the beauties of this festival is that many distilleries that are normally closed to the public (at the moment at least), open their doors to visitors just for these few days. Because most of the experiences are not cheap, we decided to focus our attention on these (but not exclusively).

Because the booking system on the website is not the most straightforward nor really smart, and because of the huge crowd trying to buy tickets as they came out, we had to change our plan twice because some tours were sold out at our preferred time/date. We came out with a decent plan anyway, although that meant driving around a bit more than we would have liked. We intended to stay away 4 days, but because of some late addition, we ended up with 5 days, Thursday to Monday! Hurray!

Driving in good company.

When the day came, we left very early in the morning, mostly to avoid the traffic outgoing the city (one of the few down sides of leaving in Leith, it takes 30-40 minutes to leave the city independently of where we want to go). There wasn’t much traffic on route, and once arrived in Perth, instead of following the A9, we drove straight up through the Cairngorms, always gifting nice views. The first appointment in this trip was in the village of Tomnavoulin, of course at the Tamnavulin distillery. This one, at the moment, is only open during the festival, they don’t have a bar nor shop nor visitor centre. So, because we were half-hour early, we kept driving towards Glenlivet distillery, to have a peek at nearby Blairfindy Castle. One day we’ll have a rant about the loose definition of “castle” in Scotland, but this one looked nice enough (a very small one, it wasn’t possible to enter). Because it started raining (of course), we quickly went back to the van and drove back to Tamnavulin.

The distillery (built during the mid-20^th century whisky boom, in 1966) is quite a popular one, mostly because of their presence on supermarkets shelves. As a matter of fact, the Tamnavulin double cask was Gianluigi’s second whisky purchase after he moved to Scotland, for a “whooping” 20 quid. Other than this expression, you’ll easily find the Sherry cask finish, a range of red wine cask finishes (it seems they have different wines finishes in different supermarkets, French Cabernet Sauvignon at Morrison and Asda, German Pinot Noir at Tesco, Spanish Grenache at Sainsbury). More recently, they added a Sauvignon Blanc cask finish. As you can imagine, to support this heavy supermarket presence the distillery is quite big, with a capacity of 4 million litres per annum of alcohol. In spite of this huge production, they lack expressions suited to more experienced drinkers, with everything being bottled at 40% (and probably artificially coloured with E150 and chill filtered). This, together with the fact that it is super rare among independent bottlers, made us even more curious to visit this “workhorse” distillery.

The not so charming distillery…

As we arrived, we checked in just outside the gates with Anne Marie, who usually works at Dalmore distillery (another one of the Whyte and Mackay group, together with Tamnavulin, Jura, Fettercairn and Invergordon grain distillery). The tour started there, outside the gates, with Leon (distillery manager) and others from the team. First, we walked down to a path outside the gate, to reach an old mill: Tamnavulin is the Gaelic for “mill on the hill” indeed! Inside, the old mill had that “Alps cottage” feeling, and currently it is not used. It used to be a visitor centre, which closed in 1997, two years after the distillery was mothballed (1995). When they restarted production in 2007, the visitor centre was not revived, although we understood it might be in the plans. We were served a small cocktail there, with a fruit soda and Tamnavulin Double Cask (for Gianluigi only apple soda, driver duties).

After the mill, we walked back to the gate and then behind the distillery, where malted barley comes in from three different places. The actual mill is not an old Portheus, rather a much modern Buhler, from Switzerland. As usual, we followed production, so next we went to the mashtun room, where Leon showed us how they check the wort cloudiness: they aim for a clear one. We walked through the nine stainless steel washbacks (around 52hr maturation, longer on weekends) and the six stills. In the still room, we couldn’t take pictures but we could take a tiny sip of the newmake, nice touch!

Swiss mill’s destoner.

Next, we checked out the filling store, and finally we entered a big warehouse, where some of their stock (together with other spirit from the Whyte & Mackay portfolio) is resting. First, we were given a cask sample: a refill bourbon barrel from 2007, the first year of production after they restarted. It was a very nice dram, clean and fruity, very similar to the only independently bottled Tamnavulin we have tried so far, from Gordon and Macphail’s Connoisseur Choice range (bought to celebrate our 70th distillery visit during the Speycation, and one of the few we ever saw around). Then, we tried three of their usually bottlings (see below) paired with amazing chocolates (that Gianluigi could try!).

A classic combination: whisky and chocolate.

Overall, it was a very satisfying visit, and definitely good value for money. Very interesting was the mill, and we would definitely go back for another peek when and if they reopen the visitor centre. The whisky was OK, quite inoffensive, a quintessential “supermarket dram”. We hope that, similarly to what happened at Fettercairn Warehouses bottlings, the company will decide to bring out some more interesting expressions, aimed to whisky enthusiasts, although we won’t hold our breath. Having tried two delicious cask strength expressions now, in our opinion the potential is definitely there.

Tamnavulin Tour (Spirit of Speyside)

Price: £30.00 pp (April 2023)

Duration: 2hr

Tasting: a cocktail and 4 drams, cask sampled (2007 vintage, refill ex-bourbon barrel, cask strength), ex-Sherry cask finish (NA, 40%), ex-Sauvignon Blanc cask finish (NAS, 40%) and ex-French Cabernet Sauvignon finish (NAS, 40%), the last three paired with delicious chocolate

Target: whisky enthusiasts and curious

Value for money: very good

Highlights: the mill and the cask sample

Recommended: yes

Link: https://www.tamnavulinwhisky.com/

#30.2 Back to the West

A deep dive in Tobermory

TL;DR: After we (somehow) managed to dry up, the morning after we left the campervan in Kilchoan and hopped on a ferry to Tobermory. Some important business there: shower, lunch, and a visit to Tobermory distillery! That was so nice that we almost missed the return ferry…

(missed Part 1?)

We woke up on Saturday morning, almost dry. Before preparing breakfast, we drove to the Kilchoan ferry pier, as we didn’t want to take advantage of the Kilchoan Hotel lady’s kindness more than necessary. The original plan would have seen us taking the ferry to Mull, visiting the distillery, and then taking the return ferry to the mainland from Craignure to Oban. However, because we loved the peninsula so much, we changed the plan: we took the ferry on foot, and we would return back to Kilchoan with the last ferry of the day.

The weather was much better, still a bit cloudy but sunny at times, very windy. We had a nice breakfast outside, with the salty sea-breeze hitting us. Before the ferry, we managed to wash the dishes, tidy up the campervan, and prepare a backpack with a change of clothes and towels. This was because in Tobermory, near the aquarium, there are public showers. Unfortunately, this time of the year both campsites in Kilchoan and Tobermory are closed, and a third one in Kilchoan doesn’t have toilettes and showers (only for motorhomes, we guess?). Hence, a shower was really needed (FYI, there should be showers at the Kilchoan community centre too, but they do short hours: opened after we took the ferry to Mull, and closed before we were back).

That’s us needing a shower.

The ferry crossing was fast, slightly more than half hour, after which we found ourselves walking on the Tobermory pier. At the aquarium, which was closed, showers were available indeed! But first we had to go back to the local Coop to get coins. What a feeling, to be clean again! Gianluigi even managed to wash his hair and dry himself up with the hairdryer: cosy! Before our distillery visit we had to get lunch though. We chose one of the restaurants on the pier, between the aquarium and the distillery, the MacGochans. Food was OK, although very abundant: we left over half pizza, which we brought with us.

Finally, distillery time! We were very excited, we had visited Tobermory in summer 2019, but we couldn’t see production because renovation works were going on. Not this time though, and after a quick check-in, we were in one of the distillery’s courtyards. We chose the “alternative” Warehouse 1 experience: because there were renovations in the warehouse (apparently still now, at the time of writing), we’d get a distillery tour instead, before the tasting at the visitor centre. Our guide for the day was Robert, new in the whisky industry, and previously working as a shoe-maker. We liked his approach, a bit different from the usual one: he introduced himself and asked about us, to create a connection, so that during the tour he was “tailoring” the experience to make it more personal. A very nice touch.

Impossible to miss it.

The distillery is one of the oldest, built in 1798, and they produce two main single malts: Tobermory (unpeated) and Ledaig (peated). Production used to be split 50/50, but the master distiller, Brendan McCarron, at an event we attended in December 2022 said that they are going to change it and focus mostly on the Ledaig side. As usual, we went through production like a grain of barley: milling (very old malt mill), mashing (very new mashtun), fermenting (wooden washbacks) and distilling (2 pairs of shiny stills).

Classic anti-foam remedy.

All rooms were very narrow, reflecting the little space available to build the distillery. Robert pointed us to a building on the other side of the road, which used to be a warehouse, now flats (almost like being in Leith!). Nowadays, they have only little warehouse space on the island, and most stock is matured on mainland together with stocks from the other sister distilleries, Bunnahabhain and Deanston (both among our favourites).

After a quick look at the courtyard, we headed back to the visitor centre and started the tasting of the selected distillery casks: first off, a couple of Tobermory’s, a 2012 ex-bourbon one and a sublime 1995 ex-Manzanilla (although it spent more or less half of its life in an ex-bourbon hogshead before). The Ledaig’s didn’t disappoint either, an ex-bourbon matured (also 2012) and a 2009 finished in a French red wine cask. There is something about Ledaig (and other peated malts) in red wine casks that we like a lot, and we loved this one very much (we took it over a similarly priced 19y ex-oloroso, which we tried a nip of). Like our 2019 visit, the tasting was great overall, and we just would have liked to have some more time to hang around and try more things (we still managed to try a lot, thanks Robert!).

Looking forward to trying these beauties!

Unfortunately, the time for the last ferry came (actually, we almost missed it), so we sailed back to the Ardnamurchan peninsula with our ransack: a bottled of Ledaig and half pizza. Only off-note of the evening, we realised that the time of sensible deals for Distell bottlings outside the core range is definitely gone, in particular for the distillery exclusives (and this is reinforced by some Deanston bottlings prices we saw floating around the web recently, like £50 for a 10y 20cl bottle!). A shame, but hey ho, we’ll pick something else.

Whisky and pizza, what can go wrong?

Back at the van, we picked up our (no more) wet shoes from under the vehicle, where we had placed them to dry, and left. We took advantage of the last hour or so of light (sunshine would be an overstatement) to visit the lighthouse. It is a magnificent place, that we loved at first sight. We could have just spent hours there, but the day was ending (painfully soon, but hey, it’s Scotland in February!), and it was not permitted to stay there for the night. On the way back we detoured to Sanna beach, but it was already dark to walk there, and all the potential spots for the night along the road were already busy. We then drove back to the spot facing McLean’s nose, for a nice sleep.

In the morning, after breakfast we were soon on the road towards Edinburgh. The roads were very quiet, and the villages too: we didn’t find anything open to get a coffee, just the automatic machine at the little store in Strontian. Only then we realised: we have a moka, coffee, and a stove on the van! What a coupled of dum-dums! Back on the road, we drove to Corran, took the ferry, but instead of driving towards Glencoe, we turned left to Fort Williams, and we decided to take the road towards Spean Bridge. We stopped there for a quick meal, and then drove on the A86 towards Dalwhinnie. So, once we were there, why not a quick stop? Just enough time to go to the loo and get half dram of their distillery exclusive and bottled-your-own (overpriced both by the dram, £10 each, and by the bottle, respectively £90 for a non-age statement at 48% and £125 for a 12y cask strength, 53.6%), with the other half in the sample bottle for Teresa (she had picked the short straw this time) to enjoy at home.

Grogu studying hard while driving back home.

So, our first whisky adventure with the Mr. Vantastic was almost a success, bar the unwanted shower we got on the Friday. That taught us two things: check the weather more carefully (in particular in February on the Highlands), and be ready to change your plan quickly. Clearly, a steep learning curve. Slainte!

Tobermory (alternative) Warehouse 1 Experience

Price: £40.00 pp (February 2023)

Duration: 1hr (in theory!)

Tasting: 4 drams, 2 Tobermory’s (2012 ex-bourbon cask, 1995 ex-Manzanilla double matured) and 2 Ledaig’s (2012 ex-bourbon cask and 2009 ex-French wine cask)

Target: whisky enthusiasts and geeks

Value for money: good

Highlights: the drams were spectacular

Distillery Exclusives: the 4 mentioned above, plus other bottles from casks of previous tours

Recommended: yes

Link: https://tobermorydistillery .com/

#30.1 Back to the West

Ardnagain

TL;DR: After a very dry January, we are on the road again, direction: West Coast…of Scotland, of course. It is also the first whisky trip with our new vehicle: Mr. Vantastic! First destination of the trip is an “old” acquaintance, the Ardnamurchan distillery. Such a great place, a must-do for every whisky enthusiast!

The year 2023 started similarly to 2022, and 2021: dry. Not exactly the entire January, but still 4 weeks, from the 3^rd to the 1^st or 2^nd of February. Gianluigi managed to sneak in a blood donation right before boozing again: perfect timing!

Because of this, the first whisky trip of the year couldn’t be before February. We were quite impatient, mostly because of a big novelty in our life in Scotland, our first vehicle: Mr. Vantastic, the campervan! We bought this second-hand van, newly converted to campervan in December, after a 1-2 months search. Unfortunately, being December, it had to stay in the parking space for a couple of weeks while we were stuffing ourselves with food in Italy. In January, our maiden trip (to try it out) was a dry one: we went visit the Bamburgh Castle, just south of the border, inspired by The Last Kingdom series, which we thoroughly watched a few months back (“I am Uthred, son of Uthred”!). We learned a thing: sleeping in the pop-up roof is like sleeping in a tent on top of a car, strongly advised against in early January.

The team are good to go!

Finally, February came, and we could take Mr. Vantastic out for a more serious trip: the West of Scotland, more precisely Ardnamurchan and Mull! We prepared ourselves and left on the Thursday evening after dinner, so to avoid the morning outbound road traffic from Leith. We actually drove a bit more than planned, until right past Callander. In spite of having a few more hours of sleep in the morning, we woke up quite early because of the excitement: it’s the first time we were going to visit the Ardnamurchan Distillery after they released their single malt! During our previous trip, we could only try their spirit and the Adelphi blend.

Big drive, but we got there.

The drive was quite amazing: Tyndrum, Bridge of Orchy, Glencoe, and then the short ferry crossing at Carron: actually very short, as we managed to get on the boat just a few seconds before it left the pier. After the crossing, we drove towards the Ardnamurchan peninsula, on the usual single-track road. We drove past the distillery, because we had decided to park in a spot a couple of miles ahead, where we could just spend the night or at least give us some time and a “nice” recovery walk after the tasting and before driving again. This was a sensible idea in theory (we felt so wise!), but we’ll see how it terribly backfired. By the way, the spot is quite amazing, in front of McLean’s Nose (we were not aware of the new Adelphi blended whisky at the time), a truly stunning view: in spite of the cloud and wind, we could have stayed hours there just enjoying the landscape.

Mr. Vantastic and its first distillery visit.

The walk to the distillery took about 35-40 minutes, but we still arrived a bit early. Julie welcomed us, and we browsed the shop for a while before DJ picked us up for the tour. In the meanwhile, we found out that there was no distillery exclusive/bottle your own because paperwork was not there yet, ouch! The curse of bureaucracy haunting us! Tour-wise, we had chosen the “Behind the scenes” tour, a more in depth experience compared to the one we did in 2019, and it also came with a discount because Gianluigi is member of the distillery AD/Venturers club. We were the only ones on the tour, so that meant “free question time” (sorry, DJ!).

Colours, colours and more colours.

We started in the dunnage warehouses behind the main building, on two levels. DJ explained us the (very eye-pleasing) colour coding of the casks and gave us some anticipations about future annual releases, which will join the Paul Launois, Madeira, and cask strength expressions. We then moved back to the main building, where we went through production. We hadn’t forgotten how compact the distillery is, and how tiny the stills are, and the boiler fuelled with biomass from the area: all very sustainable.

Teresa admiring where some of the magic happens.

Surprise of this tour, we discovered that not both pagoda roofs are just for aesthetics: a malting floor is being set up and, at some point in the future they will malt some of their barley, with and without local peat: really looking forward to it!

A malting floor on the way, yay!

DJ then walked us to the tasting room above the shop, where he started pouring us drams: first, the special for the AD/Venture club (a very nice 7y matured in an ex-bourbon barrel, the alternative was a sherried one). The three drams served as part of the tour were the Bruce-McLean bottled by Adelphi, the Paul-Launois 2021 (which we hadn’t tried) and the single cask CK.339 (unpeated), all three quite amazing, so very difficult to single one out. On that day maybe the Bruce-McLean, but on another day we would have probably picked a different one.

Then the mess happened. What we did not took into consideration was the weather. On the way to the distillery, it had started raining but not that much. We thought “oh well, it will go away”. It didn’t. Actually, by the end of the tour it was pouring down. So after the tour we waited a bit, but then we gave up and just left. Of course, by the time we were into the campervan, we were soaked. We spent the next hour drying ourselves up with the diesel-heater and fortunately we had an extra change of clothes and shoes. Teresa just before leaving Edinburgh had asked: “is a second pair of shoes really necessary?” Oh, yes it was.

After some hours drying and warming up, we decided to go get some food in the only local “pub”, the Kilchoan House Hotel bar, in Kilchoan. In spite of the many options on their menu, everything is more or less deep fried, including the sausage Gianluigi ordered, to his surprise. We had a nice wee chat with some locals, although some of them soon left for an event at the community centre club. Again to our surprise, the bar was closed on the next day, which meant no Scotland-Wales 6 Nations game for us. The bartender was very nice though, she kindly allowed us to sleep in the hotel parking lot. Thanks to that we could relax and enjoy a pint.

Despite us almost ruining the day because of our dumbness, we had a great time again on the Ardnamurchan peninsula. The landscape is amazing as we remembered it from our trip back in 2019. There is a feeling of calm and peace when visiting such remote spots. About the distillery, they are one of the few producers we really admire, for their dedication and their ethos, and their ability to supply us with incredible single malt (and blends too!) at still reasonable prices. Their club is run properly, it is obvious that they are whisky enthusiasts and, thus, it is made for whisky enthusiasts, not just another money-making machine. We believe other companies should definitely take notes.

Ardnamurchan Behind the scenes

Price: £50.00 pp (February 2023, £35 for the AD/venturers)

Duration: 2hr

Tasting: 3 drams chosen from what available at the bar

Target: whisky enthusiasts and geeks

Value for money: good

Highlights: the walk in the warehouse

Distillery Exclusive: not available when we were there (due to delay in paperwork…d’oh!)

Recommended: even have to ask?

Link: https://www.adelphidistillery.com/