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Tour Glasgow, Tour Scotland

April 17, 2012 catswhiskers Comments off

: Constantine Sarcophagus, Govan Old Church, Glasgow

This morning, I collected tour group from cruise ship at Greenock and proceeded on a tour covering some of the principal sites around Glasgow.

First we called in at Govan Old Church to view the famous Carved Stones which date from the 9th-11th centuries A.D. This collection includes the St Constantine Sarcophagus (above) which ranks as the earliest known art work in Glasgow. Below is an image of more of the stones including a ‘Hogback’.

Carved Stones, Govan Old Church, Glasgow

Next we strolled around to the waterfront at Govan to view the Clyde and Glasgow in the distance. Image below shows the Tall Ship ‘Glenlee’ and the the new Riverside Museum

Clyde Waterfront, Govan, Glasgow

Next we briefly called in at the People’s Place on historic Glasgow Green. Image below shows the Doulton Fountain, the largest terracotta fountain in the world which dates from 1888 and features carved images from around the then British Empire

Doulton Fountain, Glasgow Green, Scotland

Next to our 12.00 noon appointment for a tour of Auchentoshan Distillery, which has been producing Scotch Whisky since 1823.

Auchentoshan Distillery, Glasgow, Scotland

Here we were shown the malting, mashing, fermentation.distillation and maturation processes. Tour culminated in a tasting.

Tour Guide at Auchentoshan Distillery, Glasgow

Whisky Tasting at Auchentoshan Distillery, Glasgow

Next, we drove to the popular village of Luss to view to view Loch Lomond. Fortunately, Ben Lomond (mountain) was resplendent, basking in the sunshine with a covering of snow. This made for good photo opportunities.

Snow Capped, Ben Lomond, Scotland

: Photo Opp, Luss, Loch Lomond

Our final stop was historic Glasgow Cathedral which dates from the 13th century, albeit on a Christian site dating back to around the 5th century. This building is special in that it survived the ravages of the 1560 Reformation virtually intact. Now a Presbyterian place of worship.

Tomb of St Kentigern, Glasgow Catehdral, Scotland

Glasgow Cathedral, Glasgow, Scotland

Finally, we returned to Greenock to connect with the cruise ship.

Art, Buildings, Churches, Culture, Glasgow, Glasgow Architecture, Govan, Greenock, History, Locations, Loch Lomond, Loch Lomond, Lochs & Lakes, Luss, Mountains, Museums, Nature, Prehistory, River Clyde, Scotland tour, Tours, Whisky none

Explore Whisky Making, Explore Scotland

April 10, 2012 catswhiskers Comments off

Barley for Malting at Whisky Distillery, Scotland

This evening, I am providing an overview of the the somewhat complicated process for manufacture of malt whisky in Scotland.

Raw ingredients are barley, water and yeast ( all natural). The barley is malted to obtain sugars from the starch. This can be undertaken on an industrial scale by specialist maltsters or on the traditional basis at the distillery.

Maltings Furnace at Whisky Distillery, Scotland

The malted barley is steeped in hot water in a Mash Tun, as shown below.

Mash Tun, Whisky Distillery, Scotland

Next, the resultant liquid is transferred to containers called washbacks where yeast is added to facilitate fermentation. This results in a liquid similar to a beer, with alcohol content of about 8pct.

Fermentation in Washback at Whisky Distillery

After fermentation, the liquid is distilled, passing first through a wash still and then the spirit still.

Distillation at Whisky Distillery, Scotland

After distillation the spirit is transferred, after dilution with water to reduce alcohol content, to oak casks to commence the maturation process. This takes a minimum of three years but more commonly for periods of 10years, 12 years or longer, even up to 50 years in extreme cases.

Maturing Whisky at Distillery in Scotland

After the appropriate period of maturation, the whisky is normally ready for the palate.

Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Visiting a distillery and learning the basics of the whisky making process is recommended as part of a Scotland tour. In many cases distilleries are located in areas of scenic beauty, e.g. Speyside, which adds another dimension to the case for learning about aqua vitae which in turn forms Scotland’s single largest export industry.

Culture, Food & Drink, Highlands, Locations, Scotland tour, Speyside, Tours, Whisky none

Speyside Whisky Tour Scotland

April 9, 2012 catswhiskers Comments off

Whisky Selection, Glenlivet Distillery, Scotland

This morning, we departed our excellent lodgings at An Cala, Grantown-on-Spey and drove over to Glenlivet Distillery. Here we toured the visitor centre and then embarked on a distillery tour led by a competent and engaging guide. Unfortunately, photography of the whisky making process is not permitted, hence images are restricted to peripheral views. However, we did learn about the malting, mashing, fermentation, distillation and maturation process rounded off by a tasting of a single malt.

Here is an image of the Still House (left) with Visitor Centre at top.

Stillroom and Visitor Centre, Glenlivet Distillery, Scotland

Here is the tour guide giving instruction on the tasting of Glenlivet single malt.

Tour Guide, Glenlivet Distillery

Here is a scenic view showing a snow capped Ben Rinnes taken from the distillery car park.

Ben Rinnes, 2759 ft from Glenlivet Distillery

After concluding the Glenlivet tour we drove north to call in at the Macallan Visitor Centre for a brief inspection and then on to nearby Glenfiddich to join in the 12,00 noon Explorer Tour. This turned out to be exclusive to our group and last about 90 mins. We were guided through the basic processes as at Glenlivet with special emphasis on the blending of the various malts with the tour concluding with tastings of four single Glenfiddich malts. Glednfiddich were more liberal with their attitude to photography and hence small portfolio of images below.

Here is the Mash Tun

Mash Tun, Glenfiddich Distillery, Scotland

Here are some of the washbacks where fermentation occurs, aided by yeast.

Washbacks at Glenfiddich Distillery, Speyside

Here is fermentation in process.

Fermentation at Glenfiddich Distillery

Here are some of the spirit and wash stills where essentially, a type of beer at about 8pc alcohol is turned into spirit with a high alcohol content. It is this spirit which is converted into single malt whisky after a suitable maturation period in oak casks.

Wash and Spirit Stills at Glenfiddich Distillery, Speyside

Te whisky maturation process gives off alcohol vapour which in turn nourishes a black fungus which covers vegetation and buildings alike.This tree provides an example of the fungus, which does not harm the trees or living plants.

Alcohol Fungus Coated Tree at Glenfiddich Distillery, Scotland

Here is the whisky tasting in process.

Whisky Tasting at Glenfiddich Distillery, Scotland

Interestingly, Glenfiiddich and Glenlivet are similar size in terms of annual production with each turning out about 10.0M litres of spirit p.a.

After the Glenfiddich tour we had drive down to Edinburgh in order to connect with onward travel links to London. Unfortunately, a key road in the Highlands was blocked forcing a diversion. Although we arrived about 1 hour later than planned, the journey through the Cairngorms and Highlands with snow capped mountains did prove enjoyable.

Culture, Food & Drink, Highlands, Locations, Mountains, Nature, Scotland tour, Speyside, Tours, Whisky none

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