If you are thinking of venturing into the craft distilling business, before you make any decisions or buy any equipment, a trip to the Speyside region of Scotland is critical.
To get to these parts, take a train from Edinburgh to Inverness and then on to Elgin. From Elgin, catch Bus #36 to Craigellachie and exit there (hint – there is only 1 bus stop in the wee town..). Another hint – this bus runs 7 days a week, despite claims to the contrary on the Internet (fake news). Stay either at the Highlander Inn or the Craigellachie Inn. To give you an example of how traditional this area is, the Highlander website had no on-line reservation function. I had to do the old fashioned method of phoning them to reserve a room (just like we used to do in the 1980’s !!!).
From Craigellachie, a 1 mile jaunt will land you at Speyside Cooperage. You can do the cheap 4 Pound tour or you can pay 30 Pounds for the VIP version. I did the VIP one and got 2 hours on the floor with the coopers watching in intricate detail how they refurbish barrels for various distillery customers. This place is owned by French company TFF who also have a sister facility in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. A further 2 miles along the road will land you at Glenfiddich Distillery. By far and away the BEST tour I have ever had anywhere ( I did the 50 Pound Solera Tour which includes a full distillery tour plus a detailed intro to their Solera method which is used in their 15 Year Old expression). You can walk to the Cooperage from Craigellachie, but be sure to take Bus #36 to Glenfiddich.
Going the other way, you can walk the path along the Spey River that used to be the old rail line. There is an odd Canadian connection here. In the mid-1800s in Canada, there were some 70 distilleries making whisky for export to the UK. This Speyside Railway is what started to bring Speyside Whisky to the rest of the world thanks to its links to the port city of Glasgow. By the 1860s, many of these Canadian distilleries were defunct as demand for their exported Whisky had all but dried up.
It is 2 miles along this path to Aberlour (or you can hop Bus #36). In Aberlour you will find one of my favorite companies – Walkers Shortbread. You will also find the Aberlour Distillery – home to one of my favorite Whisky’s, Aberlour A’Bunadh which is aged in ex-sherry casks for its entire life.
Once you have tasted so many fine Whisky’s (the Highlander Inn has 400 on offer), you will start to understand why for so long now I have been screaming at the top of my lungs that proper Whisky should be double pot distilled. None of this column and plate bullshit. Columns and plates explain why our Canadian commercial whisky is what I term “brown piss in a bottle”. Craft distillers who insist on using columns and plates will be making – brown piss in a bottle. Does the Canadian consumer really need more brown piss? I say no. A craft distiller can make a great name for himself/herself by focusing on the double pot method.
Before I get too agitated and go off on a long rant, I will wrap it up here. This is a fantastic part of the world and you owe it to yourself to make the trip.
