2nd stop…Speyside Single-Malt Whisky Trail

Not a spelling error, single-malt whisky in Scotland is spelled without an “e”…all other spellings of whiskey indicate it is not made here!

For our next stop, we headed up towards the River Spey which is home to the famous Whisky Trail made up of more than 50 distilleries, the greatest concentration of single malt whisky production compared to any other region. Home to places like Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, Macallan and Balvenie, which if you are a whisky drinker may lure you here! They claim the magic ingredient is the clear, pure water of the Spey.

A little snippet of our drive up into this region…oh look, there’s a distillery!

Home for the next 3 nights is the Criagellachie Speyside, established in 1893! A beautiful, historic hotel in a lovely little town, famous for its whisky bar (the Quaich Bar) with over 1,000 single-malt whiskies from around the globe. Such a waste on us…too bad its not gin!

A view from the road
The entrance
Our room is spacious and lovely, with a comfortable spot to blog and beautiful views from the windows!
I now appreciate the tartan on the carpet after touring the V&A Design Museum in Dundee!
To stretch our legs after the drive we took a walk down to this historic bridge (erected in 1814) built over the River Spey.
My cute traveling companion….
We peeked into the Quaich Bar, but settled for dinner in the “Copper Dog”, which still had a robust whisky menu (see the chalkboard). We stuck with a Gin & Tonic.

For our first day of exploration, we decided to focus on a few castles. This region is also known as the Castle Trail…and there are just too many to see! We settled on one ruin, and one still being maintained in its grand state.

Balvenie Castle, a medieval castle built in the 1100’s
These cobblestones are NOT easy to walk on!
You can get a sense for the thickness of the walls
Here’s what it would have looked like in its heyday
This is what would have been considered the ‘loo! Gary and I always walk away feeling just a little bit glad we live in this century (at least as far as sanitation, comfort and safety go!).
Gary was pretty impressed with the rounded ceilings!
Best part of our stop here…our first (of only three) sightings of Highland Cattle in Scotland! Aren’t they cute? They are very friendly creatures and seek out your attention.

Next stop is Inverurie to visit Castle Fraser, one of the largest tower houses in Scotland – the core of which was built in the 1400’s. Climbing to the top of all 6 stories gives you an incredible view of the 300 acre estate. It was a really lovely estate (last used as a hunting lodge until 1976 before being turned over to the Scottish Trust), and we particularly enjoyed the grounds and the immaculately kept walled garden! Following is a few views of the exteriors.

This is actually the front entrance.

Some views of the grounds and gardens…

Such majestic trees!
A gorgeous panorama on a lovely day! We have yet to experience too much Scottish rain, lots of blue sky.
Every corner, beautifully tended!
We took a lovely walk down this beautiful hiking trail on the grounds.
We were really impressed with the walled garden here, so many vegetables being grown and stunning flowers in bloom.

The interior was fascinating…here’s just a few shots to give you an idea what the inside of a place like this looked like.

The cooking part of the original kitchen
The ”great” or receiving room
The dining room
The “family” area; the billiards game was created to amuse the women after the men retired for cigars.

Lots of different collecting going on here, all immaculately displayed:

Some of the beautiful mill work on the main bedrooms.
The staircase used to navigate all those floors. Would have been quite treacherous for a lady in a full dress and heels.
On the way out of Invenurie, we stopped for a much needed meal at a little local restaurant (Fennel) for a hummus platter followed by burgers! We were famished after all that walking.

On our second day of exploration in this region, we followed the northern coastline to see some of the spectacular spots our travel planner (Janet) highlighted for us to see. It was, again, just a gorgeous day for a Scottish summer and we really enjoyed the beautiful coastline.

Spey Bay: Where the Spey River meets the North Sea, a beautiful coastal reserve with grasslands. Considered a great spot for dolphin watching (we think we saw some dolphin action from afar, but not sure!). A lovely rocky beach…had to bring a handful of specimens home!

Where the Spey reaches the ocean
We hardly ever see a Scottish person out and about without a dog. Have had as much fun dog watching as anything else!
I could have searched amongst these rocks all day! So many stories to tell.
Just relaxing hoping to catch site of some dolphins!
These huts used to be used to keep salmon cool before sending off to the markets.

Bow Fiddle Rock: An iconic coastal rock formation.

A beautiful seaside walking trail, with lovely heather in bloom! Lots of kayakers on the water.

Ballers of Buchan: The site of a collapsed sea cave and home to Puffins and beautiful sea birds. The Puffins have all headed to Iceland so we didn’t get to spot any here.

Fun watching the birds in flight hovering over this sea cave.
The trail was slightly treacherous making Gary very nervous for my safety. I will say they are a lot more lenient overseas on what levels of danger and risk they allow tourists to take! No railings here.
At the ends of the British Isle!

Stains Castle: A stunning castle ruin overlooking the coastline. Bram Stoker visited here in its heyday and was said to have use this remote and stunning site as inspiration for Dracula.

The hiking path from the car park…that’s Stains Castle far in the distance!
This castle has a pretty big footprint
Right on the cliff side!
A little more erosion and this will topple off!

That ends our 2nd day of exploration in this region…quick stop in a nearby village and a lovely little Indian restaurant for some curries and naan. Such lovely owners and we were the only folks there early on a Sunday evening.

That’s the most vibrant red Tikka Masala sauce I’ve seen, but boy was it delicious!

On our way out the next morning we stopped into the Speyside Cooperage for a quick tour. This is where whisky barrels are both made and repaired. They have a great apprentice program that takes 4 years to complete, but a good living for those men (no women yet!) who complete it. Other than the ONE annoying American in the tour group (there is always one…) it was a nice little tour. Her husband tried to accidentally climb into our backseat after the tour, not sure if it was a mistake or he was trying to escape his annoying wife.

A little “on the work floor” action
Whisky barrels waiting to be repaired!

jilliansking

2 responses to “2nd stop…Speyside Single-Malt Whisky Trail”

  1. Tom Avatar
    Tom

    I am always so impressed with what they did with mere stones. Gary is right-look at that rounded ceiling-with rock pieces? Incredible.
    You and Gary are looking younger-the travel must agree with you.

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  2. Vanessa Avatar
    Vanessa

    I’m with ya on the whisky being wasted on me but Dan would LOVE to explore this region! Those cliff hanging castles are no joke tho. Can’t get tipsy and take a walk in that area 🙂

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