Today is a tour of the Speyside whisky region.
It’s an early pickup (again). The Speyside Cooperage is on our ‘must see’ list and the only time we could tour is at 9:00. The cooperage is only one of a few left in Scotland. Here they build and repair casks using traditional hand methods. These guys are amazing. The Guinness World Record Holder works here. Believe it or not, he assembled a complete cask in 3 minutes, 3 seconds – WOW.
It takes four years to apprentice as a cooper. At graduation they are tarred and rolled around the cooperage in the last cask they worked on. Some graduation ceremony! They are paid by the piece, so the more casks they make the more they get paid. If a cask does not pass the quality check – they fix it for free. Apparently, they get paid quite well.
We drove by the Glenfiddich Distillery (Mary’s favorite) hoping for a tour and tasting, but due to staffing issues they were closed the day we were there. Bummer. The tears were real.
Next up is a stop at the Walkers Shortbread Factory Shop. We thought we might get to tour the factory, but it is not allowed. The shop was open, so we were able to pick up some stuff we never see on our side of the pond
Onward to the Knockando (pronounced No can do) Woolen Mill. I don’t think I will ever look at a piece of fabric the same again – especially the woven patterns. There was a fantastic video which demonstrated the end-to-end process. Can’t imagine how long it takes to master the craft. Incredible.
The mill dates back to the late 1700’s when the locals would bring their fleeces to be turned into fabric or yarn. Originally all done by hand, some slight mechanization occurred thru the late 19th century. The mill was almost lost, then restored 2000-2012 in an incredible act of personal desire and is now still a working mill.
George took a diverted route to the iconic Craigellachie Bridge on the river Spey. Dick kept humming the theme song from the ‘Bridge on the River Kwai’. Well, it was close.
We enjoyed a nice lunch at the Mash Tun Inn in Aberlour along with a wee dram. Compulsory in this part of the region. Excellent food, very excellent dram. Onward to the Cardhu Distillery just down the road for a tour and tasting. Cardhu’s main output is a base for the Johnny Walker line but they also do a range of single malts. Cardhu’s grounds are large and there is a herd of Hairy Coos in residence. George has brought along some ‘digestives’ as he calls them which must be a favorite as the beasts come running. Good fun.
George makes a quick stop at the Elgin Cathedral ruin for pictures, then drops us at the West End for the night. We finished the evening with a nice dinner at Sunnyhill based on a recommendation from George who is a local.
