Inside the castle
Finally I left by 9:30am and took the route to Nairn. Very near to Culrain is the Glenmorangie distillery in Tain. But I skipped it and went straight towards Nairn.
route was mostly empty and the sky cloudy with slight drizzle..
On way I took a detour to Cawdor Castle. It was a small single lane road with fields and trees on either side. It had many blind turns hence i could not drive very fast..
high trees..
First I missed the turn. Then after going a few miles ahead, had to turn back. Then again I went the wrong way. After the turn from the main road, there was no sign. Then finally I fed the castle name in the GPS and reached it. But all the effort was in vain. I saw this..
The castle was closed due to revonation for the royal wedding. Then I entered Nairn and refueled the car. On the way I saw a church where some marriage for going on.
I sat in the car and had a quick breakfast and then headed towards Brodie Castle. Again i passed through some empty jungle roads..
After reaching the Castle i parked the car and headed towards the castle building..
But seems it was my unlucky day, it too was closed. View from the outside..
Disappointed, i moved on towards Elgin. This was a bigger town. The main problem in bigger towns is parking. But here as I entered I saw a sign “Free parkin for 3hrs then 70pounds”. I wasn’t staying for 3 hours, so quickly parked there. In Elgin, I went to see the ruins of a church. This too was closed. Whats happening today?? But I was able to take pictures from over the wall.
the cemetary..
another angle..
Well, enough monuments. Time to head straight for the whiskey land. The region around the river Spey (called Speyside region), has most of the whiskey distilleries in Scotland. My destination was Dufftown, the malt whiskey capital of the world.
Smaller towns on the way..
There were many distilleries all around. Most of them let you visit inside and take you on a tour and show you the whiskey making process. Then they let you sample some of their single malts. The first destination I fed into my GPS was Macallan distillery. The guidebook said its in Craigellachie, but the GPS showed Aberlour. Obviously GPS cannot be wrong, so I followed the route it showed. As I was taking a right hand corner on a road with huge trees on both sides, the GPS has “Macallan distillery on your right”. Abbe oy!!.. GPS ne dhoka de diya. Unbelievable!!! So i followed the guide book. Again wrong place but here the locals guided me to correct route. I had to take the route for Archiestown to go to Macallan. Then i could see the signs for the distillery. Finally i reached and parked the car..
the fields were the barley from the whiskey is grown..
It was 3:15pm when I reached the distillery reception. But last tour had already left at 3:00pm. So the lady there asked me to come back next morning at 10am. But she did give me my complimentary dram of whiskey. I also fond their gift shop quite good.
Then I called up Glenfiddich which is in Dufftown, a few miles away, to see if they were still open. They said they give tours till 4:30pm. So I quickly drove to Dufftown. On the way I saw the Aberlour and Dewar distilleries.
The distillery is just at the edge of the town.
entering the distillery..
A beautiful girl in a short skirt (in such biting cold!!) gave us a tour. The best part was that it was free whereas all other distilleries charge for it. By the way Glenlivet tour is also free. Also at Glenfiddich they don’t have fixed timings for tours. You can go there anytime before 4:30pm. I let the photos take you through the distillery and the whiskey making process..
mashing process..
The distillation process. Here the Wash is heated and the alcohol is collected..
From the outside..
At the end of tour they gave Glenfiddich 12 years old, 15 and 18 for tasting. When you taste all 3 together, then you come to know why the 18yo is so expensive. Their shop also had Balvenie whiskeys which is their sister distillery. The display there..
When i left the distillery it was starting to get dark..
After the tour i came to Dufftown. There was no youth hostel here so I started looking for a bed and breakfast. I had read about one run by an old lady called Mrs. Welsh. The address was 48 balvenie street. It turned out to be a cosy room and the hostess, Mrs Welsh was a very nice lady. She rents the double room at 17pounds per bed. She gave it to me for 17 pounds, saying i will be using just one bed so I need to pay for it only. the room..
Mrs. Welsh was a very chatty lady who had lots of stories to tell. Sit with her and you will not know how many hours have passed by. After resting some time I went for a walk in the town. The streets were totally empty..
There was nothing much in the town except the shops selling essential things. I went inside the super market. It had the largest collection of single malts i have seen. People were taking quarters of Famous Grouse like people in India have Royal Stag. There was a whole section having cask strength whiskeys. then i walked into a bar and tried some more single malts..
I came back and after some more chatting with Mrs Welsh and her other guests, went to sleep.
Total distance in the day: 121mi
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