Whiskey, Castle and Fort Scotland

Day34/Scotland 11

Travelled:141km

Stay: Fort George (near Inverness) layby N57.5832 W4.0613

Visited: Dufftown- Glenfiddich Distillery £10pp, Brodie Castle (National Trust £11pp/£3parking), Fort George (£9pp arrived too late to visit).

After a peaceful night we made our way again through some beautiful fertile countryside. 

Our destination was Dufftown, the malt whiskey capital of the world! Within a 25 mile radius of the town is 50% of Scotland’s whiskey production. The Glenfiddich distillery, owned by William Grant & Sons and founded in 1886, is the world’s best selling single malt whiskey. 

It uses their own water source, The Robbie Dhu Spring and has 32 spirit stills at a capacity of 13m litres. We found the tour informative learning how the 100tons per day of malted barley is mashed, then ‘cooked’ with the spring water to make sugared water that is then fermented in huge wooden barrels made of Canadian Douglas fir. 

After 72 hours this liquid is then distilled in the copper stills.The copper helps remove the impurities. 

The evaporated liquid (spirits) is distilled 2 more times with only the best (72% alcohol) being kept to be matured in the barrels (previously used bourbon barrels from America or sherry butts from Spain). These add flavours and the longer the spirit is matured the taste changes.

 Have a look at their website if you need more info. They have their own coopers making and maintaining the barrels. As well as as specialists tending to the traditional shaped copper stills. We ended the tour sniffing some barrels and then tasting the 12, 15 and 18 year old whiskey. Cheers. 

We were told the driving alcohol limit in Scotland is practically 0. We were half expecting for a breathalyzer unit to be around the corner as we left. Luckily we arrived to Brodie Castle without incident. Having a quick bite to eat we made it just in time for the 1pm tour. This lovely rose coloured property was the ancestral home to the Brodie Clan for over 400 years.

 We had a terrific guide who not only gave us an insight in to the Brodie history but also the life of the servants who worked here. Many of these properties where donated to the National Trust so that their legacy could be kept instead of lost to pay the 40% death tax. The last owner even acted as a guide before his death in 2003 whilst he lived here.  Every thing was kept as it was left including the library with over 6000 volumes and some wonderful paintings. No photos were allowed inside but google kindly provided some.

You can just see the amazing plaster ceiling..weighing over 2.5 tons

 The Scottish weather had once again turned and we exited the castle to rain. Having contacted Fort George we were told overnight parking was tolerated in a layby.  So we made our way there but arrived too late to visit the fort. It was built following the 1746 Culloden battle as an ultimate defence against further Jacobite unrest. It took 22 years to complete and has served the British Army (the Black Watch) since then. 

We had a look around the entrance and then retreated back to Bluey, keeping dry. 

Aberdeen and Fraser Castle, Scotland

Day 33/Scotland 10

Travelled:55km

Stay: Cairnton Wood near Inverurie-wayside parking N57.2543 W2.4072

Visited: Aberdeen, Tolbooth Museum (free), Maritime Museum (free), Fraser Castle (National Trust non-members £12pp & £3 parking) 

During the night the sea mist had rolled into Aberdeen and was still thick at 7:30am. 

We made our way closer to the city parking along the esplanade where a few motorhomes had spent the night. By the time we had breakfast the sun was shining and we walked 20mins into the city. It is now Scotland’s third largest and Europe’s offshore oil capital. It’s is also known as the Granite City because of many of its buildings being made from silvery granite. As it faces the North Sea it has a strong maritime history and is still an important fishing port. We came across the Mercat Cross which stands in Castlegate, the one-time site of the city castle.

 We managed to find our way to the very impressive Neo-Gothic Marischal College. 

We then stood outside Provost (Mayor) Skene’s House built in 1545. 

We are still coming across these colour chaps.

We continued to St.Nicholas Kirk which was founded in the 12th century and is Scotland’s largest parish church. There were many prominent locals buried in the church yard. We then went to have a look at William Wallace’s statue erected in 1888, who was a Scottish knight that became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence.  

Felt sorry for this guy.. at least he is well loved by birds..

We then went to have a look at the Tolbooth Museum which was a 17th century jail. 

We read about the harsh punishment suffered for various crimes including deportation to America and later to Australia. 

After the Battle of Culloden, there were over 50 Jacobite prisoners crammed into the small cells. 

Next we walked down to the Maritime Museum which traces the history of the city’s seafaring traditions as well as the North Sea oil industry. 

As we returned to Bluey we walked along the harbour/port side and admired the huge ships. 

We then filled up with LPG, did some food shopping and popped into a caravan shop to buy some supplies. After this we had no time to spare to get to Castle Fraser for the the last tour at 3:15pm of which we had been lucky to have pre-booked (as it was later full and others had been turned away). It had been in the Fraser family for over 400 years and had many alterations.

 There were a few quirky features such as the Laird’s Lug (a secret place to listen in on conversations), hidden trapdoors (priests hiding hole) and a spy hole into the great hall. 

Hole above window casement is the Lairds Lug and the hike in the wall is a peep on the Great Hall from another room.

The padding on the footstools lift up and can be used as a spittoon. Others were called gout stools so those suffering the condition could put their feet up.


This painting is quite unique as it is painted on the underside of the glass, so the painter would have to start with the highlights and finish with the background, the opposite of how paintings are usually done.

One of the owners lost his leg fighting in a war when he was 20 and had managed to survive the amputation. He married and had 14 children of only 2 outliving him when he died at 79. He had at least 20 prosthetic legs. This one was made especially for riding a horse. He also had one made of cork for dancing. 

We made it to the top of the round tower, offering us views of the estate gardens.

 By the end of our tour it was time to find a spot for tonight and decided that the first and closest one was good enough.