Finally, THE day arrived. It was a matter of time, not “if” but “when”… our very first trip to the mighty Isle of Islay! But let’s go in order: it’s not the first time we booked a trip there. Last time we had rented campervan for 10 days, booked the ferries, booked tours in all 8 available distilleries (Caol Ila visitor centre was, and still is, closed for renovation), a trip to Jura, and a couple of other distilleries on the way. But that trip was due to happen in March 2020, so you can guess how things went down…
This time we took things a bit easier, we only booked 3-4 weeks in advance. We were able to get a campervan for an acceptable price (unfortunately the price of most accommodations on the island was more than the van alone), but this time just for a long weekend: 3 full days on the island (+ 2 half-days for the travel back and forth), and 6 distilleries, still pretty good! So, when the day came, we woke up super early: run, breakfast, packing, a bit of house cleaning, lunch and, finally, picking up the van near the Leith Links.
This was still the happy part of the day.
The company we used works like an “AirBnB of campervans”: they are an intermediary but vehicles are privately owned. Our “host” was very nice and she explained carefully all the features of the camper, which was definitely an upgrade compared to the one we used in Speyside and Highlands last summer, having a little sink and the hobs. We jumped on it, a quick stop home to get our stuff, and then straight towards the West Coast!
The trip was smooth, we took the highway to Stirling, then drove west towards Drymen, and kept going along Loch Lomond. We stopped at the Rest and Be Thankful area to stretch our legs, and again at the Lochgilphead’s Tesco for gas and some groceries.
Rest and Be Thankful, aka the calm before the storm…
When it was time to restart the vehicle, plot twist! The campervan just wouldn’t start. We called the assistance, which said that they would take around 2 hours to come. Was it the battery? That was what we hoped for, but by turning the key the radio and lights were working, very bad omen. The assistance arrived (meanwhile, we had already changed our ferry ticket for the next morning), and the verdict was ruthless: the starter motor broke down, no way to replace it in the evening nor on the Saturday morning, we’d have had to wait until maybe Monday, but more likely Tuesday for something to happen (the perks of a bank holiday weekend). For a moment we were speechless, thinking “is this really happening? Does it mean we won’t be able to go to Islay, AGAIN?”
But an idea crossed our minds: if there was nothing to do until Tuesday anyway, we could just go to Islay on foot for the weekend, couldn’t we? The assistance guy turned on the campervan, fortunately the parking lot was on a slope (Gianluigi still remembered how to push things from his rugby years). So, back in the campervan we drove to the parking lot at the Kennacraig ferry terminal.
Plan B mode ON
We spent the night in the campervan, not really in the mood for drams and not sleeping much either. In the morning we packed the only backpack we brought (we didn’t take two with us because… “We have the campervan, why would we need two backpacks?” So naïve!) with the very minimal: laptop, a change of underwear and t-shirt each, toothbrush, the Malt Year Book 2022 (fundamental), some food in a tote bag. During the ferry trip we found an accommodation on the island for the night and arranged some taxi rides (of course, the first distillery was the farthest away from the terminal). Our arrival in Port Ellen was very emotional and for a moment we forgot all of our worries and starter motors: we were finally on the Isle of Islay!
There was a period when we were poorly experienced drammers, and our search for new distilleries to visit was done through the good (although it could be improved) Visit Scotland map or with the map we got from the Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh. The brands we knew better were the ones we could find in grocery stores or the super classics (Oban, Lagavulin, Macallan, etc.), so we didn’t have much clue about many of the distilleries around Scotland. In this context, we started looking out for places to visit in daytrips. One of the first ones we spotted, and quite isolated with respect to others, was in a village called Hawick, the Borders distillery! So, on one sunny morning in November 2019 we decided to head south and go!
The same morning was actually the day of the Rugby World Cup final England – South Africa, so we already woke up early to find a pub showing it in the city and to get breakfast. We ended up at the Black Cat, in Rose St, where we fully enjoyed the game, including that two incredible Springboks tries.
Finished the game, we moved toward the Edinburgh bus station, to find out that our pronunciation of “Hawick” was definitely very wrong. The bus ride was about 2 hours long, including a 10-15 minutes stop in Galashiels to change coach. The landscape with rolling hills and lot of green was not as dramatic as others in the country, but it was beautiful nonetheless. Once in Hawick we went for a short walk to check out the village. It looked like a nice and quiet, nice to visit for a day or maybe two, but not much more. We then went to the distillery, situated in a late 19th century building that used to be an electric company, a great example of recovered industrial architecture. At the time it was very new: renovated in 2016, it started producing new make only in 2018. On the side they produce gin and vodka, and yes, we bought a bottle of the latter at the end of the tour, argh!!!
Nosing around before the tour.
Our guide for the day was David, which looked very invested in the project and gave us a very nice tour, delving into the details of their whisky and other spirits production. It finished with a tasting in a very cozy bar above the visitor centre. The taste included their new make spirit, Kerr gin and Puffing vodka, and one of two scotch whiskies, both sourced: the blended malt Lower East Side and the blended whisky Clan Fraser. Of course, we tasted one each, and although pleasant, we decided to wait for their own single malt. After the distillery we conceded ourselves a coffee and cake in one of the nice little cafes in Hawick, and we took the bus back to Edinburgh, to end a very nice day.
We found ourselves into a similar situation a couple of months later. It’s early January 2020, a friend was visiting us from Italy for a few days…A friend that, being from the north-east of Italy, appreciates spirits and is very curious about whisky. After the a quite lame Hogmanay’s celebration, we decided to take her to visit a scotch whisky distillery…Clearly just out of courtesy, not because we wanted to!
When your friend is busy…
We didn’t have enough time for a big trip, but still enough to go outside Edinburgh, so we figured out that Tullibardine or Deanston would have been good options. We picked the second option, for no special reason other than a better combination of train timetable and timing of the tour.
Quite a unique distillery building!
We woke up quite early to take the train to Stirling, and from there we took a bus that very conveniently left us in front of the distillery. Our friend had never seen a distillery, so we decided to do a standard tour (we caught up with the Warehouse tasting later on).
The building looked quite different from other, more classic distilleries. We understood why at the very start of the tour, when the guide covered the history of the distillery and told us that the building used to be a cotton mill until the mid-60s. Before moving to the production area, we could take a wee look at the turbine that produces power for the distillery from the river Teith.
The open mashtun!Shiny stills.
The tour was quite informative and interesting, with two highlights: the huuuuge open-top mash tun (we were all impressed!) and a cask in the warehouse signed by the cast of The Angels’ Share movie…because yes, part of the movie was filmed here!
The Angels’ Share troupe was here!
We finally moved to a nice tasting room, where four drams were waiting for us: the classic 12y, the Virgin Oak, the 18y, and the 14y Spanish Oak Finish, all 43.6% except for the latter (57.9%). The drams were paired with delicious chocolate. To be honest, our palates were not that developed at the time to fully appreciate the quality of these whiskies. We definitely do now, and Deanston is one of our great favourites!
The tasting bottles.
After the tasting we browsed the shop (which btw offers a lot of 35ml bottles), but very briefly because it was already time to head back to Edinburgh. We would have hanged out a bit longer, but we’d decided to bring our friend to the SMWS in the evening to put a cherry on the top of her full-on whisky day. She still drinks whisky, so we consider her initiation to the water of life a great success. Stay tuned for another couple of car-free whisky adventures in the next post, meanwhile, as always, Slainte!
A rainy day trip to yet another Diageo workhorse distillery (and a wee rant about bottles pricing).
Over the last three years, we embraced the dry January tradition. After over a month in Italy, this year felt even more necessary to regenerate our livers for a few weeks…and, as usual, they were the slowest of the year. For this reason too we were particularly thrilled when we woke up on a rainy Sunday morning in February for our first distillery trip of the year! It was an old acquaintance of us: Blair Athol, in Pitlochry. We had already visited it in July 2019, although only for a tasting in their unique bar (a former copper mashtun IS the bar). Since then, we tried a number of Blair Athol expressions, mostly from the SMWS, and were never disappointed. When planning the trip we were quite happy to realise that we could do it in a day using public transportation. The return bus ticket was less than £20 each, more environmentally friendly and way cheaper than going by car. Pitlochry is just about 1h and 40 minutes away from Edinburgh, and if it wasn’t for a 15-20 minutes stop in Perth, the bus trip would have matched that duration. We woke up quite early and walked our way up the Leith Walk to the bus station, only stopping to grab a coffee and a roll at the Snax Cafè (W Register St), just a few minutes away from the station: the only one open at 7.30am on a Sunday (and probably the cheapest in the area). We can’t say the bus ride was exactly smooth, as the table was vibrating so much that we couldn’t leave our coffees on it until we hit the highway. But in a figurative sense, it was a smooth ride indeed. Once in Pitlochry, we had enough time for a second breakfast, espresso and (a very yummy) cake this time, in the very cosy Escape Route Café, while hiding from the rain.
Feeding our minds…and our stomachs.
With an extra half-slice of cake in the stomach, we were definitely ready for the tour! Since we were here in 2019 the tours offer has changed a bit. When we booked there were three experiences available (at the time of writing they added a fourth: Blair Athol Cask and Cocktail experience, for £75): the Signature Tour (£16, “guided distillery experience” with three drams), the Allt Dour Tour (£35) and the Managers Tasting Experience tour (£65). According to their webpage, the latter two included 6 drams, so we inquired about the difference and learned that while the Allt Dour Tour features a mix of Blair Athol and other Diageo’s distilleries’ drams, the Managers Tasting Experience is an exclusively Blair Athol tasting, with two samples from casks and two distillery exclusives. We chose the latter, of course.
Ready? Ready!
Our tour guide was David, whose kindness didn’t betray the fame Canadians have. Commonly to other distillery guides we met, he moved there when about to retire and decided to pick up a part-time job at the distillery. We both agree that it sounds like a very good plan. As the tour started David told us that the 99.7% of Blair Athol single malt goes into blends, mostly Bell’s. We knew it, but not to that extent. We were also surprised by how the production process is still very manual, in contrast with other Diageo workhorses such as Clynelish, mostly automated.
The still room.
There is no filling room, as the new make spirit is loaded into tankers and put into casks at the main Diageo facilities near Alloa. We moved to one of the few dunnage warehouses they have on site, which keeps casks dating back to the 60s…Awesome smell!
We felt younger in here.
After the tour, we moved to a very small but cosy room accessible from the courtyard, where five drams were waiting for us. The first one was the Blair Athol 12y Flora and Fauna. We discovered that it comes from only first-fill ex-sherry casks and is not artificially coloured (which makes sense, given the former). We wondered why they don’t put it on the label. The second dram was their Distillery Exclusive. The age is not stated, however it is a bit higher in abv (48%) and from “refill, rejuvenated and American oak ex-bourbon casks”. Very buttery and sweet dram, we thought more ex-bourbon casks than sherry ones were in the vatting. The third was a cracking dram: Blair Athol 23y (58.4%, 2017 special release, cracking price as well, unfortunately). Then, we had two samples from the cask, a 2009 vintage from an ex-bourbon barrel and a 1993 vintage from an ex-sherry butt.
Directly from the cask!
While both lovely, the bourbon was truly great, a shame it wasn’t for sale. Finally, David gave us a wee sample of the 11y bottle-your-own expression (56.2%, full maturation in ex-red wine casks)…Maybe it was the 6th dram, although the “we are gifting this” feel of it was not great since it was advertised on the website and in the email.
A quite nice tasting.
As the tour ended, we were conducted to the distillery shop. To be honest it felt a bit rushed, with most of our samples still in the glass…Fortunately we had empties with us. We returned to the village to look for food, which we found (in good quantities) at the Old Mill Inn: the lamb Sunday roast was particularly tasty! The rain didn’t stop however, so except for a wee walk up to the local church courtyard, we spent the rest of the afternoon in a pub, watching the England rugby team smashing Italy yet again.
Happiness before post-rugby depression.
The bus was perfectly on time and took us back home while we were happily sipping the leftovers from the tasting.
The glasses they gave us at the distillery turned out to be handy.
It was a nice experience to revisit a distillery we had seen in the early days of our whisky journey. The liquid did not disappoint, as well as the staff, nice and welcoming. However, here we need to have a bit of a rant about distillery bottle pricing and offering (***). Blair Athol is the fifth Diageo distillery we visited in the last year, the others being Clynelish, Ord, Lochnagar, and Cardhu. All of them had a Distillery Exclusive (all 48% and non-age statement), priced at £85 or £90. All except Ord, if we recall correctly, had a bottle-your-own expression: single cask, naturally presented, usually around 11-12y, in all cases £120. First, in our opinion, both distillery exclusive and bottle-your-own are overpriced. We are prepared and willing to pay a premium for special expressions and distillery exclusives, and we are also aware of the current prices’ madness. However, it needs to be somehow justified. 120 quids for a 11-12y naturally presented is quite steep, 30 quids above single cask expressions of similar age at other distilleries (Glenallachie or Auchentoshan). Furthermore, how is it possible that all these cask permutations come always at the same price? Talking about the Distillery Exclusive range, these are decently sized batches (6000 bottles), still non-age statement whisky and not cask-strength: how come they cost £85/90? As an example, the Glenlivet bottle-your-own, a small batch as well, came for a much lower price (£55 for the 12y, £70 for the 15y, both cask-strength). We find really hard to explain the logic behind prices, it looks almost like they want to take advantage of whisky enthusiasts, which is not great, in particular considering the very convenient price of the entry level expressions in their core ranges. We can see why new and independent distilleries would push prices a bit, but here we are at decades-old sites backed by a huge multinational company. It is a shame because, in spite of the nice visits we had at these distilleries, this left us a bitter taste, and we probably won’t rush to go back and check out new bottlings.
Blair Athol – The Managers Tasting Experience
Price: £65.00 pp (February 2022)
Tasting: 6 drams, BA 12y (F&F, 43%), BA Distillery Exclusive (see below), BA 23y 2017 special release, BA ex-bourbon cask sample, BA ex-sherry cask sample, BA Bottle your own (see below)
Target: whisky geeks
Value for money: a wee bit pricey
Highlights: the single cask drams
Things we did not like: the sampled drams not for sale, and see rant above (***)
Distillery exclusive: BA bottle-your-own (11y, ex-red wine cask, NC, NCF, 56.1%, £120) and BA Distillery Exclusive (NAS, 48%, £90)
The day of the Dramathon is here, finally! We woke up very rested after a dram-less night. Off to a quick breakfast (toasts and jam for Gianluigi, a huuuuge porridge bowl for Teresa), then we drove to Dufftown to the race meeting point, the Glenfiddich distillery parking lot. Because of Decathlon gear colour choices and a lack of attention, Gianluigi looked like a smurf…at least he matched Cliff!
The RunnerSmurf.
At this point our destinies separated, Gianlugi took the “half-dram” (i.e. half marathon) coaches to get to the start at the Tamdhu station, while a bit later Teresa got to the “wee dram” (i.e. 10k) start in Aberlour.
G.: As usual, I was a bit nervous before the race started. The day was ideal to run: not-too-cold and sunny-ish. The first part of the trail, along the former Speyside train line, was mostly downhill, therefore I could keep a nice and steady pace. A few kms in, I could admire the newly built Dalmunach distillery, on the site of the now demolished Imperial: a truly beautiful building, which I hope to visit someday. The middle of the course is in the Aberlour village, and from this point it’s almost all (very mildly) uphill. My GPS was a bit wrong about both the total ascent (180m on paper vs. 80m on my device) and the distance (900m short)…when I saw the Balvenie distillery I realised that I was about to finish, so I sprinted towards the end line, finishing in about 1 hour and 25 minutes. It was a very nice experience, and I loved the course, probably one of the best I ran so far (not that they are many…). The prize was quite fitting for the event: a wooden medal from a dismissed cask and four 50ml miniatures: Balvenie 12, Glenfiddich 12, Monkey Shoulder and Glenfarclas 12 (unfortunately, no Tamdhu, which I’d have loved!).
The prize: Speyside drams and the original “medal”.
T.: I strongly disagree with Gianluigi’s “not too cold”. After waiting 2 hours for the bus (with just a wee stop at the Dufftown whisky shop to nose around) and then at least half an hour for the race to start, I can safely say that it was freezing! Not too bad, as I normally perform (well, survive) better when it’s cold. I don’t have much to add on the course itself (the 10k course was the same as the second part of the half marathon), except that it was very enjoyable. The view of the huge warehouses as I was approaching Dufftown was stunning. Same prize at the end except for the Glenfarclas (fair enough, it was still the wee dram), and I was soooo happy for making it under the hour!
Hooray? Hooray!
After Teresa finished, we grabbed a warm soup and tea while waiting for the award ceremony and went back to the hotel in Rothes. A bit of relax sipping from the hardly earned miniatures, a shower, and for dinner we had a special plan: we had booked a table at the Station Hotel. This hotel/bar/restaurant is owned by the Forsyth company, and according to some is the place where the really important whisky meetings happen. We treated outselves with adult-cow meat and a delicious dessert. Then, a few drams at the bar (worth of mention, the now dismissed Arran 14y) before going back to the hotel for a well-deserved sleep.
We woke up quite early, and after breakfast Cliff drove us in a very foggy Speyside (the fog won’t leave us until we got in Fife, making Gianluigi homesick of Northern Italy). The first stop of the day was the Macallan distillery. Neither of us is particularly fond of this brand (it’s the only distillery not offering tours and tastings, rather “experiences”…) but we were curious to see the building. So, despite all available “experiences” were sold out for the day, we went in aiming for a coffee and the peek. We have to say, the building is quite spectacular, it felt like being in a modern art museum lobby…or in an airport.
The Macallan stills – hopefully one day we’ll get closer!
The courtesy of the receptionist, which welcomed us very warmly and explained where things were, was counterbalanced by the rudeness of the waitress who served us. After the quick coffee we could walk inside to admire the unique circular disposition of the stills. On the way out we also saw the old distillery building, and wondered if one of their “experiences” included that as well.
Back on the road, our next stop was a completely different one: Glen Garioch, in Oldmeldrum (Aberdeenshire), one of the oldest in Scotland. A few months back, in an interview on Mark Gillespie’s WhiskyCast, we learned that the distillery is undergoing many renovation works, including moving back to directly fired stills and the restoration of the old malting floors, which would be used to produce a peated malt, in contrast with what is produced today. Beam Suntory, the owner of this and a few other distilleries, is also pursuing a peatland restoration plan, since peat use has a fair impact on carbon emission.
Look what’s at the end of Distillery Road…a distillery!
The malting floors and the wee bothy.
As we checked in, our guide Rob walked us in a very nice bothy on the side of the malting floors, which used to be the excise man office. We sat on a very comfortable sofa with four drams in front of us, while Rob told us the story of the distillery and maaany details about the production (thanks for the patience answering all our questions!). We were very curious, since Glen Garioch is not one of the most common single malts for us – we had a bottle of their non-age statement core range expression (the Founder’s Reserve, 50%abv) early on but none since. The first dram was suspiciously transparent…In fact, it was the newmake! We moved on to the second (Gianluigi only sniffing), the Renaissance Chapter III (17y/o, 50.8%), a few years old series that marked a new phase in the distillery history. This was followed by a great dram: a 19y red-wine cask matured (48%). Finally, a very surprising dram: 2012 vintage cask strength, matured in a virgin American oak barrel from Missouri (single cask, 61.6%). This is part of a series as well, with the two others being matured in barrels made from Minnesota and Kentucky wood. The malt was really different, with very prominent bourbon notes (and colour), but still definitely a scotch single malt! Unfortunately, the price was a bit too steep, but definitely one to try!
The tasting.
Thanks to the lovely staff, at the shop we also tried the Renaissance Chapter II (16y/o, 51.4%), which we bought, and the Virgin oak (this time a vat of different barrels from North America, 2013 vintage bottled at 48%).
Back in the fog, destination Leith, happy for the Dramathon (yes, we’ll do it again) and another great whisky trip. Stay tuned and Slàinte!
Glen Garioch Masterclass
Price: £30.00 pp (October 2021)
Tasting: the newmake spirit and three drams: GG Renaissance Chapter III (17y, 50.8%, ex-bourbon and ex-sherry), GG red wine cask maturation (19y, 48%), and GG 2012 vintage Missouri virgin oak cask (61.6%)
Target: whisky amateurs and enthusiasts
Value for money: ok
Highlights: the tasting bothy and the kind shop manager
Things we did not like: we couldn’t take the newmake with us
In the previous episode our travellers had to escape a swarm of thirsty midges by retreating inside the campervan for the night. Unfortunately, the siege wasn’t broken during the night, and as Gianluigi stuck his nose outside the swarm promptly attacked him. So, we quickly drove back to Corran to search for a midges-free area to have breakfast. Along the way there weren’t many bars open (including the one in front of the Corran ferry, coincidentally closed on Tuesdays), so we drove directly to Fort William.
Now, we guess whisky fans will already know where this is going…and yes, we had our coffee at the mystical Ben Nevis distillery, because why not? It was actually the third time we stopped by. The first time was when we visited the distillery in 2019, when being newbies meant we did not get a bottle of their 10y single malt, which we regretted as it was very cheap at the time (well, at least we got one of the 8y Glencoe blended malt, loved it!). Then, in 2020 we stopped on our way to Skye, but the Ben Nevis 10y was long gone, so we consoled ourselves with another bottle of the Glencoe (our first bottle was long gone as well). This time (which we bet won’t be the last), “experience + luck = we finally got our bottle of the 10y”, recently re-released with a slightly different label. We also tasted their new core range expression Core Leis, NAS but still unchill filtered, not artificially coloured and bottled at a very nice 46%.
Moving on, we didn’t have a clear plan for the next few days, but two things were certain: we wanted to eat west-coast seafood for lunch and, more importantly, after two nights spent in the wild and being almost eaten alive, we needed the facilities of a camping. The first of the two was quite easy, we drove until we found one which was looking good enough, at Port Appin Pierhouse Hotel: delicious food! (Also, they seemed to have a good whisky selection.) The second turned out to be tricky. We decided to stop at Tyndrum, where we had identified a couple of options for the camping. On our way there we called one of the two and we reserved our pitch. What we didn’t know, was that there is a camping with the same name in England, about 400mi from Tyndrum…so when we arrived at the check-in, guess which one of the two we had reserved? (facepalm!) Fortunately, they had one last pitch available, and maybe to say thanks we decided to stay two nights! After a shower, a pint, and a walk to the Green Welly shop (we resisted the temptation to buy their exclusive North Star “An Orkney” 13y, but we got a couple of miniatures), we grilled again some yummy burgers bought on the way. A dram, and then off to a very deserved and restful sleep.
A taster of the West Highland Way.
Day #8 was supposed to be restful, and it was indeed! We opted for a walk, since the day was particularly sunny and warm, so we got a bus to Bridge of Orchy and we walked back to Tyndrum almost 12k on the path of the West Highland Way. The landscape during the walk was really stunning!
Back in Tyndrum we didn’t do much, a couple of pints, we (again) resisted the temptation to go back and get that Orkney from the Green Welly shop, and we managed to catch up with the Quarter Gill tasting we had missed a few days before when in Speyside.
On day #9, the second to last day of our holiday, we weren’t as lucky with the weather as the day before. We drove towards Loch Lomond under a deep grey sky, and we only stopped for a coffee in Tarbert. Our intention was to spend a day at the lake, but with such a bad weather we decided to keep driving instead, direction Inveraray. The route was quite scenic, so after briefly visiting the village of Inveraray and walking around the castle, we headed back to the Loch Fyne Oysters restaurant to grab some (delicious) seafood to-go, and we had our lunch at the Rest and Be Thankful stop. This is a small but quite scenic picnic area on the A83 with benches to enjoy the landscape while having a snack. Still overcast, but truly breath-taking.
The Inveraray Castle and its gardens.
We drove back to Loch Lomond, but in the afternoon the day didn’t open up. At this point we had an idea: why don’t try to visit the Glengoyne Distillery? We called right away, and fortunately there were still a few spots for the last tasting of the day. Gianluigi had already visited the distillery during a field-trip of a 2018 scientific conference held in Glasgow, but being in a very big group the experience at the time wasn’t great. This time too, the tasting room was full, quite surprisingly considering the period. There were maybe around 15 people, however at very distanced tables with all safety measures in place. The quite generous tasting consisted in 50ml bottles, paired with chocolates. The drams were their flagship 10y, the 18y, and the Legacy Chapter II, a non-age statement matured mostly in ex-bourbon casks and bottled at 47%.
Finally, we used the flavour wheel!
The tasting was smooth and nice, we particularly appreciated the last one as the ex-bourbon casks matured whiskies have been growing on us for quite a while. Unfortunately the prices at the shop were a bit higher than our expectations, so we grabbed just a Glengoyne 12y miniature to pair with one of the two tastings (Gianluigi had to drive) and complete the core range for a vertical tasting at home in the future (which we still have to do, by the way).
Sadness when the bad weather forces you to an indoor activity.
We left the distillery very happy nonetheless, heading towards Rowardennan, on Loch Lomond, where we were going to spend the night before the next morning adventure. As we’re both big Still Game fans, we couldn’t help not having a pint at the Clansman Pub!!!
Glengoyne Tasting
Price: £25.00 pp (August 2021)
Tasting: 3 5cl bottles, Glengoyne 10y, 18y, Legacy Chapter II, plus chocolate
Target: whisky novices and enthusiasts
Value for money: very good
Highlights: the chocolate and the whisky wheel
Things we did not like: shop bottles slightly overpriced
For day #5 we had no distillery visit planned (panic!!), but we had a long drive instead: we needed to reach the Morvern peninsula on the west coast of Scotland. We started the day calmly each one with a run, Gianluigi aimed for 10k and Teresa for 5k. For the record, we both got lost on our respective paths and ran more than planned (trails on the apps are quite different than on the ground).
Aviemore was supposed to be our first stop, but realising the amount of Sunday traffic and people visiting the town, we decided to keep going until the Culloden Battlefield. At the visitor centre, we had a coffee and bought a 5cl miniature for later (a Culloden Battle Highland Single Malt 8y, slightly peated, which we suspect might be a Loch Lomond). We then drove towards Loch Ness: we decided to drive along the southern coast of the lake, which gifted us with some incredible views!
Loch Ness and the temptation to put our feet in the water.
After a quick stop for a beer at Fort Augustus, we drove through Fort William, took the Corran Ferry and finally got to the Morvern peninsula. At this point the adventure started: we aimed for a parking spot on the beach, which was on the side of a very narrow (almost too narrow…) road. Unfortunately, we got there too late – someone had already taken the spot, so we decided to drive to the Lochaline Hotel, where the owner kindly allowed us to use his parking lot on the shore for the night. We thanked him by having a couple of pints at the bar. Waking up on the sound of the sea was very nice, and for the first time since we had left Edinburgh the weather was promising. We drove to the Clach Na Criche park to have breakfast, at this point it was an amazing sunny day already!
Finally, breakfast in the sun!
The road to the Nc’Nean distillery was harsher than we thought, culminating with half-mile of dirt road. Our van didn’t abandon us though, and we arrived there at the perfect time to start the tour. Since the visitor manager was on a leave, the tasting and tour was guided by the office manager Cindy (aided by her lovely wee dug), which welcomed us with a coffee and a gluten-free brownie! She has been there from the very start of the company, so she knew all the details we were curious about, including how the distillery building was a restored farm on the Drimmin Estate, all the innovation put in place to guarantee the carbon neutrality (recently achieved when we visited), and the challenges that releasing their first expression during a global pandemic brought, including having to get a provisional, and very manual, bottling line.
Gianluigi and the wee dug.
As usual, the tour ended with a tasting. We had three drams: the newmake spirit, the Nc’Nean botanical spirit (described by Cindy and others as a “gin-whisky hybrid”, as it is done by redistilling their newmake with botanicals at the Kintyre Distillery down south), and finally a dram of the Nc’Nean Single Malt. A few months back we had a taste of the very first batch released in September 2020, which to be honest we found a bit too young. However, the one we tasted there (batch 6) was more complex and deeper in flavour, with the STR casks used (in combination with ex-bourbon ones) having a bigger impact on the whisky.
Satisfaction after the distillery visit.
After the distillery tour we took a long walk in the Drimmin Estate, in particular to visit the gallery of the artist Alan B. Hayman, specialised in landscapes as well as Scottish fauna – some of the paintings were truly stunning! We got back to the van, got a quick but delicious sandwich at a kiosk at the Lochaline docks (which we already knew from a previous trip back from Mull), and we drove to Aoineadh Mor. This was an historical township depopulated during the infamous Highland clearances, where the land was taken from the crofters and given to the lords for their sheep herds. The walk is quite short and not particularly difficult, and it is possible to see the ruins of over a dozen former house buildings, a scar in the Scottish history still visible in this magnificent landscape.
Teresa ahead of the walking game.
Back to the car park, we thought it was the perfect spot for the night. There was one tiny detail we hadn’t taken into account: MIDGES! After a nice dinner, we had planned to spend the evening reading and having a few drams on the wooden benches outside. Instead, we had to quickly beat a retreat and lock ourselves up in the van to not get eaten alive by those b…. ehm, annoying beasts. We still had the drams, of course.
Nc’Nean Tour
Price: £15.00 pp (August 2021)
Tasting: 3 drams, new make spirit, botanical spirit and Nc’Nean single malt (batch 6)….plus a coffee and a delicious vegan brownie
Target: everyone, but in particular adventurous people
First lesson for newbies campervanners: nights spent in a camping are waaaaay more resting. We woke up feeling great in the morning, but maybe because we were anticipating what was waiting for us: the GlenDronach distillery. The drive from Aberlour to Huntly was quite smooth, with just a quick stop to Asda to pick up some folding camping chairs (another rookie mistake not to get them beforehand…).
Since its foundation in 1826, the GlenDronach distillery went through some troubled history including a fire, bankruptcy, government ownership, and mothballing. Now the distillery is owned by the American giants Brown Forman (does Jack Daniels ring a bell?) which acquired it together with Benriach and Glenglassaugh from Billy Walker. He was the responsible of GlenDronach revitalisation started in 2008, and hugely contributed to its current popularity.
We had our visit booked late in the morning. Since tours of the production had not restarted yet, we opted for the sherry masterclass. After checking in the visitor centre, the guide Vicky led us into a very nice mansion on a hill just a couple of minutes walking from the centre and in front of the warehouses, with a stunningly beautiful garden. This is called the Glen House, and it is where distillery managers used to live.
The GlenDronach distillery from the Glen House.
The tasting was ready for us and abundant beyond our expectations! We started with a “dram” (not sure if we are supposed to call it this way) of Oloroso sherry, golden colour and very dry, followed by one of Pedro Ximenez sherry, this one much darker, sweeter and syrupy. Then, we tasted their newmake spirit, which to be honest was one of the best we tried so far, already rich with sweet and fruity flavours, but delicate as well. Moving on to the whiskies, we first tasted the GlenDronach 15y (which we learned is made with whisky matured 50/50 in ex-Oloroso and ex-PX casks, unlike the 12y which is 30% ex-Oloroso and 70% ex-PX, and the 18y 100% ex-Oloroso), and then the cask strength Batch 9 (bottled at 59.4% and aged between 6 and 12 years). Finally, two gems: a vintage 1995 matured for 23 years in an ex-PX puncheon, and a vintage 1992 matured for 26 years in an ex-Oloroso butt. The tasting also included a dried fruits and chocolate florentine, which perfectly paired with the drams. It was a unique tasting for us, because for the first time we tried the sherries alongside the whiskies, which allowed us to better understand the influence of the casks on the spirit maturation. Vicky did a perfect job at guiding the tasting, and although she said she was feeling a bit “rusty” because of the long visitor centre closure, we really enjoyed the experience.
A very generous tasting!
Unfortunately, the price of the two single casks was a bit steep for our pockets (we’d like to tell you, but our brains removed that information too quickly), and the price of all core range bottlings a lot higher than specialist retailers. Therefore, we “settled” for a 15y bottle your own (although, because of Covid, it was pre-bottled) matured in an ex-PX cask for around £120 which Vicky, very kindly, made us taste (the other option, an 11y ex-oloroso cask was a bit cheaper but unavailable at the time).
We drove away (ehm, Teresa drove…. driver drams for her again) to go back to the village of Huntly, where we had a quick lunch. Since the day was still long and our whisky activities were over, we decided to first visit the Huntly Castle.
A not so great photo of the Huntly Castle.
The castle was the ancient home of the Earl of Huntly. Version 1.0 of the castle was made of wood and on a motte, and only later it was replaced with a stone building right next. As many other castles in Scotland, the external structure is still well preserved. A good guided tour through the remains helped us understand a little bit of the history of the castle and the region. A fascinating, unexpected detail was the presence of Catholic religious symbols engraved on the external wall – a clear message to visitors. The garden around the castle was very well kept as well, with the river Deveron running on one side in a very picturesque landscape. We left Huntly but stopped again right outside the village for a walk at the Bin Forest. The walk was very nice and relaxing as well, we chose a fairly short trail (around 6.5 km), which led to the top of the hill. The view was very nice despite the overcast weather, but what surprised us the most was the different vegetations along the path, including some magnificent forests.
“Rocking” in the Bin Forest!
After the walk, we drove back to Speyside to get closer to the distilleries booked for the next day. We should have had an online tasting with our Leith based Quarter Gill club, but everything else went wrong. We had chosen a pub’s parking lot to spend the night as it was recommended by the Park4Night app, but we found out very late that they didn’t have food. We went to another one which unfortunately treated us very poorly (we won’t name names here, we already left a review on the appropriate platform), and we missed the online tasting. The night was saved by a few drams and the joyful crowd at the Fiddichside Inn, including a stunning 1995 Tormore bottled by Gordon & MacPhail in their Connoisseur’s Choice range. A rainy, happy night.
GlenDronach Sherry Masterclass
Price: £40.00 pp (July 2021)
Tasting: 5 drams + 2 sherry, oloroso sherry, Pedro Ximenex sherry, new make spirit, Glendronach 15y, Cask Strength Batch 9, 1995 single cask ex-PX puncheon, 1992 single cask ex-sherry butt
Target: whisky enthusiasts and geeks, in particular sherry bombs lovers
Here we are, almost ready to start our summer holidays, after months of hard work! We decided to avoid unnecessary risks and to stay in Scotland, so despite our stock of Parmigiano Reggiano is finished, we decided not to travel back to Italy to visit our families. Instead, a destination we craved for long: Orkney! But then…PING!
Unfortunately, Gianluigi had a contact with a person who tested positive for Covid (who at the time forgot to get his jab…please trust an epidemiologist: go get it now if you haven’t done so yet!) and at the time the rule was still self-isolation for 10 days no matter what. So, the holiday is “oot the windae” (including visits to Highland Park, Scapa, Wolfburn, and Pultney…). However, we rapidly bounced back: we used the days in self-isolation to regroup, cancel all the reservations and make a new plan. We took advantage of a voucher for a campervan which we were supposed to use for a holiday on Islay last year (first victim of the pandemic) and we rented the vehicle for 10 days. Since Highland Park was fully booked for the period, we changed our destination: Speyside + “let’s see what we can fit in”.
The wee campervan.
We were very excited because it’s our first trip with a campervan, which gave us a great freedom to travel around the country without being worried of not finding a room. We arrived at the rental place in Broxburn loaded like mules, and here we go!
After a quick stop in Perth for gas, a coffee and some groceries, we got to the Cairngorms, which is always a pleasure because of its spectacular landscape. We parked at the Balmoral Castle parking (where overnight stays are allowed and there is also a drinking water fountain), and we bet that by now you guessed which distillery we were heading to: Royal Lochnagar!
The Cairngorms in a typical Scottish summer day.
The distillery was built in 1845, after two previous establishments were burned to the ground, and it gained the Royal Warrant after a visit of Queen Victoria in 1848. Today it’s the smallest in the huge Diageo portfolio, with a capacity of just 500,000 mlpa and, unlike others we recently visited, it’s completely manual. We arrived there after a 20-minute walk, the distillery is made by a bunch of lovely stone buildings, almost hidden in a very picturesque landscape.
The tour started in the former mill room, since today they get the barley already milled. The guide Cara was knowledgeable and although sometimes we felt she was sticking to a script, she was able to sneak in some quite funny jokes. The tour moved swiftly to the next stages of production: mashing, fermentation (two wooden washbacks), and distillation: a magnificent couple of onion-shaped stills.
Teresa in awe in front of the Royal Lochnagar stills.
In the filling store we learn that the most used cask here is refill sherry butts, which (as you can guess) have been previously used by other Diageo’s distilleries. They have around a thousand casks storage capacity on site, the rest goes to the warehouse up in Moray, at Glenlossie.
After briefly visiting the courtyard (btw, nice view of the worm-tub condenser from there), we went to a warehouse space for a sensorial experience: Cara made us dip a few pieces of paper into cask-strength whisky drams, each characterised by different cask or flavour profile, one was a Lagavulin). Unfortunately we could only nose those drams…. But no big deal, as the tour ended with a tasting, which we could both enjoy since we had already parked (hurray!!!).
The old malting floor..and, behind it, the Queen’s estate.
The first dram was their main core range expression, the Royal Lochnagar 12 year old (bottled at 40%). Second, their Distillery Exclusive (batch 1), which includes maturation in first fill European oak and refill sherry and bourbon casks (NAS, bottled at 48%). The last two drams were quite spectacular: the Selected Reserve, despite its 43% abv (NAS but apparently around 20y) and the 175th Anniversary edition, a 17y cask strength (56.3%). Unfortunately, the last two bottles were well above our budget (between £170 and 250), as well as the “bottle your own” (a 14y, 54.9% for £150), so we decided to get the Distillery Exclusive (£90)…and as a travel dram (or “sacrificial whisky”, like two pals of our whisky group taught us) a bottle of the 12y: with the 10% discount it was quite convenient.
A great final tasting!
We slowly strolled back to the campervan, and we barely had time to cook some dinner before it started to rain cats and dogs. So, we took a dram of our other travel whisky, a young but quite tasty Miltonduff from the SMWS…as an anticipation of what was waiting for us in that incredible region that is “Speyside”.
Day #3 started with a 3-hour drive from Muir of Ord to the village of Doune, in the southern Highlands, famous for its castle which was used as a set for popular movies and TV series. Despite not being able to find our coconut shells (probably a swallow stole them from us), we toured the castle anyway.
Doune Castle <>insert coconut shells noise</>.
After that, we checked in to a lovely, local B&B and went straight to Deanston distillery, just a 15-minute walk away. The staff are very professional and welcoming, Brian led us straight to the warehouse where 3 casks were waiting for us and only us (a private tasting, yay!).
The first expression was a 2013 vintage 1st fill ex-bourbon, quite delicious, full of all the notes you’d expect from a great bourbon cask (vanilla, honey, caramel), but very balanced despite the young age. Second up, an incredible 2001 fino hogshead, re-casked from 1st fill ex-bourbon. Brian told us that this cask was supposed to be finished earlier, but because of the pandemic it aged for an extra year or so. It was surprisingly good, very different from a typical sherried style whisky (drier, and orchard fruits notes), which instead came in the form of the last, and delicious, 2004 amontillado butt, a classic sherry-bomb.
The tasting location: Deanston Warehouse 4!
In the store they kindly gave us a wee taste of an ex-calvados and a marsala finished expression (12 and 15 years old), both quite interesting. We were spoiled for choice, but we went with the 2013 full bottle and the 2001 small bottle (too good and peculiar to be left there), plus a plethora of 30ml samples, including the new make spirit. At this point the credit card was crying. As it was a very nice day, we sipped one of the samples (a 2002 vintage ex-port pipe finish) in the beautiful gardens behind the castle, next to a wee stream: a liquid picnic.
Happiness after the tasting at Deanston.
As per the previous day, the rest of the evening was quiet…mostly because the only pub in the village was closed (we were told because of a restrictions breach), so we ended up drinking some previously collected samples in the B&B while re-watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail (of course).
The final day of our trip started with a quick morning visit of the Dunblane cathedral, which was on the way to our next and last distillery: Tullibardine. We were very curious, as despite its presence in local grocery stores, the only expression we know is the (quite nice) 15 y/o, tasted a few months back through our Whisky-Me subscription. In our understanding the distillery is going through some refurbishment, but the visitor centre looks already quite new and spacious. The guide, Gavin, is a veteran: has been working there for 17 years (and as a matter of fact, one of the distillery exclusive bottlings is named after him), and he was visibly happy to have visitors again. We were the first visitors, as they reopened for tours on that very same day. He explained to us that the distillery is owned by the Famille Picard, a French beverage company which, among other things, allows them to access premium ex-wine casks. He first showed us where the malted barley comes through and the milling room. After, we entered a space where it is possible to admire all 3 parts of the process equipment together (mashtun, washbacks and four stills). This was quite unique to us because in most of the other distilleries we visited these are located in different rooms, despite Tullibardine being far from a craft distillery (3mlpa production). Next, we spent some time in the warehouse, which is always among our favourite parts.
Tullibardine distillery.
Finally, the tasting takes place in the shop: Gavin was quite generous, and to our request he was happy to give us one of the Murray range instead of the 15y that we had already tasted, as well as a taste of one Distillery Exclusive, a 12y cask strength Moscatel finish (£95, the other one available was an ex-bourbon cask: same age, same price and cask strength), and a Marsala finish from the Murray series (which we happily bought). This was one of the most engaging tours we had…It was very easy to connect with the distillery “spirit” (in all meanings).
The rest of the day went smoothly. Lunch and a stroll in Perth, followed by a short but enjoyable walk at Loch Leven before driving back to the home base in Leith. As in our previous trips around Scotland, we ended up talking about how lucky we are to live in this gorgeous country, while starting to plan the next trip.
Deanston Warehouse 4 tasting
Price: £35.00 pp (May 2021)
Tasting: 3 drams straight from the cask, 2013 ex-bourbon barrel (£65/25 for 700/200ml), 2001 organic ex-bourbon with 3-4y finish in fino hogshead (£120/35), 2004 amontillado butt (£120/35), and a complimentary glass (high-stem copita)
Tasting: 3 drams, Tullibardine Sovereign (43%, NAS but ~7y, wink-wink), a choice of the cask finish series (225 Sauternes, 228 Burgundy, and 500 sherry, all 43% NAS but ~8y, wink-wink), and the 15y (43%), and a complimentary glass (short highball glass)
Target: both whisky novices and enthusiasts
Value for money: Good
Highlights: the friendly guide and “hey, I can see the mashtun, washbacks and stills from this spot!”
We were really looking forward to day 2, because our first distillery stop was where they produce one of Gianluigi’s favourites: Clynelish. As usual, we arrived there a few minutes early, among the first ones, so the distillery staff waved from the balcony…nice welcome. The distillery, and in particular the visitor centre, has been recently renovated to be included in the “Johnnie Walker Four Corners of Scotland Experience” (together with Glenkinchie in the Lowlands, Cardhu in Speyside, and Caol Ila on Islay) and the building looks quite beautiful.
The tour started in a dark room, the very experienced guide Daragh seated us along a very big table. As he told the parallel stories of Johnnie Walker and Clynelish distillery (including the ominous Highland Clearances operated by the Dukes of Sutherland), the middle of the table rose up, and each one of us was faced with mysterious drawers. These contain various objects (jar with, supposedly, characteristic Clynelish aromas, wax stamp…) or games (find the Highland Wildcat on the map, 16 pieces jigsaw…) and their opening was connected with coloured hollows with things like the Striding Man, the Wildcat, etc.. While the historical information and context was extremely interesting, we wondered whether such a spectacle was really needed. We would have happily exchanged the “fancy table” experience with an extra dram. Fortunately, things became much more interesting as we went through the distillery’s production (which is highly automated and, to my surprise, works 24/7), although not in the warehouse.
Clynelish distillery stills.
The tour ended in the tasting room, where we had 3 drams (and they kindly provided the sample bottles for the driver), and a pre-prepared cocktail if you wanted to use one of your drams for that. The room is very nice and the view from the balcony quite spectacular. Unfortunately, they could not give us a dram nor a sniff of neither the bottle your own (12y, 51.2%, £120) nor the Distillers Edition (15y, 46%, double matured in oloroso casks, £65). We ended up buying the latter anyway, as the Distillery Exclusive included in the tasting was nice but a bit pricey.
Overall, we were probably not the right target for this type of experience, but we were happy to visit the distillery anyway. We hope that when tourism is fully resumed they will introduce a more “whisky enthusiasts targeted” experience.
After the distillery we made two brief stops, one to check out the impressive Dunrobin Castle (the morning fog spoils the view though), and one for a warm soup in the very cosy Golspie Coffee Bothy.
The magnificent view of Dunrobin Castle from the beach…
Then a quick drive and we arrived at Muir of Ord, home of the Singleton (of Glen Ord distillery) single malt. As this brand is mostly reserved for the South-east Asia market (contrary to the Singleton of Glendullan and Dufftown, respectively reserved to the American and European ones), we were quite curious to taste it. So far, we had only tried very few expressions from independent bottlers. With a production of 11mlpa, this is one of the biggest distilleries we have ever visited. We were also impressed by the malting facility visible from the road, which we were told it serves all the Diageo’s Northern-Highlands distilleries.
After we checked in the visitor centre, we could take a look at the exhibition about the history of distilling and scotch whisky in Scotland, which included some old equipment used during the illicit distilling era.
An old times still and condenser (from the Glen Ord distillery exhibition).
Our guide Dave ably walked us through this massive site, working 24/7 and highly automated as well. The fact that only around 10% of this malt is used in blends surprised us, and contrasts with Clynelish where this fraction is above 90%. The tour ended in a nice tasting room with a window on the warehouse, where only a minority of their casks is stored. As we booked a guesthouse within walking-distance, we could both taste the 3 drams, which we both really enjoyed (a lot of orchard fruits). Deciding which one to buy was a challenge.
Glen Ord distillery warehouses.
The village was very quiet, we quickly got food at a fish-and-chips shop nearby (and which, to be honest, I’m still trying to digest) and spent the evening on an online tasting with the lovely Mark and Kate Watt and their latest releases.
Value for money: not great (but please consider that it includes a 10% discount on the Diageo range available at the shop)
Highlights: the tasting room and the view from it
Things we did not like: no tour in the warehouse, not possible to try (or nose) other distillery exclusive bottlings, too much time on the first part of the tour
Tasting: 3 drams Singleton of Glen Ord 15y (40%, £52), Artisan (ex-bourbon and ex-oloroso cask NAS 40%, £90), and Distillers Edition (ex-bourbon cask NAS 48%, £90, but 10y, wink-wink), and a complimentary glass (round tumbler)
Target: whisky novices and casual tourists
Value for money: OK (but please consider that it includes a 10% discount on the Diageo range available at the shop, including the Singleton of Glen Ord range which is usually not available in the UK)
Highlights: the exhibition in the visitor centre and the size of the site
Dramming around 