scotchodysseyblog.com
scotchodysseyblog

As I have asserted in a number of other posts, it was piddling it down when I visited. Consequently, I took my photos from the door of the VC. The gable end you see is for the still house, where my laundry was drying at the time.

Oldmeldrum, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, AB51 0ES, 01651 873450. Morrison Bowmore (Suntory). www.glengarioch.com

APPEARANCE AND LOCATION:      ***      This area of Aberdeenshire is rural and rugged, despite being mostly flat. It feels a little wilder. The distillery is very much in the outer suburbs of the town, with a very busy main road at the top of the lane to the distillery. The buildings are lovely, however, even when wet which is rarely said about architecture anywhere near a damp Aberdeen.

TOURS PROVIDED:

‘Standard Tour’: £4. See ‘My Tour’ below.

‘VIP Tour’: £22. The distillery manager takes you round on this tour. It is a more in-depth experience again, lasting about 2 hours. You go into the warehouses and taste four whiskies from the Morrison Bowmore stable, including output from Bowmore and Auchentoshan distilleries.

DISTILLERY-EXCLUSIVE BOTTLINGS:      N/A

My Tour – 23/04/2010

THE RUNNING COMMENTARY:      ***

THE PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT:      *

Notes:      I got a good look up inside the kiln and around the maltings, which it is rumoured may start up again. They haven’t been converted into anything else, unlike the old cooperage which is now the superb VC. However, the way Fiona described the place of traditional maltings in the modern whisky industry – how with the consistency of commercial maltsters the industry as a whole is now producing consistently better whisky – I don’t think the staff believe this re-instatement is an imminent one. They have had problems with water, and hedge their bets with two sources. There are three stills in the still room, but only two make whisky and dry soaked cycling gear.

GENEROSITY:      (1 dram)

VALUE FOR MONEY:      *

SCORE:      5/10 *s

COMMENT:      A fairly standard 5/10 stars, so why would I recommend everyone to go, and why, if I manage to finish this journey, will I mark the achievement with a bottle of the 1990 vintage? The people, is the simple answer. Jane and Fiona lifted my spirits to untold heights: seriously impressive considering my hellish experiences in the rain and muck on the A96, one of the busiest roads in the Highlands. Their humour and hospitality are two things I shall never forget, and thinking of their enthusiasm for my trip was what ensured I made it back to Huntly. It is a nice whisky, though: dry, cerealy, but with toffee richness. The tour is equally good. You take a peak in the maltings and there is a very thorough explanation of why they are no longer used. You also get to look into the kiln from the grate where all that peat would have gone. The Visitor’s Centre is top class, also; they converted it from the old cooperage. Jane: that was a lovely cup of tea; and Fiona: you get that gold star. Thank you.

The kiln above the maltings. Will it come to life again and supply the peatier Glen Garioch malt of old?

A special place in most important respects.

Easter Elchies, Craigellachie, Morayshire, AB38 9RX, 01340 872280. Edrington Group. www.themacallan.com

APPEARANCE AND LOCATION:      ****      This is just a stunning place to put a distillery: at the top of a cliff on one of the inner banks of a Spey meander, looking out towards Benrinnes and other less venerable and whisky-significant mountains.

TOURS PROVIDED:

‘Experience Tour’: £8. See ‘My Tour’ below.

‘Precious Tour’: £20. The essential tour of the distillery is exactly the same as for the £8 Experience tour. However, at the end you are taken in to the nosing room where you are given a presentation on nosing and tasting, followed by a chance to do the real thing with some new make, two Sherry Oak expressions and two Fine Oak expressions. These will vary according to the tastes of the participants but range from 12 to 30 years of age.

NB: Tours are restricted to 10 (for both the Experience and Precious tours) and booking is “advisable, if not essential.”

DISTILLERY-EXCLUSIVE BOTTLINGS:      Not only a distillery-exclusive, but you must have participated on a tour in order to purchase it. A single cask Sherry butt from 1997 (52.3% ABV), £120.

My Tour – 22/04/2010

THE RUNNING COMMENTARY:      **

THE PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT:      **

Notes:      In a similar way to The Glenlivet, this tour is like an iceberg: most of the rest of the production and its equipment is out of sight. The stills are gorgeous, two spirit to one wash. There are about 20 more elsewhere on the site. This I whispered to one man who casually pondered how they could produce 8 million litres a year from six stills. They have retained – and even made new – wooden washbacks because The Macallan understands the aesthetics of it all. There are very modern, interactive displays, such as a turn-your-own barley mill, scale models and nifty photography at the start and pipework out of which you pull bungs and can nose new make spirit. All good touches, and show a real concern for the education and enjoyment of the visitor. The treatment of the maturation process I don’t think was bettered in any of my other tours.

GENEROSITY:      (1 dram)

VALUE FOR MONEY:      *

SCORE:      5/10 *s

COMMENT:      A fine tour, with a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide in Jennie. The distillery has only just finished an expansion project and we toured what was called the “dormant” side at the time. The modern entrance to the production site is very clean and effective with good photographs on a loop over several screens to illustrate the process. As romantically as possible. This is a serious lifestyle brand, after all. There are models to provide a more hands-on educational opportunity: especially the grind-your-own hand-turned barley mill. The expansion has seen further washbacks installed made of stainless steel. The ones we saw were brand new wooden ones. Again, the aesthetic is important and they did look very smart. The stillhouse is glorious with the dumpy, squat spirit stills. The Macallan works on a two wash stills to one spirit still ratio and has the finest spirit cut in the industry at just 16% of the second distillation cycle. Glen Garioch’s is the same percentage but I only found that out at Glen Garioch! The warehouse was where things picked up in a big way: a big woody way. The dunnage warehouse was, as always, a delicious atmosphere to inhale. There were five empty casks for us to sniff, too, however: an American barrel, a hogshead, an American oak butt seasoned with Sherry, a Spanish oak butt seasoned with Sherry and a Spanish oak butt, seasoned with Sherry and then filled with Macallan for 12 years. It was fascinating to note the differences, because they were quite marked. The American oak with the Sherry seasoning was the most strikingly magnificent: rich, fruity, but sweet and toffeed. Lurvely. Just the one dram to savour at the end, but it was the standard 10-year-old, which I feel is one of the best young malts on the market. The new warehouses, by the by, won’t win any architectural awards.

A lovely distillery that oozes charm and class. Aberlour (the village) is lovely, too, and the distillery sits just off the road in from Tomintoul.

Aberlour, Banffshire, AB38 9PJ, 01340 881249. Chivas Brothers. www.aberlour.com

APPEARANCE AND LOCATION:      ***      Tucked in to a cleft in the rolling terrain that tumbles down towards the sweeping Spey, Aberlour Distillery packs a lot into a small space. On the opposite side of the Lour burn is a walk which takes you to the Linn Falls, quite a spectacular little spot and not overly taxing. The Distillery is a tidy part of what is one of the tidiest villages/towns I visited over the course of the Scotch Odyssey.

TOURS PROVIDED:

‘Warehouse No. 1 Tour’: £12. See ‘My Tour’ below.

‘The Founder’s Tour’: £25. This tour provides further details concerning the history of the distillery. You also get to nose the head, heart and tail of the spirit run in the tasting room; a unique feature in any distillery. In addition to sampling whiskies traight from the cask, there is also a tutored tasting of four Aberlours paired with the finest chocolates. They had to go some to beat the standard offering! Wednesdays and Thursdays only – pre-booking for both is essential.

DISTILLERY-EXCLUSIVE BOTTLINGS:      The opportunity to hand-fill your own 70cl bottle of whisky from a single cask is not unique to Aberlour, but they were one of the first to make the facility available and the First Fill Bourbon and Sherry casks are simply outstanding. £65.

My Tour – 22/04/2010

THE RUNNING COMMENTARY:      ***

THE PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT:      **

Notes:      Nothing is unique or unusual, but it is explained so very well and in appreciable depth. The distillery suffered a very damaging fire (it suffered several damaging fires, in fact) and while they were rebuilding they found a time capsule behind a stone in a wall comprised of a newspaper and a bottle of whisky. Lab testing brought back a profile for this whisky, and the a’bunadh is the result of the experiment to replicate it. I think mine was Batch 17.

GENEROSITY:      **

VALUE FOR MONEY:      **

SCORE:      9/10 *s

This monsieur is the proud co-owner of a single cask, first-fill Sherry matured Aberlour. I would meet these guys twice more throughout the day!

COMMENT:      Everyone had told me about the Aberlour tour, and that it was the best in Scotland. This assertion was both encouraging and mystifying: positive, because it meant I was promised a really exceptional experience but I thought I was the only one doing them all? I’m not sure I will find a better standard tour, though. They only do two tours a day, one at 10AM and the other at 2PM and it is pretty clear why. There is a lot to prepare, from the tastings to the wealth of information the guides have at their disposal. Chris must be knackered at the end of each day. I was the only native English-speaker, surrounded by 6 French people. Pernod Ricard sending busloads to make up the numbers? The distillery tour was a lot like the others I have taken, although we did get a sip of the wash, but the general feel of the place and the spec to which it is kitted out is very impressive. Even with The Glenlivet and Strathisla (home to Chivas Regal) in the group, this distillery stands out in its own right. The wealth of whisky to try after it is largely attributable to this. My guide at Cragganmore had told me that all the shops in Aberlour shut briefly after each of the tours finish, such is the amount of alcohol that flows. She was joking, but with a sample of the new make, the 14-year-old single cask Bourbon, the 15-year-old single cask Sherry, the 10-year-old, the 16-year-old and a’bunadh, it would be very easy to go beyond the legal limits. My favourite was the Bourbon: really strong, sweet wood and freshness. I can see what the fuss is about with a’bunadh, too. Mine was Batch 17, for anyone who is interested. Going back to the new make was a bit of a shock, but Chris invited us to conduct a little experiment: pour a little into our palms, rub and shake dry. The smell is pure, dry, cerealy barley! I watched two of the Frenchmen bottle their own whisky from the Sherry cask: a lovely event to spectate on, let alone perform yourself. I shall have to return and do the same. When I have money and a car! By the way, if anyone is confused by what all the stars mean, just click on ‘The Mark Scheme’ and all should be explained.

A most scenic section for a water source, and it is possible to wander up the bank, make a left and complete a loop back on to the main street.

Not the prettiest distillery, but certainly a uniquely precious outlook on Benrinnes and, from behind the still room, the Spey valley. Wonderful.

Ballindalloch, Banffshire, AB37 9BD, 01807 500257. J & G Grant. www.glenfarclas.co.uk

APPEARANCE AND LOCATION:      *****      After enduring the extra wind created by all the tankers and articulated lorries heading towards Aberlour, and avoiding a tractor coming the other way down the single track road to the distillery, I needed the tranquility and sparseness of Glenfarclas. One of the events for the Speyside Whisky festival was a walk up to the water source on Benrinnes.

TOURS PROVIDED:

‘Standard Tour’: £3.50. See ‘My Tour’ below.

‘The Ambassador Tour’: £15. A more in-depth experience with four drams to sample, including some of the Family Casks. Restricted to July and August.

DISTILLERY-EXCLUSIVE BOTTLINGS:      N/A

My Tour – 21/04/2010

THE RUNNING COMMENTARY:      **

THE PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT:      *

Notes:      The stills are not only the largest on Speyside, but gas-fired. This approach means that a rummager is required to stop bits of wash and yeast sticking to the bottom of the stills and burning. Tradition is in evidence at this stage, although they do have stainless steel washbacks. I’m one of those people who doesn’t believe the tun material makes a difference to the flavour, but the wooden ones have far more personality (the old ones look their ages) and are supremely tactile. For all I didn’t see in to a warehouse, they are dunnage, and have metal rails leading into them which the casks are pushed along. When you are dealing with 500 litre Sherry butts, you need all the help you can get.

GENEROSITY:      *

VALUE FOR MONEY:      *

SCORE:      5/10 *s

These stills are the largest on Speyside and are as individual and handsome as the spirit they create.

COMMENT:      I was a little disappointed with this tour, and it wasn’t the guide’s fault. I guess I had just hyped up the “independent distillery” experience a little too much. The distillery is in a gorgeous location, almost on the slopes of Benrinnes, and from the room with all the spirit vats there is a brilliant view straight down the Spey valley to Aberlour and Craigellachie. I would have loved to have ventured into the dunnage warehouses but sadly it wasn’t to be. The stillroom is profoundly handsome, and I even got to stick my head in one of the low wines stills. It was empty, of course. These are still directly-fired by gas and as a result “the rummager” is encountered and explained. You don’t see it, but it is intended to aggravate the bottom of the wash stills and stop the yeast burning. How it used to be done in the olden days. It was also a bit of a shock to see a blue mill. Hitherto I had been greeted at the start of each tour by a red one. This one wasn’t made in Leeds but in Switzerland!

Braemar to Tomintoul, 32 miles

And so quickly this tour has become a salvage operation. How do I continue to capitalise on the tour as planned, despite the hiccough? I had my room booked in Tomintoul, thank goodness, and so all I had to do was get there.

The hostel had emptied on the Sunday morning, and whereas there had been six fellow sleepers on the Saturday night, it was just me in a cavernous dorm. I woke up reasonably cheery. Until I saw the white stuff outside.

Hardly auspicious conditions. I knew the road got higher (much higher) before I reached Tomintoul and didn't like the look of this one bit.

Throughout my time in Braemar there had been snow flurries, but nothing had lain, even on the lawns surrounding the hostel. This was different. When I get the chance, I shall show you the scale of it just before I set off. The weather news in Tomintoul was better, however, and there was the promise of something hot to drink in the ski resort. I set off.

The snow mercifully stopped as I followed the banks of the Dee. I’d taken off my overtrousers and hood and conditons were rather good. I knew the road I was due to cycle, though, and it filled me with dread.

The main road runs from Ballater to Tomintoul. I had taken the little one. The higher I got, the more it snowed. I reached the top of the main climb – over little hump-backed bridges and rolls of steepness – and it was blizzard conditions. I couldn’t entertain doing anything other than continuing, however, because where could I bail out? I was in the middle of nowhere.

At the top of the steepest stretch, I stopped to rip into the cheese and ham sandwiches I had made for myself. Was that the sun? It certainly was trying to peep through. This felt like a supportive presence and I carried on. I reached the next summit, and there was Donside. And the Lecht.

After a hot chocolate and some soup, during which I appreciated just how freezing I really was, I made my attempt. The first ramp was 20%. I had to stop in the area they normally reserve for turning gritters. Normally, they get to that point and don’t bother about the rest. It’s the hill and road that is always closed from about November to March.

This is one of the most breathtaking views of the entire tour, and thanks to the gradient I had to survive to reach this point, I was literally wheezing and spluttering to begin with.

 (They closed it again temporarily the following day.) I had another break before the top, and the view was astonishing. Then it was the bald stretch to the ski station and one last awful incline. A motorist (on his way down) gave me a gentle toot and a thumbs-up.

After gobbling a Mars Bar, I limped to Tomintoul. The snooker was on, and I just vegged out. I must mention Mike and Cathy at The Whisky Castle. I walked in and had a chat with Cathy, who then proceeded to pour samples down my throat. It is just the most incredible shop, with awesome stock and there is nothing the pair of them haven’t tasted or visited. There appreciation of the industry as a whole is remarkable, and after Mike’s good-humoured carping, I’m a convert to the “No chill-filter and 46%!” crusade. If it’s single cask then all the better.

***

Tomintoul to Aberlour, 26 miles

Having done The Glenlivet the previous day (see review) I was now completely back on schedule. It was hard to leave Argyle Guest House – they had looked after me so well – but one can’t travel by staying in the same place.

My first proper glimpse of the Spey and the gorgeous, gentle fields and hills it sloshes through. Here be whisky, alright.

I reached Cragganmore just as it began to rain and left just when it started again. The tour I have treated in the previous post.

I don’t like the main road to Aberlour. Every HGV in Northern Europe seems to be using these Scottish A- roads. Maybe I’ve been unlucky and the ash crisis is creating extra traffic. Glenfarclas appeared, rather ostentatiously, on my right. I shall review the tour shortly but what a lovely environment. It is possible to taste the independence: right down to using a blue Swiss mill!

I made it to Aberlour without becoming a road accident statistic. In ‘Fresh’, the recommended cafe, I took stock with tea and a slab of carrot cake. And I mean slab. ‘This is why I’m doing this, then,’ I may have said to myself.

***

Dufftown to Huntly, 60 miles

I’m condensing, folks. I had gone from Aberlour to Dufftown the day before but it was a short trip and the distilleries were the talking point, not the journey. This, on the other hand, was a mixture of both.

Having been following it for the last week, now, just outside Tomintoul, I was officially on the Malt Whisky Trail.

A few miles out of Dufftown it started snowing. I passed into Aberdeenshire and it started to rain. I prefer snow. Huntly didn’t look too promising in the dank wetness. I was deeply cold, and well aware that I had far to go. I checked into my hotel room to leave some things behind while I completed a couple of errands about the town. Less than enthusiastically, I set off for Glen Garioch.

If I thought the A95 was bad, the A96 is by far and away worse. If you are a cyclist, do not bother. I had ten miles of it not to so much endure as survive. In the spray, with all the Aberdeen-bound traffic, I don’t know how some of the enormous trucks didn’t send me through those pearly gates (assuming all of this demon drink isn’t an insurmountable stain on my character). They just refused to give me room, slow down, or even wait until oncoming vehicles had passed. On one instance I was forced over a catseye by a gargantuan flat-bed and thought my time was up.

The motorway swelled and fell, and I felt every incline which the oil boys in there cars barely noticed, judging by the anti-social nature of their speed and disinterest. I knew they were oil-connected because ever second car was an Audi.

At long last the turn off to Old Meldrum manifested before my sodden eyes. 10 miles. OK. I had to be careful. My gloves were saturated and I was getting low on fuel. Could I make it to the distillery before I froze, or did I stop and eat, and freeze? I risked it and just buried myself.

The routes around this part of the country are mostly flat and very very staright. When yet another US-style ruler of tarmac presented itself, I confess I swore loudly. The sheep and lambs were startled.

Full of lovely whisky and super-knowledgeable, and just as lovely, people.

Old Meldrum: I’d made it. Well, maybe not quite. There was still a mile and a half to Glen Garioch, as the brown signs made it, and I was in a less than cheery mood when I got there. I was soaked to the skin (and a good way below that, I fancy) and all I could do was beg the lady behind the desk for some radiators. She did better than that. She sent me to the still house. Behind the spirit still I found a clothes rack and so draped my drenched gear over that. It would all be dry by the time I finished my tour – for all I extended the time by chatting to Fiona and Jane, as I would come to know and love them.

Jane made me a cup of tea while I wolfed down my lunch. Fiona took me on my tour and as guides go, she tops all I have come across so far, and not just because of her maternal care for a poor droonded waif. Her sense of humour was sparkling. She had been surprised to see me half-naked in the still house when she brought her previous tour in. She debated whether to improvise and say that my presence was essential to the final flavour of the spirit.

The tour over, I just discussed my plans. Their enthusiasm and support were the only things which preserved me back to Huntly. I can’t believe I covered those last 22 miles. I promised before leaving that should I complete this tour – and I will confess that at times it has been a case of “If” instead of “When” – I would come back to the distillery and buy myself a bottle of the 1990. On the way back I added to my plans the purchase of a Founder’s Reserve which I could get them both to sign. I’d drink the 1990! It was the perfect antidote to the weather and fatigue, and once more reaffirmed what can overcome what. In the game of rock/paper/scissors, whisky and people beat rain and exhaustion. I can’t describe the pride I felt in myself when I returned to the Huntly Hotel, whose relatively sparse and tatty-round-the-edges nature did not matter one jot in this new haze of accomplishment.

***

Huntly to Dufftown, 28 miles

I woke up sobered. I felt those 60 miles now, and looking at my bike, so had it. It was filthy, and all the squeakings of yesterday now seemed unavoidable. I had to deal with this.

A phone call to Breezes revealed my incompetence as far as maintenance is concerned. When Mark had said that on-the-hoof maintenance wasn’t really necessary, he obviously assumed (as he had done with puncture repairs) that I knew to do the basics: clean the chain and lubricate it regularly. I hadn’t been doing that and yesterday’s rain had washed the last of the grease of it. I was advised to try and get as much muck off as possible, then try and get some oil. When I asked about WD40 I got the same response as I had when I voiced my idea to pressure wash the bottom bracket: “No!” I spent 40 minutes with some rags and soapy water, then tried to find a garage. I didn’t find a garage but I did find an unlikely good samaritan. As I stared glumly at the lightless interior of the garage, a man appeared. I only understood maybe 10% of the words that came out of his mouth (and there were a lot) but he was eager to help and got me some 3-in-1. This did the trick. I was off again. I didn’t do Glendronach for my equipment issues had cost me lots of time. Disconsolately, and contemplating the ridicule I’d get for throwing the towel in now from all my readers, friends, employers and colleagues and how I was generally a weak human being, I headed for Keith and Strathisla. Yesterday I was on top of the world, believing that I could conquer anything now on my itinerary. Now I was riding in fear of my machine simply capitulating. I couldn’t see a future.

After the tour I had my Mum source some phone numbers for local bike shops. Everyone over the last few days had said that Elgin was probably the closest. Not great because it isn’t that near, but there’s nothing I could do about it. I spoke to the folk at Moray Cycles and they promised to look at it if I passed through. They also recommended some different oils which I found in a car DIY shop in Keith. I felt much better.

I returned to Dufftown, then, and after a shower, headed out for my dinner. I wanted to cheer myself up and vowed to spend the money that would have gone on the Balvenie tour on some really good grub. I was no longer after budget calories. I’m one of these people whose moods are dependent on their stomachs and so went in search of other Dufftown eateries. I arrived at ‘A Taste of Speyside’. The beginning wasn’t auspicious – they were out of rabbit! They couldn’t get hold of any. I can recommend a garden in Northumberland that has a surplus. I elected for the pork and was not disappointed. Lovely big portions full of richness and flavour. The ethos of the restaurant owner is locally grown, and in season. Plates are simply presented and ingredients confidentally, though sympathetically, prepared. This Scottish produce can speak for itself.

Probably my most favouritest restaurant in the whole entire world: fabulous food and super, unprecedented people.

I had the muffin to finish and what a splendid shot of endorphins that was. I finished replete, and very satisfied with my decision to reward myself for my endeavours. I got chatting to Sandy, the owner and chef, and what a unique man. We discussed my previous dining in Dufftown and as we were on the computer, I showed him my blog. When he heard of my strife with internet access, he insisted I sit down and update away. I said I hadn’t my notebooks. He said I should go and get them then. I said what if I don’t come back. He said he knew where I was staying. And so here I sit, still typing because what a week it has been. Fortunately, with a cup of tea inside me, I have a renewed appreciation of the values still held by other foodies and the capacity of others to help out where they can. Sandy and his team have gone above and beyond on this occasion, and it is thanks to them that you are largely up to date with my movements. As I have said before, it is my encounters with people such as Sandy (and Liam at the Old Cross Inn, and Gavin at Tullibardine, and Jane and Fiona at Glen Garioch) that elevate my day-to-day workings and struggles. Off the bike, it is coming into contact with them that appeases and silences any negativity about when I’m going to call it a day on this trip, to simply give up. Their hospitality, genuine interest and generosity are priceless and my will to enjoy more similar encounters trumps the dejection of exhaustion.

So I do have my dark times, and I’ll be honest I still cannot envisage cycling into Glasgow in a few weeks, but there is always some glorious person spurring me on, when I’m least expecting it. If nothing else, I shall take that with me from this incredible, and incredibly challenging, journey; whenever my reserves of fight and passion seem to have been utterly spent. I hope to carry on for a few days yet, though. 

I must say it isn't easy finding a good vantage point to photograph Cragganmore because it is so neat and self-contained in its own little glen. The Spey runs very close by and you get some sense of the beginnings of this extraordinary whisky region.

Ballindalloch, Moray, AB37 9AB, 01479 874700. Diageo. http://www.discovering-distilleries.com/cragganmore/

APPEARANCE AND LOCATION:      ***      This is one well-hidden distillery. Pulling off the A95 it is a twisting track down towards the river Spey and through a farm (with less than friendly dogs) before the warehouses reveal themselves. The visitor centre was trickier to find than I had anticipated: it is a little door just off the courtyard around which you find the stillroom and the Club Room. It is remote, but beautiful. 

TOURS PROVIDED:

‘Standard Tour’: £4 (with money off a full bottle purchase). See ‘My Tour’ below.

‘Cragganmore Club Room Tour’: £8. This is the standard tour plus coffee, shortbread, a video with the late great Michael Jackson giving a tasting demonstration of the Classic Malts, and a chance to sip a couple of drams. Book in advance, and allow an extra 20 minutes.

DISTILLERY-ONLY BOTTLINGS:      N/A

My Tour – 21/04/2010

THE RUNNING COMMENTARY:      **

THE PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT:      **

Notes:      This is quite a small distillery, both in terms of production and the site itself. A lot of ducking and squeezing is required. Very modern in places (the still room in particular) but very traditional in others with worm tubs and beautiful washbacks. The spirit stills – interestingly, though not uniquely – have flat tops to them. The warehouses will be back on the tour as soon as they have finished fixing them up after the inundations of snow this winter.

GENEROSITY:      ** (I’m not sure if it’s standard practise, but I got a nip of the 12YO and the Distiller’s Edition)

VALUE FOR MONEY:      *

SCORE:      7/10 *s

COMMENT:      It wasn’t the best time for me to visit, and after locking my bike up in the rain and enduring a wild goose chase to try and find the poorly-marked visitor’s centre, I wasn’t in the best of moods. The guide was a little bit stressed herself. With Cragganmore they operate on two guides every other day. Tuesday had been deathly silent and Wednesday there was just her. Of course, everyone chose to tour Cragganmore that day. The tour was a quick one. There was an undisclosed issue with the warehouse so we couldn’t go in, but the snow had taken down the roof of another barn-type building and that was being cleared. Irene made up for the curtailed nature of my experience handsomely, showing me the Cragganmore Club Room and pouring me a second sample. She was very keen to help when she heard of my journalistic agenda and I’m very grateful to her for she looked after me very well, even if the dogs on the farm on the way back through to the main road were less friendly. A very small distillery, this one, and the infrastructure is a little more basic than some of the others in the Diageo group. It does make lovely stuff, though, which is the main thing!

The wonderfully bleak, and remote location for one of the definitve Speyside malts. It all looks even more dramatic with one of the many blizzards I encountered that day about to engulf it.

Ballindalloch, Banffshire, AB37 9DB, 01340 821720. www.theglenlivet.com

APPEARANCE AND LOCATION:      *****      With its brand new production area, this mish-mash of buildings has reached new levels of eclectic design. Its position in the glen, however, is utterly stunning, and I could still appreciate it despite the freezing hail stinging my face.

TOURS PROVIDED:

‘Standard Tour’: FREE. See ‘My Tour’ below, although please note that it is the newly expanded area of the distillery which you will be taken round.

‘Ambassador Tour’: £25. Led by a brand ambassador for The Glenlivet, this takes in some of the older warehouses and a peek at some casks which may become the next Cellar Collection bottling. Friday mornings only. Pre-booking essential.

DISTILLERY-EXCLUSIVE BOTTLINGS:      N/A

My Tour – 20/04/2010

THE RUNNING COMMENTARY:      **

THE PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT:      **

Notes:      When I went round, the distillery was waiting on its certificate of completion which would allow them to take visitors in. It was in full production, however, and Cathy from The Whisky Castle has toured along with other industry insiders and says that it is mightily impressive but a touch ‘Theme Park’ with the viewing gantry running round the inside of the outer walls with all of the process happening beneath you. The mashtun I was shown is now redundant.

GENEROSITY:      * (Choice of 12YO, Nadurra 16YO and the 18YO)

VALUE FOR MONEY:      **

SCORE:      7/10 *s

COMMENT:      What a pleasure it was to return to this, the distillery which has set the last two years, and essentially the last two weeks, in motion. The new still house is tastefully done, but does stand out when you reach the car park. This is now a seriously big site. The grounds are genuinely lovely. There is a duck pond beside some of the older dunnage warehouses and their island has a nifty little pagoda roof. Men were pressure-washing the sides of the other warehouses, and the far-flung water droplets combined with the fierce and perishing wind meant that I changed in the vestibule between the outer and inner doors. The tour itself is well-orchestrated. Unlike the last time when we had a French girl take us round, on this occasion it was a Scottish gent. He gave us some local colour about the winter just gone. Diane at the Argyle Guest House in Tomintoul revealed that they had had a combined total of 22 feet of snow. The Glenlivet has its own back up generator and huge reserves of malt so production was largely unaffected. The council has its obligation to get the kids to school, and so a foot of snow on the roads was no real problem for their Swedish-style road hoovers. Three inches of snow, as I remarked to the two Englishmen on the tour with me, is a national emergency where we come from. The mash tun was an odd encounter. They are now using the new one in the new plant, but unfortunately we couldn’t see it because the latest facility doesn’t have its certificate of completion, even though it is now in production. I felt disconnected from the process, knowing it was going on in the next room. The washbacks are enormous: 60,000 litres each. The stills are very handsome indeed, and the middle cut was being taken from one of the four pairs of stills in the old still house. Out into the cold we went for the warehouse. The smell didn’t strike me to the same degree as it had 30 months ago, but all the same we enjoyed an excellent explanation of the maturation process. I learnt that Jack Daniels – the whiskey distillery where The Glenlivet sources some of its bourbon wood from – is aged for maybe 2 years tops. To our right was a cask that had been sleeping for much longer: a 1962. The next Cellar Collection, maybe. The tour was completed with a dram. I had the Nadurra and thoroughly enjoyed it. I then crammed in a lot of warm, calorific stuff from the excellent cafe. I sat at a window and contemplated the wild beauty of the glen, changing by the minute courtesy of the wind which did not let up all the way back.

The newly-completed expansion. The Glenlivet is now a 10 million litre giant.

Iain Banks is right: it looks so neat and quaint one might think it an ornamental play-thing of the royals next door. I feel it was worth the effort to come and see it, alone.

Crathie, Ballater, Aberdeenshire, AB35 5TB, 01339 742700. http://www.discovering-distilleries.com/royallochnagar/

APPEARANCE AND LOCATION:      ****      This is a charmingly-sited distillery, and should you approach it on the rustic single-track road that I did from the south side of the Dee, comes upon you rather suddenly. Despite its proximity to Braemar, you are truly in the Highlands here and a sense of the solitude which so inspired Byron is most stirringly in evidence.

TOURS PROVIDED:

‘Lochnagar Tour’:      Costing £5, £4 of this is redeemable against a full bottle purchase or £10 off a brace of bottles if you just can’t resist that glorious Select Reserve but also pine for the Benrinnes 15-year-old, for example. A tour of the distillery is provided in exchange for your cash, in addition to a dram of the 12-year-old. If they haven’t mucked around with the experience product, this is what I call an extreme bargain.

‘Lochnagar Family Tour’:      £10, with the same money-off voucher. This is the, presumably still superb, standard tour plus the full range of Royal Lochnagar: the Distiller’s Edition and the Select Reserve.

‘Royal Tour’:      The ‘Royal’ prefix makes its way into the tour options at last. This will cost £25, and is available from Monday to Saturday at 11AM (Monday to Friday, January – February). A coffee and shortbread reception awaits for the Royal Tourist (Queen Victoria herself was the first of these), followed by a thorough tour of the distillery and a sampling of Royal Lochnagar Single Malt ‘through the ages’.

DISTILLERY-EXCLUSIVE BOTTLING:      N/A

My Tour – 17/04/2010  

THE RUNNING COMMENTARY:      ***

THE PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT:      **

Notes:      The distillery doesn’t operate on weekends, when I was there, and instead runs a super-long fermentation program over this period. This ultimately produces a light, fruity whisky. There is also peated and unpeated barley to munch on in the millroom, a Sherry butt filled with 24YO Royal Lochnagar to nose and an uncommon quantity of fascinating facts and figures. In the Duty Paid warehouse there are samples from various fills of cask to illustrate the impact of the wood.

GENEROSITY:      * (Only 1 dram, but it is possible to nose the new make, and there were seven samples in the marvellous shop to nose, too.)

VALUE FOR MONEY:      **

SCORE:      8/10 *s

COMMENT:      What a tour. This is one of the best I have been on so far, and rubbishes the suggestion you may hear that the Diageo experience is generic. Claire, our guide, was a spectacular companion through the distillery which was more peaceful than other distilleries I had visited due to curtailed operation at the weekend. The wash was still fermenting, though, and this we could smell as we walked to the mill room. We were given a smell of the yeast: fruity and sweetly doughy; and a taste of the Lochnagar malt grains. The flavour was nice and sugary, but left the palate quickly. We were given a sniff and then a few grains to try of the product from the Port Ellen maltings. Wow. It reminded me very much of Lagavulin and I could still taste its echoes after the tour had finished! Into the tun room we went, although, not in exactly. It is a very small space so there is an ante-room and a viewing window. The explanation made up for this distance and separation, though. Royal Lochnagar has an unusually long fermentation time, with the yeast being pitched in at a cooler temperature. The total time is between 70 and 110 hours. Claire related this quirk of the production to the character of the finished product superbly. After a look at the stills, we head to the spirit safe. The question is asked how long each batch takes from mill to cask. The answer is about a week, incredibly. We go into the filling store and the Germans are told off for lifting the weights used to guage each cask. They also fiddle around with the poplar bungs. They complain afterwards about the restricted access but I’m not sure what hefting things could really tell them. They were on a tour of distilleries (by bus) and said that at other sites they could almost do as they pleased. The Diageo policy is a less spontaneous one, but I don’t see how not being allowed to lift some cast iron marred their visit. It was this particular instance that prompted a visitor from the islands to speak up. He took offence at the constant swipes at “‘elf and safety”. He let the first one go when Claire described how the practise of ‘dramming’ died a death (from alcoholism), but he wasn’t prepared to see his line of work characterised as a kill-joy at every stage of the process. Times change, and you can’t be having your workforce drunk, nor large pieces of metal landing on German toes. Then we went into the “only duty-paid warehouse in Scotland.” [NB: There is one at Glenfiddich, I later learn.] Here there were samples proving the impact of the oak. Again this was very well explained. We were even allowed to sniff inside a Sherry butt of 24-year-old Royal Lochnagar. Ahhh! That is all I really need to say. The tasting at the end revealed how much Diageo care about their visitor experience, even if it is a very scripted one. Claire described how all staff were taught to taste in addition to learning by rote the particulars of the distillery, and her suggestions for accompaniments to malts were interesting. Caol Ila 10-year-old Unpeated with ice is apparently rather good. I left after nosing my sample of the 12YO. The very friendly distillery cat waved me off, metaphorically-speaking, just as he had welcomed me in and climbed all over me as I ate my sandwiches. He felt like my only friend for days – how tragic! It was a horror to get to for me, but not everyone gets there by bike from Fettercairn. It is a fabulous facility and you should go.

Sadly we were never formally introduced so I don't know his or her name. This moggie wandered over to greet me when I arrived, walked all over me when I ate some food before the tour and came across again to wave me off. I was quite moved by this example of unconditional affection!

True traditional beauty is on show here and it combines the tamed, fertile east plains with a vista on to the Grampian Highlands.

Fettercairn, Laurencekirk, Kincardineshire, AB30 1YB, 01561 340205. http://www.scotchwhisky.net/distilleries/fettercairn.htm

APPEARANCE AND LOCATION:      ****      Despite the inner turmoil I was experiencing at the time, I could not help but be struck by the beauty of the place. The cherry tree was decked out in glorious pink and the daffodil fields were still growing in front of it as I looked from the road in. The hills behind make this a perfect visual aid for the essential marriage at the heart of whisky: wild water and careful cultivation of that key grain. 

TOURS PROVIDED:

‘Standard Tour’: £2. See ‘My Tour’ below.

DISTILLERY-EXCLUSIVE BOTTLINGS:      N/A

My Tour – 16/04/2010

THE RUNNING COMMENTARY:      **

THE PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT:      **

Notes:      On the necks of the wash stills they have little bands of piping filled with cold water to increase reflux. Is this a Whyte & Mackay thing, what with The Dalmore’s water jackets?

GENEROSITY:      * (1 dram)

VALUE FOR MONEY:      *

SCORE:      6/10 *s

COMMENT:      For the second time that day I had a personalised, one-on-one tour. The tour begins with a video (quite an old one) about the local area. It actually illustrates the malting process which might help some of those who can’t quite follow the verbal explanations for the means of converting the starches within an ungerminated barley grain into soluble sugars. Jennifer, a long-serving member of the team, took me round and was a mine of information about the local area. I’m beginning to appreciate on this tour that every corner of Scotland has played a significant part in the creation of the country I see today. The Mearns area, as well as producing excellent barley, also gave Britain a Prime Minister in the form of Gladstone. I learn as we wander through the old maltings that a heavily-peated Fettercairn is due to be bottled soon. This is the official bottling of a single malt produced during the three weeks before the workers’ holidays which has hitherto gone into blends. The distillery is spartan and nicely containd. The warehouse is next, and it’s very atmospheric, some of the scents from maturing malt making their way into our little viewing ante-room. I’m shown a cask to our right with ‘Mr and Mrs Fujii’ written on it. It was laid down in 1984 for their Silver Wedding anniversary in 2009. Sadly, they divorced before the 25 years were up. Custody seems to have gone to Mr Fujii, and it s waiting for his son. The shop is well-stocked with W&M products and there is a singe cask bottling of Fettercairn, too.

Aberfeldy is a clean, handsome distillery with an excellent visitor's centre and cafe.

Aberfeldy, Perthshire, PH15 2EB, 01887 822010. John Dewar & Sons. www.dewars.com

APPEARANCE AND LOCATION:      ***      The scenery around Aberfeldy is especially rugged to the West with numerous Munros. Schiehallion was the one I climbed but Ben Lawers which sits comfortably in the ten highest mountains in Scotland, is not far away. To the East it is nicely arable and deeply attractive. 

TOURS PROVIDED:

‘Standard Tour’: £6.50. See ‘My Tour’ below.

‘Cask Tasting Tour’: £12. The standard offering with the addition of a sample of a 25-year-old straight from the cask.

‘Deluxe Tour’: £18. The standard tour with the addition of a more in-depth whisky tasting of four whiskies: 12YO, 21YO, Dewar’s 12YO and one other. A free tasting glass is yours to take away.

‘Connoisseur Tour’: £30. A tutored tasting of the 21YO, the new 18YO Single Cask, Dewar’s Signature and the cask tasting in the warehouse. Again, you are given a tasting glass. I can personally recommend this one, and to read about my formative experiences with mature whisky drawn straight from the cask, click here.

DISTILLERY-EXCLUSIVE BOTTLINGS:      The Chris Anderson Cask, an 18yo single cask bottling of Aberfeldy limited to 248 bottles, £170.

My Tour – 14/04/2010

The view from the stillhouse out across the Tay (invisible here) to the hills behind, within which is hidden JK Rowling's country pad.

THE RUNNING COMMENTARY:      **

THE PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT:      * 

Notes:     

GENEROSITY:      (Choice between Aberfeldy 12YO, Dewar’s White Label and Dewar’s 12YO.)

VALUE FOR MONEY:     *

SCORE:      4/10 *s

COMMENT:      This is one of the best-smelling distilleries, as a little aside. Locking the bike up to the railings before you enter the visitor’s centre in the lea of the defunct kiln, the aroma from the tun room is delicious. The VC itself is very impressive, with lots of nice displays for the well-packaged offerings in the Dewar’s stable. There is a film about the history of Dewar’s in a mock period theatre, then an exhibition which recreate’s Tommy Dewar’s study. There is also Robert Burns’ desk, a worthy point of interest for anyone interested in poetry. I’m not sure it is all his graffiti, though. The Tour then proceeds with tasting. You have a choice of the 12YO, Dewar’s White Label and Dewar’s 12YO. The distillery is well laid-out and the process is easy to follow. In the tun room I appreciate for the first time the heat produced during fermentation. There is a very thorough explanation of the maturation process in the filling store. No filling or maturing happens on site, and for all there is a view into the warehouse through perspex, there is nothing sleeping in those casks. A shame, because it is a really fetching site, and a very approachable Highland malt, perhaps with more terroir in the 12YO than it has a right to with lots of heather, charred vanilla oak and burnt heather. Recommended.