TakeahopScotch tour of Speyside
IF YOU’RE on the trail of whisky, tweed and tartan, the country’s most famous Scotch-producing region is perfect for you.
Here’s how to spend a long weekend exploring Speyside. Perched on the banks of the salmon-rich River Spey, 40 minutes from Aviemore and around an hour’s drive from Aberdeen airport, the Craigellachie Hotel is the perfect base for a weekend in Speyside.
The hotel was originally built to capitalise on the popularity of Speyside, following the building of the railway in the late 1800s.
A £3million refurbishment in 2015, at the hands of Piers Adam (the owner of London cocktail club Mahiki), and a string of rock ’n’ roll patrons including Kate Moss and Noel Gallagher, has put this
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One of its highlights is the well-stocked Quaich bar with more than 900 whiskies. Ask the attentive staff and they’ll give you a wonderfully boozy intro to some of the finest malts from the region or whip up a modern twist on a classic negroni.
A cosy country pub in the basement adds to the getaway appeal – part of a fruitful partnership with Copper Dog, a palatable and modern blended malt whisky with a fruity and honey taste.
Despite its remote location and patchy mobile phone reception, the crowd here is a lot younger than you might expect. Speyside features the largest concentration of Scotch whisky distilleries in the country, including Glenfiddich and Macallan, and a pleasant afternoon can be spent tasting the fruits of the region.
There are several trails to take, including the Cragganmore distillery, which is home to one of the most complex and characterful malt whiskies in the region.
Tours are about an hour long and take you through the fascinating process of creating whisky – from malting to maturation.
Even those who can’t stand the taste of the stuff will find something deeply relaxing in the steaming alcoholic cosiness emitting from the bubbling copper pot stills. The Range Tour, which costs £28 and can be booked on the distillery’s website, ends with nosing and tasting a range of Cragganmore single malt expressions with local food samples. A visit to Elgin, just half an hour’s drive away, offers the chance to see cashmere being manufactured at the world-famous Johnstons of Elgin mill.
It’s a surprisingly moving insight into an industry that has remained largely unchanged for the past 200 years.
As well as homespun tartan knits, the mill also produces Burberry’s trademark check scarves and Hermes blankets, so any fashion fan worth their Givenchy Antigona handbag will find plenty to gawp at on a two-hour tour.