Having made our selections from the many options of local activities offered by our outstanding hosts, Kevin and Fiona, we followed the excellent day of everything-reindeer, with a ride on a steam train. This was of particular interest to Randall, who would have a model train-set running around Tregoning’s cabins if he could talk me into it. The trip along the Spey River, from just outside Grantown-on-Spey to Aviemore, took about 30 minutes on another lovely sunny day. To Randall’s delight, while the train was waiting to fill up with passengers in the station, we were allowed to step onto the driver’s platform behind the engine. Ah…the vibrations, heat, noise, and coal-smell that featured in so many of those boyhood dreams.



The steam train to Aviemore arriving at Grantown-on-Spey

In Aviemore, we hiked around the Craigellachie National Nature Reserve, home to peregrine falcons and a persistent flock of mallard ducks, which were intent on trying to persuade us to share our picnic lunch. Somewhat predictably, we also visited a pub while awaiting our return train.



Carr Bridge

Other sites visited around Grantown-on-Spey included the scenic Carr Bridge, built in 1717 over the River Dulnain, and the Roches Moutonnées (literally translated to rock wigs). The latter are a “swarm” of rocks that were ground down by the motion of 700 m-thick (2,300 feet) glaciers about 18,000 years ago. The upstream side of the resistant rocks was worn to a smooth, gradually rising slope, while a steeper, cliff-like face was left on the downstream side when the ice shattered and plucked at the rock as the glacier moved away.



Kevin looks over the downstream end of one of the Roches Moutonnées

Our visit to the Highlands was not going to be complete without a tour of a whisky distillery (“whisky” in Britain or Canada and “whiskey” in the USA). So on Friday morning (August 19th) we headed to the Glenfarclas distillery (Glenfarclas translates to valley of the green grass). Opened in 1836, this independent distillery has been run by the Grant family since 1865 and produces a traditional Highland malt with a heavy sherry influence (from the sherry casks). It has six stills (the big pots heated by gas burners where distillation occurs) which are the largest on Speyside, with four in production and two in reserve. This distillery has a production capacity of about 3.5 million litres of spirit per year (910,000 US gallons) with approximately 68,000 casks maturing on-site in traditional warehouses, with stock from every year from 1953 to the current year.

With about a dozen other visitors, we had an excellent one-hour tour of the Glenfarclas distillery, enthusiastically lead by a former school teacher. Two of the children in our group even had an impromptu opportunity to mop the floors around the stills: an activity that they approached with an energy and zeal that only children away from home could produce. At the end we were each given a couple of shots of excellent whisky to sample, with each designated-driver receiving miniature bottles to take away. Being late morning and with nothing to eat along with the sampling, it was an unusual and interesting experience to be delivered by Fiona and Kevin to the Aviemore train station for our ride to Glasgow in a glowing state of tipsiness.



Alison, Kevin, and Fiona at the Glenfarclas distillery

All you ever wanted to know about whisky production…maybe?

It is possible that distillation of perfumes was practiced by the Babylonians in Mesopotamia in the 2nd millennium BC but the Greeks in Alexandria were certainly using the process by the 1st century AD

Earliest records of alcohol distillation are in Italy in the 13th century, where alcohol was distilled from wine

Until the 15th century, distillation was performed in monasteries primarily for the production "aqua vitae" (spirit alcohol) for medicinal purposes

The earliest mention of Irish whisky attributes the death of a chieftain in 1405 to "taking a surfeit of aqua vitae" at Christmas

The first evidence of whisky production in Scotland came from an entry in the Exchequer Rolls for 1494, and James IV of Scotland (r. 1488–1513) reportedly had a great liking for Scotch whisky (which was a raw drink that was not matured or diluted)

The dissolution of monasteries by King Henry VIII between 1536 and 1541, moved whisky production into personal homes and farms as an income for the newly independent monks

The English Malt Tax of 1725, shut-down or forced underground most of Scotland's distillation

Operation of homemade stills at night when the smoke could not be seen, gave rise the name “moonshine” but its large-scale production ended with passage of the 1823 Excise Act, legalizing the distillation (for a fee)

Scotch Whisky Regulations require anything bearing the label "Scotch" to be distilled in Scotland and matured there for a minimum of three years in oak casks, among other, more specific criteria

The basic types of Scotch are “malt”, made primarily from malted barley, and “grain”, made from other grains, which can be combined to create blends.

Scotch malt whiskies come from five regions: Highland, Lowland, Islay, Cambeltown, and Speyside, with more than half Scotland’s distilleries in the latter region

To produce malt whisky, three essential ingredients are required: pure spring water, malted barley, and yeast

The processes are:
Malting – newly harvested barley is soaked in water and germinated to develop enzymes that break down starch and proteins into forms that can be used by the yeast. Malting is gradually halted by drying with hot air which, in Scotland, often contains peat smoke to add a peaty flavor.

Milling – is the grinding of the dried malted barley in a five-roll mill into ‘grist’ which has three parts: 15% husks (coarse), 80% grits (medium) and 5% fine flour. It is important that these proportions are correct, so the extraction of fermentable sugars during the mashing process is as effective possible.

Mashing – mixes the grist with water at various temperatures in an insulated brewing vessel called a “mash tun”. This allows enzymes in the malt to break down the starch in the grain into sugars, typically maltose, to create a liquid “wort” and residue “mash” (usually fed to livestock).

Fermentation – occurs in stainless steel fermentation vessels where cultured distillers’ yeast is added to the cooled wort at a ratio of 1:100. Sugars are converted to ethanol, releasing carbon dioxide and heat. After at least 48 hours, all of the yeast has disappeared in a cloudy liquid called 'wash' (a.k.a. sour beer) which is about 8% alcohol by volume (abv).

Distillation – is when the wash is heated enough in the bottom of a still for the alcohol to evaporate out and then be cooled and collected at the top of the still. Larger 'wash stills' are required for the first distillation and smaller 'spirit stills' for the second distillation. Stills are made of, or lined with, copper to improve the clarity of the new spirit and remove unpalatable sulfur-based compounds. Most Scotch whiskies are distilled twice, although some are distilled a third time and others even up to twenty times.

Maturation – in oak casks for at least three years adds flavors from the oak (sometimes charred) and previous contents (e.g., sherry). The new spirit has 68% abv which is diluted with water to 63.5% abv for optimal flavor absorption. Glenfarclas casks are stored in 30 warehouses from the 1880’s which have thick stone walls, earth floors, and a stable temperature. Casks are stacked only three high for at least eight years during which time the ‘Angel’s Share’ of alcohol evaporates off, reducing the spirit’s content by 0.4% abv per year.



Dated casks of whisky in a Glenfarclas distillery warehouse (including a cask from the year of my birth…)

Bottling – occurs after adjusting the alcohol strength with water to 43% abv for export or 40% abv for the UK.

Single malt whisky is whisky from a single distillery made with only one particular malted grain. Unless the whisky is described as single-cask, it contains whisky from many casks, and different years, so the blender can achieve a taste recognizable as typical of the distillery. The age listed on a label must be of the youngest component in a mixed-year whisky.

Blended malt whisky is a mixture of single malt whiskies from different distilleries.

Blended whisky is made from a mixture of different types of whisky. A blend may contain whisky from many distilleries so that the blender can produce a flavor consistent with the brand.

Cask strength (also known as barrel proof) whiskies are rare, and usually only the very best whiskies are bottled in this way. They are bottled from the cask undiluted or only lightly diluted and Glenfarclas produces such a whisky that is 60% abv.

Single cask (also known as single barrel) whiskies are bottled from an individual cask, and often the bottles are labelled with specific barrel and bottle numbers. The taste of these whiskies may vary substantially from cask to cask within a brand and should be sampled before spending the high price that a cask in short-supply might merit. Among whisky aficionados, a bottle of single cask from the year of one’s birth may be particularly treasured.

Slàinte mhath! (“Good health” in Scottish Gaelic)