Warm up with a whisky-laced weekend
WHEN Donald Trump gets in on the action, you know a city is booming. The tycoon is building a £1 billion golf course near Aberdeen and investors are falling over themselves to join the growing throng of industries based here.
Business aside, the granite city has plenty to offer the weekender in search of history and gastronomy.
One of the smartest choices for sleeping is the Malmaison on Queen’s Road. Decked out in traditional style — roaring fires, tartan, glorious in-bedroom bath tubs — it’s seriously cosy. But, before surrendering to its warm glow, I experience something of the local culture. And where better to start than with a whisky distillery tour.
Glen Garioch (pronounced Glen Geery) in the village of Oldmeldrum, a short drive west of Aberdeen, is Scotland’s most easterly distillery and, founded in 1797, it is also one of its oldest. Our guide Jane explains that Glen Garioch is still a working distillery, so the tour takes in everything from malting to distilling in the huge copper stills. Each room has its own distinctive aroma, whether malty, bitter or downright boozy.
The last, and best, part of the tour is a peek inside the huge barrel vaults. Here we indulge in a tasting session, sampling some of the distillery’s varied profile — smokey, spicy, fruity and buttery. My favourite is a 1991 vintage, aged in sherry casks.
It’s the perfect precursor to dinner at the chef’s table in the Aberdeen Malmaison Brasserie. Here you can watch your food being prepared, and thick, tender Aberdeen Angus steaks are a speciality. Aberdeen has a charming historic centre, too. Dr Fiona-Jane Brown, director of Hidden Aberdeen Walking Tours, is on a mission to ensure that the heritage of the old town is not lost amid the region’s increasing industrial development.
It is now Scotland’s third largest city, with a population of around 220,000, and has been settled for at least 8,000 years.
The area surrounding Kings College was built by Bishop Elphinstone to house the University in 1495. With crumbling churches and various medieval relics — it’s a fascinating trail and evidence of Aberdeen’s illustrious past.
That’s something that Mr Trump would do well to remember.