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.