On this day in history, … actually it wasn’t this day today, it was actually two weeks ago in 2015 on our visit to Scotland. We took the whiskey tour in Edinburgh and got a taste of the geography and regions and learned some of the differences between Scotch from each part of the country. Oh yes and a taste of the Scotch too 😀.
We started our day on a trek to Edinburgh Castle. Though we were staying downtown and the castle is just up the hill,… it was a long hike! By the time we made our way down the hill to catch the tour at “The Scotch Whisky” little guy was sound asleep. I asked if we could get a refund on his ticket because he was sleeping. Kidding. But it might have been a good idea.
On the tour we traveled the land of Scotch through malting, milling, from barley, peat, grist, into draff, milling, mashing, fermentation, distillation, and finally the last stages of maturation and bottling (and drinking). The tour was also home to the world’s largest Scotch collection. And no, Kiyoshi did not get to try the samples, they gave him water so he could happily participate in practicing our Italian. Salute!
This small collection is one of the sets that we brought home. Funny thing, they either have very high liquor taxes in Scotland, or they know that the tourists are too dumb to know that what they are buying costs almost double what we pay at home. Then again maybe it’s just really low liquor taxes in Alberta.
Funny thing is the Walkers shortbread cookies cost twice as much there too. I buy them at Save on Foods for less than what we paid in Scotland….. the perils of the tourist tax trap. It’s all part of the experience honey.
And about this collection of Scotch. Tomatin was my first taste of single malt Scotch on our trip. Or ever for that matter. We didn’t have that in Vernon. And drifting from the collection, to how this came to be, . . .
On our first day we drove westward from the airport in Glasgow to spend the night in Oban. It is a quiet little oceanside city on Scotland’s west coast. I’ll remember our stay there for many reasons. The sunset, Kiyoshi flying like a sea bird, and parking.
It was such a beautiful sunset, and it was much like White Rock with the ocean just across the street from the city shops.
We stayed at the Royal Hotel where Kiyoshi was so excited to be in Scotland that he flew off the edge of the bed. Good thing he was jumping away from the window. He went from one bed to the next and bounced in the air …. and head first down into the space between the bed and the wall. And then there were no more monkeys jumping on the bed.
Parking there was comical. When we checked in we asked where to park. They said oh there’s loads of space in the back. So we drive around back and we’re looking around at the gravel parking lane that might hold six cars and wondering if maybe we were in the wrong parking lot. Just then the girl who checked us in came out and she’s pointing to a spot and says you can park right here. I looked and thought uh maybe if I was driving a Smart car?! As luck would have it someone else was pulling out so we were able to fit into a car sized spot.
Getting back to whiskey, the whole reason I was talking about Oban on our first night, was because I went across the street to a general store like a convenience store almost and asked for a bottle of Scotch. He sold me a Famous Grouse … And I shouldn’t scoff at the Famous Grouse. Apparently it really is famous (according to Wikipedia), it’s a blend of single malts including Macallan which James Bond may or may not have been seen drinking in Skyfall (also according to Wikipedia). Probably worth a Google.
And speaking of 007 and Skyfall, I failed to order TripTix from BCAA before we left and we realized at our next stop that we had already driven past Skyfall. Which brings me to my further run on story of the first single malt Scotch of our journey. From Oban we traveled Northward to the Highlands for our next stop in Inverness. We pull up to the Kingsmills Hotel which Tara booked through Travelocity or Expedia or something for 70% off with something else free as a welcome gift I’m sure. We walk in to check in, and the hotel offers us a complimentary upgrade. We were quite confused, this was a very nice hotel and here we walk in looking scruffy on our second day of travel.
Off we go from our discount economy class fare to our upgraded room with wider seats and more legroom. Which is in a separate building from the hotel. We walk in and they hand us warm towels to freshen up as we check in again, and we are offered a glass of single malt Scotch. And a generous pour at that. The Scotch they were pouring was – Tomatin. I told you I was going somewhere with this!
As for the upgraded room, that was just crazy. We were fortunate with the places we stayed at along the way this trip, but this room was more of a luxury condo than a hotel. We walked in and there was a plate of chocolates with Welcome drizzled in with yet more chocolate. The “living room” we walked in to had a TV a fridge a couch bed and we would have been happy to stay in that room alone. Then we looked around the corner, and saw a master bedroom down the hall. Yes, the hall. We walked past the master bathroom and into the bedroom with a king size bed and a view overlooking the golf course beside the hotel. After a restful night of sleep, we enjoyed a hearty breakfast we ordered from room service. As we drove away, we realized they had forgotten to add the breakfast to our bill. We went back to the front desk to pay and they said oh no the breakfast is included with your stay. ??? Had I known that I would ordered a few more things ….
And that, is the conclusion of Tamatoa Tomatin. A single malt Scotch worthy of such tall tales.
Oh and Islay (eye-la). Islay is the region of the westward islands. They are rich in peat and so it is used in whiskey production. Where they do a masterful job of infusing the flavor of burnt smoky peat into the Scotch you are about to drink and you sniff it and it smells like foul smelling smoke. We got a taste from each of the regions on our whiskey tour. Which is why I say Islay never touch a whiskey from there again!
I also get an epic fail for posting about this two years after the fact. We took 1,900 pictures in Scotland. On a different day I shall tell a tale of the Highlands and sheep and our drive past The Glenlivet.