Scottish Tour Guide's Blog » Speyside

Visit Strathspey Steam Railway, Visit Scotland

catswhiskers — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:58:17 +0000

Strathspey Steam Railway, Highlands, Scotland

This evening, I am focusing on the Strathspey Steam Railway which operates on a 10 mile length of track between Aviemore, Boat of Garten and Broomhill, near Grantown -on-Spey. Steam trains run between April and October over part of the original Highland Railway which passes through stunning mountainous scenery of the Cairngorms taking in moorland, woods and sweeps of the River Spey. There is a buffet car on most trains.

Visit Aberlour Distillery, Visit Speyside

catswhiskers — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:14:00 +0000

Aberlour Distillery, Speyside, Scotland

This evening, I am focusing on Aberlour Distillery which is located in the Speyside region of Scotland. This is one of three distilleries owned by the French, Chivas Brothers Group. Sister distilleries are Strathisla and Glenlivet.

Aberlour has a history dating back to 1826 since when it has grown to its current production level of 4.2m litres per annum. Aberlour malt is a major constituent of the blend, Clan Campbell which is the most popular Scotch whisky brand in France.

For visitors, Aberlour provide an excellent two hour, small group tour which concludes with tastings of a range of malts plus the opportunity for guests to bottle their own single malt.

Aberlour produces a range of single malts comprising 10 year old, 12, year old, 16 year old, 18 year old and the popular a ‘Bunadh’.Latter was re-created following discovery of a time capsule bottle secreted in one the buildings. Single malts account for about half of Aberlour’s output.

At Aberlour there are two pairs of stills and five on-site warehouses.

Here is an image of some of the stills.

Visit Glenfarclas Distillery, Visit Speyside

catswhiskers — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 20:16:26 +0000

Glenfarclas Distilllery, Speyside, Scotland

This evening, I am focusing on Glenfarclas Distillery on Speyside, in the shadow of Ben Rinnes, and situated between Aberlour and Grantown-on-Spey.

Glenfarclas is an independent distiller under ownership of the third generation of the Grant family, parent company being J & G Grant.

By Speyside standards Glenfarclas is a medium-size distillery producing about 3.0m litres p.a. compared to 10.0m litres p.a. at Glenfiddich.

The six stills are biggest on Speyside whilst outside the 30 dunnage warehouses hold all the maturing single malt in, predominantly, former sherry casks.

Here are the mash tuns and washbacks during production.

Glenfarclas produces a wide range of single malts which include:

Tour Speyside, Tour Scotland

catswhiskers — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:09:12 +0000

: Fishing on River Spey, Scotland

This evening, I am focusing on Speyside, an area in the central Highlands of Scotland containing a rich diversity of interests, attractions and scenery. This is the single largest whisky producing areas with some 45 distilleries, there is also wildlife, skiing (in season), climbing in the Cairngorms, salmon fishing on the eponymous River Spey, castles, hiking, water-sports, opportunities for photography and much more.Some of the key towns in this area are Aviemore, Grantown-on-Spey and Dufftown.

In course of a year I arrange a number of whisky tours to the area visiting such distilleries as Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Macallan, Strathisla and Balvenie.

Here is a typical Speyside landscape view.

Explore Whisky Making, Explore Scotland

catswhiskers — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 21:31:21 +0000

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.

Speyside Whisky Tour Scotland

catswhiskers — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:14:37 +0000

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.

Whisky Tour Scotland

catswhiskers — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 22:33:23 +0000

Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland

This morning, I collected guests from Edinburgh Grassmarket and then drove north to the ancient Scottish capital of Stirling. Here we spent about 1 hour exploring the famous medieval castle which now features a heavily restored Royal Palace.

Fish Scotland, Tour Scotland

catswhiskers — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:05:22 +0000

: Fishing, River Spey, Scotland

This evening, I am focusing on fishing for sport in Scotland. This mainly takes place on major salmon and trout rivers such as the Tay, Tweed and Spey. However, there are multiple other possibilities including numerous lochs (lakes), smaller rivers, such as the Garry, Tummel and Esk, and the sea. The fishing season runs approximately from February to October each year. Above and below is a small portfolio of fishing related images which I have accumulated in course of tours around Scotland.

Above is a fisherman on the Spey in the Scottish Highlands whilst immediately below is a fishing scene from the River Kelvin in the city of Glasgow.

Tour Glenlivet Distillery, Tour Scotland

catswhiskers — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:30:34 +0000

Glenlivet Whisky, Speyside, Scotland

This evening, I am focusing on Glenlivet, a name which is synonymous with whisky making in Scotland and a distillery with a long and illustrious history dating back to 1824.

Visit Balvenie Distillery, Visit Speyside

catswhiskers — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:13:50 +0000

Balvenie Distillery, Dufftown, Speyside

This evening, I am focusing on Balvenie Distillery on Speyside, one of the very few traditional and integrated whisky producers from malting floor through to cooperage. Some brief facts: