Going in Search of "Nessie"

The next day we sent off from Inverness in search off the Loch Ness monster. It wasn't far out of Inverness when we hit the top of the Loch. It was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining and Loch Ness and the surrounding mountains looked stunning. About half way down the Loch, we decided to stop off at the Exhibition centre to learn a little about the history and the myth of “Nessie”.

“The Surgeon’s Photo”

Myth's of a creature living in Loch Ness have been circulating amongst the locals for hundreds of years. But it was only in 1933 that it was brought to the worlds attention and the term “monster” was first used. There have been thousands of claims and sightings of the creature, that is now affectionately known as “Nessie”. Many photographs have surfaced of what people think is a creature in the water, but there has never been any substantial proof of Nessie’s existence.  Probably the most famous sighting/photograph was (whats now known as) “The Surgeon’s Photo”. This picture shows a small head and long neck of something poking out of the water in Loch Ness. The photo was taken by Dr. Robert Kenneth Wilson. When a London news paper wanted to print the photo, Dr Wilson refused to associate his name with the picture. It was later revealed that Dr. Wilsons picture was a fake.  Over the years, many people have taken hoax photographs of Nessie. The string of pictures of the monster have attracted several believers who truly think that the monster exists.  In 2003, the BBC made a documentary searching for Nessie. Over 600 sonar beams were used trying to find the creature. Nothing was ever found, finally proving that the monster was only a myth. 

Approaching Ben Nevis

We made our way down the Loch and reached the little town of Fort Augustus. It was here we decided to stop and take a short boat ride through parts of Loch Ness. It was on our short cruise that we learnt about the amazing size of Loch Ness. It’s the second largest Loch in Scotland, but due to it’s great depth, It holds the largest volume of water of any lake in the UK. Our tour guide explained that Loch Ness holds more water than all of the lakes in England and Wales combined.  

After our boat ride, We continued our journey south, down the west coast. Not far from Loch Ness was another popular scottish tourist attraction, the highest mountain in Scotland, Ben Nevis. Ben Nevis is close to 4,500 feet (1344m) above sea level. It’s summit is the top of an ancient volcano. The first person to make it to the top was James Robertson, in 1771. Today, over 100,000 tourists each year climb the famous mountain.

Not far from Ben Nevis is the “Ben Nevis Distillery”. It was established in 1825, making it one of the oldest in Scotland. It is here where they produce the famous “Ben Nevis Single Malt Whisky”. The distillery produces many types of aged malts. The most popular being the 10 year old and a 21 year old. Located at the foot of the mountain, the distillery uses the fresh water around Ben Nevis to help produce it’s whisky. The whiskies flavours start off as being citrusy and fruity but as the malt is aged for longer it takes on a smokey oak flavour and becomes rich and sweeter. Flavours such as vanilla an roasted coffee are often picked up when smelling and tasting the Ben Nevis range. The companies philosophy is simply quality, not quantity, which makes production of each malt very limited. However, the Ben Nevis whisky range did feature heavily throughout souvenir and whisky shops in the Loch Ness and surrounding towns around the mountains peak.

We continued driving past Loch Ness and Ben Nevis and began to make our way toward the small town of Oban.  The drive from Loch Ness to Oban is one of the most amazing drives we've ever done.  The sun shone over the snow capped mountains and glissened off the many Loch's in the area. We arrived into Oban just as the sun was setting. It was the end to another amazing day on the road.

The Glenfiddich Distillery

Driving through the Scottish highlands

The second day of our road trip was going to be an exciting one. We had a big day of driving ahead as we had plans to go up and through the Scottish highlands. As Aussies, we don’t get to see much snow, and to be honest we hadn’t seen a great deal of snow since being in the UK. But driving into the Scottish mountains, that was all about to change. As we climbed into the highlands, the picturesque snow capped mountains of Scotland came into full view. Cara was going crazy with the camera. As the road winded through the country side, there was another gorgeous photo opportunity around every corner.  We were heading toward a little place called “Dufftown”. Not many people have heard of Dufftown, but most people would have certainly heard of what it is famous for. Dufftown is home to the famous, Glenfiddich Distillery.

William Grant, The founder of Glenfiddich.

This distillery is full of so much history and tradition, and with it being one of the oldest distilleries is Scotland, I was looking forward to the visit. It all started in 1886. William Grant and his family built the distillery by hand, one stone at a time. It was officially opened a year later. He named this new distillery “Glenfiddich” which is a gaelic word, that translates to “Valley of the Deer”.  As the whisky became more popular and sales increased over the years, there was a set back in the 1920’s.  This set back was prohibition. By this time, William Grant’s grandson, Gordon was running the company and surprised everyone when he decided to increase the production of whisky during the prohibition era. This meant when the law was overturned, Glenfiddich was one of the only distillers in Scotland to be able to meet the high demands for aged malts. After the second world war, Glenfiddich installed the first of it’s copper stills. These were handcrafted and uniquely designed and shaped to be one of a kind. The demand for Glenfiddich increased every year and in 1961, they decided to re-brand Glenfiddich with a new cutting edge bottle design. The company released the first of it's (now famous) triangular bottle design. From that time on, Glenfiddich has produced and bottled hundreds of different age types and commemorative editions. Possibly the most famous is the "Janet Sheed Roberts Reserve”. A malt which was created to honour William Grant’s last remaining grandchild. She lived to be the oldest person in Scotland. There were only 11 bottles of this whisky made and in 2011 they were all auctioned to raise money for charity. These bottles of scotch sold for over $600,000, breaking world whisky auction records. Today, Glenfiddich is still most awarded and recognised scotch whisky in the world.

After a interesting and detailed tour of the distillery, Cara and I were able to try 3 of their most popular whiskies. The most common 12 year old, along with the 15 year and 18 year old whisky. All three age types having differing characteristics.

Glenfiddich 12 Year Old:  Aged in American bourbon and sherry oak casks, this malt is said to have the flavour and aroma of pears. Along with this, it has a subtle taste of butterscotch, which gives it  a sweetness.  It also has a slightly smokey finish, makes for a long lasting after taste.

Glenfiddich 15 Year Old:  This whisky is again aged in American bourbon casks. The added 3 years of maturation makes it a much richer and deeper amber colour compared with the 12 year old. This whisky was my favourite of the three. It’s slightly sweeter due to it’s vanilla and honey flavours. There are also elements of cinnamon and marzipan, which gives the whisky a mild spicy after taste.

Glenfiddich 18 Year Old: Also aged in American oak, this whisky is known for having the aromas and flavours of baked apples and dried fruits. Due to it’s longer ageing, the oak and smokiness comes through much more. This whisky (more so than the others) really warms your insides on a cold winters day.

We had a great time at Glenfiddich. We learnt lots about the families whisky traditions and we could clearly see how passionate the people are about producing arguably some of the best whisky in the world.  The day was getting on and we still had lots to do. So we set off for the city of Inverness, which was our stop for the night. 

The Great Scottish Road Trip & Visiting St Andrews

Well... We’ve cleaned out our flat, packed our bags, it's time to continue on our travels. but before we head south to London, we’re travelling north into the Scottish highlands. We said goodbye to Glasgow and made our way east towards Edinburgh, where we would begin our journey up the coast.  Our first stop on our road trip around Scotland was to St Andrews. As a general sports lover, St Andrews is a special place, most famous for being the home of Golf. It was a typical day at St Andrews golf links, strong winds blowing off the sea and grey clouds, a sight which I'd seen many times watching the British Open back home.

St Andrews golf course dates back hundreds of years. It is said that local Scotsmen were playing on the land (which is now home to the "Old Course”), back in the early 1400’s. Over the years, golf grew in popularity in Scotland. The game even remained popular during the 1500’s when a golfing ban was put in place, because it was said that Scotsmen were spending to much time playing golf instead of practising their archery. The land on which the course is built on has had many different owners over the last 500 years and the course design has undergone many alterations. One of the most major alterations was back in 1764, where the course was changed from being 22 holes to the 18 holes which remain today. The 'Society of St Andrews golfers’, voted to eliminate 4 of the holes, as they were too short.   St Andrews was the host for the first British Open Golf Championship in 1873 and to this day, has hosted more "British Opens" than any other course. 

Like many popular tourist attractions in Scotland, you’ll often find a particular type of whisky produced to commemorate these important places and events in Scottish history. At St Andrews I found the "St Andrews Golf Links Blended Scotch Whisky".  With it's eye catching 'golf ball' shaped bottle this whisky has been produced using a combination of 8 to 12 single malts distilled in the St Andrews area. The whisky has a subtle sweetness which is due to it being aged in sherry oak casks. It has a simple and well balanced mixture of caramel and smokey wood flavours and aromas. The St Andrews whisky itself is nothing special. It’s a nice scotch, but it’s never going to blow you away with taste. It’s simple and easy to drink. I found it very light in flavour. The best thing about this scotch is the golf ball shaped bottle. Maybe it’s a little “gimmicky”, but I liked it. It would make a perfect little present for any golf lover. 

As we departed St Andrews, we began to make our way in land. Our stop for the night was the little city of Perth, close to Dundee. We ended our first day on the road exhausted.  Our road trip around Scotland was just beginning and the week ahead was sure to be busy. 

Farewell Glasgow

The time has come for us to depart Glasgow and begin the long journey home to Australia. We’ll have many stop over's along the way which is exciting, but it is also a little sad that our travels are coming to an end.

Living in Glasgow has been a great opportunity for Cara and I. We’ve experienced many different things over our time here. We were able to eat haggis for the first time, broaden our knowledge on scotch whisky, try some traditional local ales, but most importantly, we were able to be apart of Scotland’s local traditions and customs.  As a soccer/football supporter, it’s also worth mentioning, the experience of living in a city which has arguably the biggest rivalry in sport, the battle between Rangers and Celtic. A rivalry which transcends football and becomes more about religion and politics. Only having lived in Glasgow can you then truly understand the level of tension between these two clubs.

Glasgow’s famous “Ashton Lane"

On our last weekend in Glasgow, we decided to treat ourselves to a night out along the famous “Ashton Lane”. This small cobblestone lane way is the hub of trendy bars and hangouts in Glasgow’s, West End. We both ordered cocktails to toast our amazing time in Glasgow, and to start our adventure toward home.  I decided to stick with the scotch whisky theme and order a variation on a classic “Whisky Sour”. I ordered a “JamDram Sour”. This consists of Drambuie (whisky liqueur), apricot jam, and lemon juice.  Usually I like to analyse the cocktails I drink closely and scrutinise every flavour with a fine tooth comb, but this time it was all about enjoying our last night out in Glasgow, reflecting on our time here and looking to the future.   

We’ll both have many great memories from our time here, but what will always stick in my mind are the many times we’ve walked up the Argyle St Mall, and without fail, every time we’d see buskers playing the bag-pipes. These pipers would always be dressed up in the full Scottish attire. The bagpipe music would be heard along the entire mall. It doesn’t matter how many times you see these “bag-pipe buskers”, there are always a few people who would stop and listen. The Scottish (and especially the Glaswegian’s) are some of the most patriotic people we’ve met, and when they stop and listen to the bag-pipers in the mall, watching on with such pride, you know you’re living in Scotland.


“JamDram Sour”
In a shaker:
45ml Drambuie
15ml Lemon juice
teaspoon of Apricot jam
Shake and strain over ice
garnish with a slice of lemon

Happy Hogmanay!!!

Happy New Year!!!  Or as the Scot’s say Happy Hogmanay!!   Cara and I had never heard of this “Hogmanay" stuff before, so in the lead up to new years eve, we were both confused as to what the locals were talking about. 

We eventually learnt that the term “Hogmanay”, is the Scottish word for the last day of the year. It is also common in Scotland for the new years party to go on long after the clock strikes 12. In fact, Hogmanay is celebrated well into new years day, sometimes it can even go on until the 2nd January (which is a Scottish public holiday).  Hogmanay has many local customs. Many are a just a myth, however some of the more common customs require you to have a nip of whisky at midnight. Another custom, requires you to allow the first person who knocks on your door after midnight, into your house and offer them whisky, no matter if they are strangers or not. I don’t know how stringently people stick to these customs, But most of them involve some kind of consumption of scotch.

This was also a good time for Cara and I to reflect on the last year and remind ourselves of all the places we’ve been and the sights we’ve seen. It’s been truly unforgettable. This year we’ve set foot in 8 different countries. We’ve seen some amazing sights, eaten some delicious food and drunk quite a few great cocktails. Next year is going to be even more exciting as we start to wrap up our world tour and head home to Australia.

Cara had got me another little present for christmas, which I was saving for the Hogmanay celebrations. A small bottle of Lagavulin 16 yr old scotch. I’d heard great reviews about Lagavulin, so I was looking forward to giving this a try.  Something I’ve done a lot of since living in Scotland is broaden my whisky palette and Lagavulin whisky can certainly help me broaden it ever further. This deep amber whisky has bold flavours. On the nose it has a strong smokey smell. A flavour, which translates to the mouth. This is a malt that you need to sip slowly as its smokey, peppery taste gives you an explosion of flavour. Some people have said that this scotch is too strong. I can understand why many critics think this. It’s full body taste, can get over powering. I however, didn’t mind it. I get the impression that Lagavulin is what real scotch drinkers would drink. It has that “If you can drink this, you’re a real Scot” connotations. I may be wrong.

Last year we saw in the New Year in a packed out Trafalgar Square in London. This year it was a little more mellow, but still no less special.  Despite this trip slowly coming to an end, the last 4 months is going to be jam-packed. It's exciting stuff!!!

Christmas in Glasgow

Another year is coming to a close and it’s our second christmas in the UK. Our first, in London, we were hoping for a white christmas, but it was not to be. However, moving north to Scotland, we were confident of getting our wish of snow on christmas day. Sadly again it was not meant to be. But christmas is not all about snow, for us, it’s all about the food and drink.  I’ve always had the pleasure of having somebody else do all the hard work cooking on christmas day, so this year I decided to give it a crack myself.  I was excited about cooking my first christmas lunch. I had it all planned out in my mind, a three course meal consisting of a seafood starter, a traditional turkey main and ‘good old’ christmas pudding for dessert. 

This is not all that was on the menu. Since our travels to Italy, Cara and I have been lovers of antipasti. So, Cara was excited about making an antipasti selection, which would be nibbled on throughout the day between courses.  The meat selection began with slices of salami, smoked ham, prosciutto pepperoni and a smoked wild boar salami. To accompany this was a block of brie cheese and a ball of mozzarella, which I dressed with some finely chopped mint and chilli and drizzled olive oil over the top. I love mixing chilli and mint. The fresh flavours of the mint on the front of the palette mixed with a spicy chilli after taste is the perfect flavour combination. As if we didn’t need any more food, I decided to slice up some fresh focaccia which I drizzled with tiny bit of olive oil over the top then seasoned with salt, pepper and thyme and toasted for around 15 mins on a low heat. 

As we got stuck in to our appetisers, I began the seafood entree. As a kid I used to hate prawns, but as I’ve gotten older, I can’t get enough of them. So I decided to make Thai prawn skewers with a fresh crunchy veg. & pear salad. I pre-skewed my prawns early christmas morning and marinated them in fresh coriander, ground ginger, the juice of 2 limes and 1 lemon, fish sauce, brown sugar and once again some chilli and mint. By the time I got around to cooking these prawns, they’d been soaking in the marinate for around 2 - 3hrs. I simply pan fried the skewers for not even 5 minutes and they were ready to serve. My crunchy veg & pear salad consisted of carrot, celery, beetroot and slices of pear. I lightly dressed this in olive oil, dijon mustard, lemon juice and white wine vinegar.  

Next it was time for our turkey.  I was a little nervous about this. My fear was I'd start carving and it not be cooked all the way through. But I’d done my research, I knew the temperatures and the timings in relation to the size of the bird, so I was confident that it would turn out well.  I decided to stuff my turkey with a scottish inspired haggis stuffing. This haggis stuffing was made with sage, bacon, red onions, celery, breadcrumbs, haggis, lemon zest, garlic and ground nut-meg. So after stuffing my turkey, I placed it in the oven and planned to slow cook it for around 6 hours. When it came out of the oven it was golden brown and cooked all the way through just as I hoped. The stuffing was delicious too. The haggis stuffing added to the theme of christmas in Scotland. 

After all had been eaten, we were too full for christmas pudding. However we did have room for some Oreo Truffles. A extremely simple recipe which I’d picked up from my mum. You can find this recipe here...“ Oreo Truffles. These bite size sweets are amazing. Highly recommended. 

As we sat back, un-did the belt buckles and relaxed, I decided it was time for a Scottish malt whisky. Cara had got me the “Dalwhinnie 15 year old single highland malt whisky”. Dalwhinnie is a gaelic word which translates to “meeting-place”. That meeting place is the highest distillery in Scotland. It was founded in the Scottish Highlands in 1898. It’s gentle 15 years of ageing makes this scotch smooth and easy to drink. It has a slight honey flavour which therefore makes it a little sweeter than most malts. But this is counter balanced with a light smokey finish. 

So there ends our christmas in Scotland, and also our last christmas in the UK. Next year we’ll be back to the hot Aussie summer, sitting in the back yard and enjoying a BBQ. After my success cooking christmas lunch this time, I may have to give it a crack next year, back in Australia. 

The Wild Hibiscus Project: Part 2

A little while back I got asked to create a drink for the Wild Hibiscus company. I created a variation on the classic sidecar and I simply called the “Hibiscus Sidecar”.  Well the challenge has been set again by the people at Wild Hibiscus. This time the task was to create a beer cocktail.

When creating this drink, I decided to take some inspiration from living and working in Scotland. So I began playing around with mixing beer with scotch whisky.  Choosing your whisky to mix beer with can be tough as there are so many different varieties of malts around. I needed a scotch that would work well with the sweet hibiscus flavours. I decided to go with the Laphroiag 10 year old malt whisky. The Laphroiag has got strong bold smokey flavours, which is needed when mixing it with the sweet hibiscus syrup and strong flavours of the beer. This mix alone was not to bad, but I felt that there was something missing. The cocktail needed a slight spicy kick. But not chilli or pepper, something which would go well with the scotch and still not over power the other ingredients. The answer was ginger. A pinch of ground ginger mixed in with the hibiscus syrup was exactly what I needed to give this drink the a spicy after taste.

I named this concoction “A beautiful hollow by hibiscus bay”.  The name Laphroiag is a gaelic word meaning “A beautiful hollow by broad bay”. Laphroiag whisky is arguably one of the most well known of Scotland's whiskies world wide. So it seemed appropriate to base the name of this drink around the famous Laphroaig name.

So now we’ve gotten our ingredients, we’ve gotten a name for this drink, It’s time to make it. Start with your beer glass and add a pinch of ground ginger. Then add 25ml Wild Hibiscus syrup. Stir this mix together, making sure that all of the ginger has been dissolved in the syrup. Now add 25ml Laphroiag whisky. Give this a quick stir too. Now add your favourite Lager. I’ve left the choice of beer open, as certain beers can be hard to find depending on where you are from. I’ve chosen to use Tennents Lager, a local beer brewed in Glasgow. But any lager will do. The beer is not meant to take centre stage in this drink, it’s mainly about the combination of Hibiscus and whisky. The beer is just what binds it all together. Once you’ve topped your glass with your beer, the garnish (which is entirely optional) is a slice of ginger and a hibiscus flower (you’ll need tooth picks to hold them together on the rim of your glass).

If your not a big scotch whiskey drinker, then this drink is probably not for you. But I’ve made this cocktail without the scotch and beer with ginger and hibiscus syrup is quite sweet and refreshing.
Enjoy!

“A Beautiful Hollow By Hibiscus Bay”

In a Beer Glass:
A Pinch of Ground Ginger
25ml Wild Hibiscus Syrup
Stir until ginger is dissolved
25ml Laphroiag 10 year old
Top with Beer
Garnish: Slice of Ginger and Wild Hibiscus flower

Drinking at the Pot Still

One of the things which I’ve really enjoyed during our travels so far, is scratching below the surface of cities and discovering it’s icons which are only well known to the local people. Glasgow is full of iconic places which are not famous world wide, but places that the Glaswegian's know and love. In my last post I wrote about the story of the oldest pub in Glasgow, The Scotia.  After visiting this pub, I got put on to another place, which was a “must-visit” during our time here, a place called “The Pot Still”.  Scotland is famous for it’s whiskies, and the Pot still boasts a collection of over 460 whiskies on offer, making it Scotland’s premier whisky bar. 

The premises of the Pot Still has been operating since 1867, but it wasn’t until 1981, when John Waterson took over the existing pub and rebranded it “The Pot Still”. The aim was to create a pub which was heavily focused on whisky and themed around stocking rare hard to find malts.  The bar was an instant hit. It has been known, that businessmen from London, would fly to Glasgow for the day, just so they could drink their favourite whisky, because the Pot Still was the only place they could find it.  Today the bar is owned by whisky enthusiast, Frank Murphy. Frank began working in his Dad’s pub many years ago, and now he and his Dad both run the Pot Still.  I had the pleasure of speaking to Frank’s dad, during my visit. He described his son’s passion and love for all things whisky and how he is now happy to now take a step back and let his boy run the majority of the pub. He also went on to say that Frank is constantly trying and sampling new and different whiskies. They are hoping to have the collection up to 500 before the end of the year. 

So of course a visit to the Pot Still would not be complete with out trying some of the collection. I decided to try one of the bosses recommendations, the Benromach 10 year old. It was recommended because it’s matured in a sherry cask and has a sweet chocolate and fruity sultana flavour which I love so much in some of the Australian fortified wines. This malt also had a spicy after taste which on further investigation, I discover was cinnamon.  It was light in smokey peat flavour too. Many malts can taste to smokey, almost burnt, but this wasn’t. The sweetness of the sherry cask took centre stage and the peat smoke taste lingered in the background. 

I’m definitely guilty of sometimes letting the complex world of cocktails and mixology take over,  causing me to forget about the raw spirits. When you are always trying to push the boundaries and create new tastes and flavours, you sometimes forget that the most satisfying drinks are the ones which are raw and pure.  Sitting at the Pot Still sipping on my whisky and water, it was great to have the chance to talk to people who don’t care about cocktails, they just care about whisky. 

Exploring Edinburgh Castle

A trip to scotland can not be complete without visiting the city of Edinburgh and of course, Edinburgh Castle. As mentioned in my last post, visiting Edinburgh Castle was high on our list of things to see in Scotland, and when we arrived at this UK icon we were not disappointed. The castle is a fortress which dominates the Edinburgh sky line.

Situated atop of volcanic rock, Edinburgh Castle dates back as far as the 6th Century. It has been a royal residence for centuries and is an important landmark in the kingdom of Scotland. The castle has also been the main target in many historical battles, most notably the War of Scottish Independence in the 14th century.  Today, tourists travel from around the world to visit the castle and walk around the site which is steeped in so much history. Once inside, Cara and I were able to look over the castle walls and see the best views of the city. Edinburgh is a beautiful place and it's famous not only for it’s castle but also for it’s many festivals. The Edinburgh International Festival is the most famous, attracting thousands of tourists every year. The other major festival which brings in many visitors, is the Edinburgh Fringe which we can relate too having spent many nights at it’s sister festival the “Adelaide Fringe”.

As Cara and I explored the castle, walking through it's many rooms, halls and chapels, I was lucky enough to pick up a little souvenir from our visit. After visiting Glengoyne Distillery the day before, I was on the look out for other interesting brands of scotch, and I managed to find the Edinburgh Castle signature scotch whisky, which I couldn’t resist picking up.  This single malt whisky is aged for 12 years and is produced in the region on Speyside. Speyside is in the north eastern corner of scotland. Some of the best whiskies in the world come from these parts. Glenlivet and Glenfiddich are the most well known. The Scottish government commissioned this limited edition whisky to be produced by distillers in the Speyside Region to pay tribute to the icon that is Edinburgh Castle.

As we made our way back to Glasgow, and back to London, we reflected on our amazing Scottish expericance. We got to learn a lot about Scottish history and we tasted many traditional scotch whiskies. Hopefully we will get the chance to return in the future.

Visiting Scotland... The Home of Scotch Whisky

It’s been a little while since Cara and I have taken a trip and we’ve been looking forward to going to Scotland since we arrived in the UK. So with the weather being unseasonably warm, we saw this as the perfect time to visit the UK’s north.

London can be such a chaotic city, so getting out to the rolling hills and fresh air of scotland was exactly what we needed. Cara was excited about seeing sights such as the William Wallace monument, which is in the town of Stirling (not far from Glasgow), along with one of the most famous castles in the UK, Edinburgh Castle. Me on the other hand, was looking forward to visiting a real scotch whisky distillery. Scotch distilleries in Scotland are like wineries back home in South Australia. They are everywhere. Too many to choose from in fact. We decided to visit the Glengoyne Distillery, just near Glasgow.

Glengoyne has been producing highland single malt scotch whisky since 1833. Although it has been said that whisky production in the region has been taking place for much longer. Due to heavy taxes on spirit production distilleries were forced to operate illegally, using the surrounding highlands and forests to hide their distilleries. Records show that up to 18 illegal distilleries were producing scotch in this region. So when the government finally passed an act in the 1820’s to reduce the fees and costs, many of these producers pulled together to form Glengoyne in 1833.

The name Glengoyne comes from the name “Glenguin”, meaning ‘Glen of the Wild Geese’. The distillery was originally called “Glenguin” until 1894 when the name was changed. The whisky itself has a distinctive flavour. It is one of only 2 distilleries that uses the ‘Golden promise Barley’ which is  high quality barley used to create whisky. This is blended together and distilled using the water which flows under the factory itself. Glengoyne is one of the few scotch whiskies not used peat smoke to dry their barley. They use only warm air. This gives the spirit a light amber colour and a distinctive, not so smokey flavour. Many critics have said that Glengoyne whisky, because of it’s colour and smell, is more like a lowland whisky, than a highland.

With this inspiration of visiting Glengoyne, I decided to buy myself a little sample bottle of Glengoyne 10 year old and make, what i believe is one of the most famous scotch based cocktails around, The “Rob Roy”.  This cocktail is very similar to the “Manhattan”. In was invented in 1894 by a bartender at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City. The drink was named after Scottish folk hero, Robert Roy Macgregor. The drink consists of 45ml scotch whisky, 25ml sweet vermouth and a dash of Angostura bitters, stirred with ice and strain into a martini glass. You can garnish this cocktail with either a slice of lemon, lemon rind or lemon zest, or another option is a maraschino cherry.

So at the end of our day in the highlands of scotland, we were blessed with some great weather, some amazing views and we got to do as the scottish do, which is drink scotch whisky.

“The Rob Roy”
In a cocktail glass:
45ml Scotch Whisky
25ml Sweet Vermouth
Dash of Angostura Bitters
Stir with ice and strain into a martini glass
Garnish with Maraschino Cherry
or Lemon (slice, zest or rind)