In 2011, I left London. At the time I was exhausted with travel and the idea of weekend trips no longer appealed to me. Despite this, there still remained some European holidays that still interested me that I hadn't gotten around to, think of it as a bucket list of sorts. These places included: Scottish Whisky tour, Turkey, Greek Islands and a road trip around the north of France. Fortunately for me, we had a trip planned back to Europe.
Back to Europe, you say. I was excited. I hadn't been back to Europe since I left and even more fortunately for me, I was traveling with a bunch of folk who were amenable to the idea of touring one of the whisky regions in the Scottish Highlands. Being a novice to whisky and the regions we settled for Speyside, one of most famous regions and admittedly the region with the most recognisable list of distilleries. The tour was a hodgepodge of private and group tours. The high level stats would be Seven Speyside Distilleries in three days. The tour would start in Edinburgh where we would join a group tour, break off half way for a bespoke tour on day 2, and rejoin the group for the penultimate stops before returning to Edinburgh.
Day 1: We arrive in Speyside, we start off at Dalwhinnie a small local distillery where we are given an excellent primer into the art of making Speyside whisky and the "The Water of Life".
Day 2: 9 am Visit The Speyside Cooperage to see where the whisky casks are made. 10 am The Solero Deconstructed Tour at The Glenfiddich Distillery for an in-depth tour. This is an excellent Tour and one of the best tours in Speyside. This costs £50 per person and we walk away with a bespoke sample. 1pm Lunch at The Malt Barn Restaurant at The Glenfiddich Distillery. 2pm Visit The Glen Grant Distillery for a short 'Whistle Stop' tasting Tour and to see the beautiful gardens - next stop Glen Farcas. At this point in time, there's not too many more stills and distilleries that we want to see. We've been drinking since 9 am things are getting hazy. 3pm The Macallan Distillery for short 'Whistle Stop' tasting Tour and to see the new distillery. 4pm Visit The Cardhu Distillery for short 'Whistle Stop' tasting Tour. This is the only distillery in Speyside that was run by a woman.
5pm Visit The Glenlivet Distillery and The Famous Exhibition. Fish and chips for dinner and we pass out.
Day 3: Morning stop at Whisky Castle Royal back with the group followed by an afternoon at Lochnager. We are now expert Whisky drinkers. For dinner we treat ourselves to Hawksmoor. Loved this trip, can wait to visit the other regions.
Back to Europe, you say. I was excited. I hadn't been back to Europe since I left and even more fortunately for me, I was traveling with a bunch of folk who were amenable to the idea of touring one of the whisky regions in the Scottish Highlands. Being a novice to whisky and the regions we settled for Speyside, one of most famous regions and admittedly the region with the most recognisable list of distilleries. The tour was a hodgepodge of private and group tours. The high level stats would be Seven Speyside Distilleries in three days. The tour would start in Edinburgh where we would join a group tour, break off half way for a bespoke tour on day 2, and rejoin the group for the penultimate stops before returning to Edinburgh.
Day 1: We arrive in Speyside, we start off at Dalwhinnie a small local distillery where we are given an excellent primer into the art of making Speyside whisky and the "The Water of Life".
Day 2: 9 am Visit The Speyside Cooperage to see where the whisky casks are made. 10 am The Solero Deconstructed Tour at The Glenfiddich Distillery for an in-depth tour. This is an excellent Tour and one of the best tours in Speyside. This costs £50 per person and we walk away with a bespoke sample. 1pm Lunch at The Malt Barn Restaurant at The Glenfiddich Distillery. 2pm Visit The Glen Grant Distillery for a short 'Whistle Stop' tasting Tour and to see the beautiful gardens - next stop Glen Farcas. At this point in time, there's not too many more stills and distilleries that we want to see. We've been drinking since 9 am things are getting hazy. 3pm The Macallan Distillery for short 'Whistle Stop' tasting Tour and to see the new distillery. 4pm Visit The Cardhu Distillery for short 'Whistle Stop' tasting Tour. This is the only distillery in Speyside that was run by a woman.
5pm Visit The Glenlivet Distillery and The Famous Exhibition. Fish and chips for dinner and we pass out.
Day 3: Morning stop at Whisky Castle Royal back with the group followed by an afternoon at Lochnager. We are now expert Whisky drinkers. For dinner we treat ourselves to Hawksmoor. Loved this trip, can wait to visit the other regions.
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