Last week I took a couple of days off to trip up to Scotland with some friends to go on a Whiskey Tour of Scotland. We flew into Aberdeen to drive down to a postcard perfect farmhouse in Dufftown – a place surrounded by whiskey distilleries. Glenfiddich’s distillery lies not far from where we were staying though we hit a few other ones from Speyside (the greater area). Unlike the Islay whiskeys, Speyside ones tend to be less smokey and cleaner on the palette though newcomers to whiskey drinking will tell you they all taste the same.

Like most good tours through any brewery or distillery, at the end you get a sample of wares to try. The most impressive range was at the Abelour distillery that gives you six drams to test out at the end – including one small one of the still (the end result of the distillation process that has a stunning 70% alcohol content).

I really enjoyed the trip to Scotland. It has amazing scenery with rolling hills filled with trees, sheep, cows and horses. We ate some black pudding and haggis with breakfast, and even got to try the infamous (heart attack inducing) deep fried mars bar. Scottish people are extremely friendly and warm, making visiting all the places we visited all the more enjoyable. I even bought a bottle of whiskey that I found by the Dufftown Distillery distilled in the year and month of my birth. Scotland also has some fantastic produce with fresh fish, and hearty steaks and meat which means it’s really hard to not eat well.

A great trip with fantastic company – thanks Jason, Ali, Gavin, JK, Dave, Jake, Kate, Tom and Claire! You can check out a set of photos here.