Soak up some holiday spirit

From Speyside to Islay, Glenturret to Arran, Scotland’s whisky regions keep bringing Bridget McGrouther back for more

I urge you to follow your nose, or the pagoda signs of the Speyside Malt Whisky Trail, during whatever season takes your fancy

Where else but in Scotland would a whole month be dedicated to celebrating a national drink? No, not Irn Bru – the one with a kick and a worldwide following of connoisseurs?

In fact, make that a month and a half as we’re so eager to toast our (in my best Gaelic) “uisge beath” or “water of life” that the celebrations have started early up in Speyside, which is home to more than 50% of the nation’s malt whisky distilleries.

Until Monday, the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival (spiritofspeyside.com) will host ceilidhs, tastings, “dram fine” walks, four-wheel drive “smuggling” tours, canoe excursions and steam train journeys.

Don’t worry if you’re missing out this weekend as it’s now so popular that organisers pour a healthy double measure of the same again come autumn. I highly recommend it – there is something for everyone.

I have an especially soft spot for scenic Speyside and the Craigellachie Hotel in particular as this was where my husband and I spent our first weekend break together.

Our welcome drink was a quaich of whisky and we enjoyed relaxing in the atmospheric 120-year-old bar with its second-to-none range of malts.

Celebs Kate Moss, Sadie Frost and Noel Gallagher have more recently discovered the wonders of the hotel’s Copper Dog pub and restaurant and now word has spread to Dubai, where – surprise, surprise – a supposed exact replica has been opened.

Call me old-fashioned, but I just can’t see drinking whisky in the sun-baked UAE providing quite the same heartwarming glow as clinking glasses in front of a log fire, surrounded by a pristine, pine-scented Highland landscape.

Although – for research purposes, you understand – I am quite prepared to drop by the next time I’m in Dubai to find out.

I urge you to follow your nose, or the pagoda road signs of the Speyside Malt Whisky Trail, during whatever season takes your fancy. It’s easiest to self-drive the circular route to distilleries from Aberlour and Dufftown to Elgin and Forres, although, of course, that inhibits the driver from any tasting until they’re parked up for the night.

And don’t think it’s a holiday just for adults (although the alcohol obviously is) as there are many family-friendly attractions en route, including the Speyside Cooperage with its imaginative picnic tables in giant barrels.

During May’s Whisky Month (visitscotland.com), special events will take place in Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as tours and tastings at distilleries nationwide, from historic old timers such as the enchanting Glen Grant in Rothes with its beautiful Victorian gardens to newly-opened stills like Ardnamurchan by scenic Loch Sunart.

Two of my favourites include Glenturret Distillery near Crieff and the Isle of Arran at Lochranza, where the calls of rutting stags can be heard in season echoing around the hills beyond the distillery doors.

The island most connoisseurs want to beat a path to is, of course, Islay, even if (or perhaps especially because) the peaty varieties of the many distilleries

concentrated here (including Ardbeg, Lagavulin and Laphroaig) are pungent enough to knock your socks off.

The Feis Ile or Islay Festival of Music and Malt from May 26 may just provide the perfect excuse to cast anchor. And guess what – the celebrations roll right into June. Well, you never can get enough of a good thing. Slainté!

Pictures: VisitScotland. Clockwise from main image: Craigellachie bridge and some of the village’s other attractions; the Malt Barn Bar at the Glenfiddich Distillery during the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival; signs showing the way to whisky country; and barrel rolling at...