SPIT AND SAWDUST

Good old-fashioned pubs, and publicans, are vanishingly rare, so Blair Bowman is delighted that the legendary Fiddichside Inn on Speyside won’t be consigned to history

The reopening of the Fiddichside Inn has delighted whisky buff Blair Bowman

Much to my delight, the iconic Speyside pub The Fiddichside Inn reopened in early January under new ownership. But with pubs opening and closing all the time, what makes this one so special? Well, this is no ordinary watering hole; it’s a veritable institution. The Fiddichside Inn was renowned the world over, and was held dear in the heart of the whisky community. However, when the previous owner passed away in 2017 the future of the pub hung in the balance.

The owner, Joe Brandie, was a true gentleman. When he died, aged 88, he was one of the oldest publicans in the country and had worked in the Fiddichside Inn for nearly 60 years.

The property was built on the banks of the River Fiddich in 1840, and was originally established to accommodate workers building the railways. Bought by his in-laws in 1919, Joe and his wife Dorothy took over the pub in 1964, following the death of her mother.

While Joe was no stranger to working in the Fiddichside Inn, the 1960s saw him fulfil several additional occupations, including work as a labourer and trained cooper, until a back injury forced him to change direction once more, and he became a ghillie. Twenty-seven years later, he worked full-time in the Fiddichside Inn, welcoming both local punters and visitors from around the world.

It was in 2009 that Dorothy died, aged 89, and at the time she was Scotland’s oldest licensee. Taking just four days off for the funeral before reopening, Joe took on the running of the pub single-handedly until he passed away eight years later.

Readers of our sister publication Cask & Still may remember a short feature on Joe that ran in November 2015. He told us that while he may have enjoyed a dram or two while working at Macallan, he had become tee-total since working in the Fiddichside Inn for fear of becoming ‘too involved’.

In Joe’s time, the Fiddichside Inn remained largely unchanged, aside from the addition of indoor toilets which were installed in 1960. But that was the sheer joy of it – with no flat-screen TVs, no phones, no jukebox and no fruit machines, it was like stepping back in time. There was no food either – in fact you’d be lucky to find a packet of peanuts because that certainly wasn’t a given.

Joe was a remarkable storyteller, and part of the charm of visiting was to hear one of his tales. Just a few months before his passing he was interviewed by Scottish Licensed Trade News and he told them a story about his wife’s grandfather, a picture of whom hung on the wall by the bar. ‘That’s my wife’s grandfather, who was a gamekeeper and an illicit distiller,’ said Joe. ‘The people from customs tried to catch him and turned up at his door dressed in rags and asked if he could give them something to warm them up, thinking he would give them a whisky but he gave them a bowl of soup.

‘Then his boss, the laird, was at a dinner in London and was sitting next to the head of customs and excise, which he didn’t know at the time. He took a drink and said, “I could get a better dram from my gamekeeper”. They caught Joe and fined him ten pounds.’

Joe was respected the world-over – CEOs of multimillion pound businesses would stop in for a dram, alongside a multitude of international whisky stars and hordes of locals. The bar stocked around 50 malts and had a handful of beers on draught. It was a no-nonsense institution full of old-school character.

I remember staying at the Craigellachie Hotel with some clients a few years ago, and telling them about a brilliant cocktail bar just a five-minute walk from our hotel. Like the Pied Piper I led them there, regaling them with tales about this amazing bar. There were no cocktails from Joe that night, but a brilliant evening was had and the clients left having experienced an authentic gem of a pub.

The new owners have vowed not to change anything, apart from installing central heating

– a modern comfort for us soft 21st-century punters. They want the legacy of Joe and the Fiddichside to live on. I, for one, am absolutely delighted to see its doors open once more. It will bring such joy to those who hear of its relaunch.

I dare say Joe will be smiling down on it too.

“The Fiddichside Inn was a nononsense institution full of old-school character