Scotch in Scotland

Hello Scotland!

We arrived in Edinburgh on Saturday afternoon and were completely awestruck by the city. The lines of stone buildings, narrow alleys, and a massive castle sitting above the city made for a charming walk around the town. Everywhere we looked there was something new (or really old) to see. It was like we transported back in time. We stopped for lunch at Spirit of Thai, recommended by a local, and enjoyed a meal that took us back to our time in Thailand.

We spent the afternoon window shopping while roaming the city and listening to the bagpipers in the background. As mid-afternoon approached, so did the rain. This was our first real rain all trip so we embraced it and continued our walk before taking cover indoors (we’re still not sure how we’ve managed to have such good weather! We’ve dodged several storms and heatwaves and are counting our blessings!). Keeping with our Asian food theme, we enjoyed sushi and a hot bowl of ramen for dinner and drinks at the rooftop bar. Luckily, they had seating indoors as it was still pouring rain.

We woke up early on Sunday to enjoy a quiet stroll through the Old City before the crowds of other tourists joined. We ambled through the colorful Victoria Street (rumor has it this street inspired Harry Potter's Diagon Alley), down Cockburn Street, and along the Royal Mile taking in the sites and vibes of this enchanting city.

As we made our way back up to St. Giles’ Cathedral, we noticed several people in yellow vests gathered around the church. Curious as to what was going on, we asked one gentleman and learned there was filming of a Bollywood movie taking place and they would be shooting the wedding procession that day. We stopped to watch for a bit and continued to catch parts of the filming throughout the rest of the day.

At 11am we joined our free walking tour with an authentic Scot. After roaming the city on our own, we were excited to learn a little more about the history. Our tour started at St. Giles and led us through the Old Town. Standing in the narrow allies, we learned that the term “shit faced” came from cities like this that emptied their chamber pots at 10pm every evening. Coincidentally, that was the same time the bars closed… you can imagine the mess that would make as the inebriated patrons stumbled home! At the top of the hill near the castle, we peered across Edinburgh’s skyline and learned that Balmoral Hotel’s famous clock runs three minutes fast. This esteemed hotel sits next to the main rail station, and to ensure people don’t miss their train, they knocked a few minutes off their clock. We also learned about the theft of the Stone of Destiny back in 1950 and how it cracked into two pieces when the young scoundrels were carrying it out of Westminster Abbey. After the thief’s attempt to return the stone to Scotland failed, and rumor has it, the stone laid buried in a random field for three months, the thief's admitted to the crime, returned the stone, and were never prosecuted.

We ended the tour at Greyfriars Kirkyard with elegant headstones and decadent graves, including one for Greyfriars Bobby, a dog who spent 14 years guarding his owner’s grave. However, the best part was searching for the names that inspired some of the Harry Potter characters. We found Moodie, McGonagall, and the infamous Thomas Riddell.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the city. We walked over to the idyllic Dean’s Village, explored New Town, stopped at the Johnny Walker shop, and walked down to the Palace of Holyroodhouse (the official Scottish residence of the British monarchy). We ended the day with 32,000 steps (17.6 miles) because we were having so much fun just walking, chatting, and wandering.

On Monday, we began our Scottish road trip. Our first stop was St. Andrews. We strolled the tiny town, grabbed lunch at a local cafe, and watched the golfers as we waited for our tour of the Old Course to begin.

Our Scottish guide was dressed in his kilt and full of knowledge about St. Andrew’s and the game of golf. We started at the viewing platform and walked around the Old Course. Our guide explained how golf originated by bored shepherds who used their canes to knock rocks into holes, and how it has progressed into the sport we play today.

We learned that the first women golfers had to have male escorts on the course because the women’s corsets were too tight and they couldn’t bend over to pick their balls out of the holes. The men’s job was to pick up and place the ladies’ balls for them. We also learned, that due to their tight dresses and inability to lift their arms for a full swing, the ladies had their own shorter course which they played on.

Additionally, we learned that the term “fore” was first used as a way to warn caddies that a ball was headed their way. Due to the nature of the course, there were often lost golf balls, so the caddies stood in front to watch for the balls. When the caddies weren’t paying attention, the player would holler “fore caddie” (in Scottish meaning “ahead caddie”) to get their attention. The phrase was later shorted to “fore” and continues to be used today.

One of our favorite fun facts was learning the origin of the term “on the turn”. Due to the design of the Old Course, the ninth hole was tucked back by the river and on a curve. Once the players reached the 9th hole, they would turn around and continue back towards the first hole. The term was used to compare scores halfway through or “on the turn”.

The final fun fact we learned was that, unless there is a major tournament, the Old Course is closed for golf on Sundays, but open to the public. That means you can often find dogs running around and families having picnics on the course. Next time we come, we’ll plan to be here on a Sunday!

Our tour ended at the famous Swilcan Bridge that sits between the first and 18th fairways. The bridge is over 700 years old and is an iconic symbol of St. Andrews and golf itself.

With our tour complete, we continued through the countryside and made our way to the quaint town of Pitlochry. The drive was serene with pine tree-covered hills and a mix of sheep and little cottages scattered about.

We arrived at Blair Athol Distillery just in time for our first official Scotch tasting. We sampled three of their specialties and the third one nearly burned our nose hairs! It was straight from the cask and its own breed!

After checking into our bed and breakfast, we set off to walk around the adorable town. During dinner, we were surprised by the sound of bagpipes playing in the distance. The sound grew louder, and we soon realized a band was headed our way, walking right down Main Street. It turns out that every Monday during the summer, Pitlochry has “Highland Night” where people gather at the park to play and listen to the bagpipes. There’s even an option to drive your car onto the field to watch and instead of clapping at the end of the song, people honk their horns.

Following dinner, we continued our walk along the river, stopping to enjoy Highland Night, before passing over the suspension bridge, and up to Pitlochry Dam and fish ladder. We caught a glimpse of a few fish passing through the ladder which was entertaining, and treated ourselves to homemade shortbread cookies on the walk back that were divine!

We were served a special “whisky porridge” and traditional Scottish breakfast in the morning. We’re not positive, but we think this was our first true sampling of black pudding. I think we’ll stick with the whisky porridge in the future, but it was fun to sample the local cuisine.

Leaving Pitlochry behind, we continued to the Highlands. We stopped at Queen’s View and Loch an Eilein to stretch our legs before arriving in the small town of Dufftown.

We prepared for one of our Scottish highlights, a whisky walking tour with Speyside Tours. We weren’t sure what to expect with the tour, and we were blown away by the experience. We met Michelle and our fellow whisky connoisseurs at the clock tower and walked down to Michelle’s garage for our first of many drams of whisky. Michelle gave us the run down of Dufftown’s history and explained that Dufftown’s perfect access to pure spring water and the River Fiddich made it an ideal location for distilleries. With six walkable distilleries right in town and several more a stone’s throw away, it’s no wonder Dufftown holds the title of the “Malt Whisky Capital of the World”.

We continued walking through the town and along the river while passing the local distilleries including Dufftown Distillery, Mortlach, Kininvie, Glendullan, Glenfiddich, and ending at Balvenie. We took several breaks along the way to learn more about Dufftown’s history, the numerous distilleries and many varieties of whisky, and to enjoy a few more tastings of course.

During the tour, we learned that 85% of whisky sold worldwide is blended whisky. We also learned that 95% of the whisky produced at many distilleries is made for blends. Only about 5% is kept and bottled as a single malt whisky. Throughout the tour, we sampled around ten different whiskies and quickly learned that neither of us are particular fans of “peated” or smoky whisky and we're fans of the "teenage years". Good to know! We had a fabulous time on this tour and are so glad we found it!

We ended the day at one of the few open restaurants, dining on Scottish pies and Whisky Cranachan for dessert.

Back in April, we miraculously snagged a tour at Balvenie Distillery. Balvenie’s tours are highly recommended and book up quickly, so we were thrilled when we got a spot.

The tour began in the cooperage where we watched the coopers fixing countless whisky barrels. It was a bit like a scavenger hunt as they searched for the right replacement stave from the spare barrels and then pounded the hoops back into place. We learned that the barrels are imported from a variety of sources (most are bourbon and sherry barrels from the U.S.) and they can be used up to three times before being retired and made into furniture and plant pots.

We continued the tour, passing through the malting room, by the peat furnace, around the mashing and fermentation rooms, and down to the distillation room with the fancy copper stills. We learned about the distilling process and spirit that is created first and later aged into whisky.

Our tour ended in one of the many warehouses that stores endless rows of full barrels. It’s here that we learned about the “copper dog” and the term “taking the dog for a walk”. Back in the day, the copper dog was used by workers to “sample” (aka steal) a swig of whisky. The copper dog is made from copper tubing about 10 inches long and fits a flattened 2-pence coin at the bottom. A chain is connected to the top which allows the owner to place the dog through the bunghole of a barrel and fill it with whisky. Once the dog has “stopped barking” (the tube stops gurgling) you know it’s full and can remove it. The full copper dog is then slipped down your pant leg and carried off to be enjoyed away from any discerning eyes.

As the demonstration ended, our guide told us to cup our hands, at which point he went around and filled our hands with a sampling of the whisky straight from the cask. We sampled both a bourbon cask whisky and a sherry cask whisky and learned that we’re both more bourbon cask fans. Who knew!

We then had the chance to “walk the dog” ourselves, filling up our own two bottles to take home, before heading to the tasting room to sample five more whiskies. We’re quickly figuring out exactly what kind of whisky we prefer! We also see why this tour is highly recommended and hard to book. It’s another experience we’re so glad to have had. The list keeps growing!

We left Balvenie behind, stopping at a little train cafe for lunch, before visiting Glenfiddich for one final whisky experience.

Thursday was our big road trip day with stops to see the new Macallan facility (just for a peek, we did a tasting at their Macallan House in Singapore), and to catch a glimpse of Nessie and the Hogwarts Express.

We passed through Inverness and drove along the Loch Ness. We stopped at the Clansman Hotel where the mysterious creature was spotted back in 1934. We looked out across the water searching for signs of the water beast, but Nessie evaded our gaze.

Carrying on, we made our way to Glenfinnan. We were planning to stop just to see the famous viaduct, but as we were driving, we realized we would be arriving in time to see the Jacobite Steam Train (aka Hogwarts Express) pass over the bridge. With that as our new goal, we hurried along and made it just in time to capture an iconic photo. We lucked out with the weather (again) and right as we pulled out of the parking lot the clouds opened up and it began to pour. Good thing we decided not to extend our walk!

The last half of our day took a bit of a twist as we had been planning to stay in Oban and ferry over to the Isle of Mull, but due to some ferry issues, we made a last-minute change and ended up staying in the tiny town of Lochaline instead. The drive gave us our first introduction to Scotland’s single-lane roads which are frighteningly small. There were a few points where we wondered what we were getting ourselves into.

We found a tiny grocery store and community single pump fill station where we stopped to top off our gas tank and gather supplies for dinner. Given the solitude of the drive, we weren’t sure what options we would have down the road.

Our hostel-esque stay at Highland Basecamp ended up being a fun addition to the trip. We enjoyed a peaceful walk along the water following the rain showers and a quick, easy ferry ride in the morning.

We caught the early ferry over to the Isle of Mull and set off on our tour. We had a Plan A and B as we couldn’t quite figure out the weather. Some sources said it was going to rain all day, others said there would be intermittent rain, and one source said there wouldn’t be rain at all. Luckily the latter were correct and as we set out, the skies were clear. We decided to go with Plan A which was to drive the scenic route along the peninsula with the mountainous Ben More sitting in the middle. We were hoping that with our early start, and it being a Friday versus Saturday, the single-lane roads would be less crowded. With only a smattering of rain, our revised plan paid off and we were rewarded with stunning views, mostly clear skies, and only a few heart-stopping moments on the drive.

The drive was yet again beautiful. It was comparable to Ireland but also so different. Similarly, there was endless open space, cute farmhouses, and sheep everywhere (including on and next to the roads), but diversely, there were more pine trees, fewer defined fields, more brown mixed in with the green, and a spattering of the famous Highland Coos. Our favorite sightings were the waterfalls flowing down the hillsides.

Finishing the drive, we stopped in Salen and treated ourselves to a delicious cheesy scone (it took #2 in the overall trip ranking) and a slice of homemade coffee cake.

With a little more time to kill before checking in at our Bed and Breakfast, we stopped for a short hike and continued to Tobermory.

Tobermory is an adorable little village with colored buildings lining the harbor. It had the best small-town fishing vibes with cute little shops, friendly locals, seafood eateries, boats coming and going, and fishing equipment strewn about. We loved it (except for the insanely steep walk back up to our B&B).

On our stroll, we found the trailhead for the coastal hike that leads to Rubha nan Gall Lighthouse. Although it was late afternoon, we had plenty of daylight left and decided to head out for a walk. The hike was a fun mix of jungle vibes and ocean views and the lighthouse itself was picturesque.

We ended the day at one of the local restaurants followed by an evening in watching the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

Following another scrumptious Scottish breakfast (minus the black pudding), we continued our tour of the Isle by driving the single-lane roads to Calgary Bay. It was a beautiful sunny day and the warmest yet during our Scottish excursions! We walked along the beach, dipped our toes in the water, sat and enjoyed the view, and then realized there was a coastal walk/hike we could do. The walk was similar to our hikes in Ireland where we trekked through the green spongy fields, dodging the sheep poop and enjoying spectacular views.

We picnicked on a bench and as we were leaving, we saw a group of people all looking at something in the distance. Wondering if they had spotted dolphins or a whale (we’ve been keeping an eye on the water!), we wandered over and inquired about the sighting. It turns out they were on a birding tour led by a famous BBC birder and were looking at a feathery friend along the coast. It was a little different than a whale but still fun.

We continued the drive, weaving along the coastline, taking in the views, and stopping for a few snack breaks along the way. We arrived back in Salen and enjoyed a hot coffee and break from driving before setting off again, stopping at Aros Waterfall and finishing the loop back in Tobermory.

Back in town, we strolled along main street and stopped at Hooked for a box of fish n chips, which we took down to the pier. We sat with our feet dangling off the edge, eating our dinner, and watching the crabs scurrying around below us. They were impressive, like 6 inches big!

We woke up early on Sunday to catch our two ferries and to enjoy one final beautiful view of the mountains and sea. When we arrived back on the mainland, we found all of the people we were avoiding on our Isle of Bliss along with more spectacular Scottish views. We stopped in the picturesque town of Luss and enjoyed walking through the town admiring the charming 18th and 19th-century cottages.

We spent the evening touring Glasgow. We stopped by the Cathedral, peeked in Glasgow’s oldest house to admire the medieval architecture and silly statues, strolled through the University of Glasgow’s campus, and ended at Absent Ear, a speakeasy where Madame Rachel hooked us up.

We love a good speakeasy, and this one did not disappoint. It’s a Van Gough themed bar with the most unique drinks we have ever sampled. Jeff’s drink was literally a spicy Asian soup in a cup and mine tasted as if port and miso got married. The drinks came with fun surprises, including a secret box and an art project. It was such a fun experience!

Before we knew it, it was time for dinner and our final tasting of Scotch in Scotland, a dram of Johnny Walker Blue. After all of our single malt tastings, we were curious if the renowned Johnny Walker blend would really live up to its name. Let’s just say it was fun to try, but we may have some other favorites.

We had an incredible time in Scotland celebrating Jeff’s delayed 30th birthday trip. It worked in our favor as this was a longer, more elaborate trip than what we had planned four years ago. We fell in love with all of the small towns we stayed in and had so much fun sampling the different whiskies and soaking in the stunning views. The only thing we could do without, were the teeny-tiny narrow roads, but some will say that just added to the experience. We’re looking forward to a return trip in the future!