KEITH, Scotland — Our day touring the Speyside region, drinking in pastoral vistas and sipping the elixir that embodies a nation, leads us here - to a cozy room in a centuriesold distillery with a blazing fireplace and a blaring television.
The Strathisla distillery is the region’s oldest, operating since 1786. But like others in the area synonymous with Scotch, it has a decidedly international flair. As we sip drams of Chivas Regal, a blend we could easily buy back home, a commercial that shows a couple tangoing in South America plays in the background. A German couple wait with us for the last tour of the day.
Tour guide John Duncansol - yes, he’s sporting a kilt - is soon brandishing barley and walking us through the malting process.
Whisky - there’s no need to say Scotch whisky or even Scotch here - has been produced in Scotland since at least the 15th century. To be called Scotch, whisky has to be produced in Scotland and must be aged at least three years.
Most is aged for 12 years or longer and those that are left undisturbed for decades seem to meld with their casks, leaving more wood on the palate. A quarter of the volume of a cask is lost in 12 years.
The word whisky comes from the Gaelic uisge beatha, or water of life, and the golden potation was long revered for its medicinal properties.
Speyside is named for its location on the banks of the River Spey in Moray. Once considered part of the Highlands, it is now recognized as a distinct region in Northern Scotland. Nearly half of Scotland’s distilleries - about 50 - can be found here producing major brands that include The Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, The Macallan.
Brown signs along the country roads direct tourists to the fabled distilleries on the Scotch Malt Whisky Trail. To distinguish them from other signs, look for the distinctive high-peaked roof of a still house - a trend Duncansol says Strathisla started, but stole from Japanese sake houses. Not all distilleries are open to the public and somerequire advance bookings.
Some dot farmland. Others, including Aberlour Distillery, are in scenic little villages.
Aberlour is one of a number of distilleries offering more involved tours that also requires reservations.
For 10 pounds (about $13), Aberlour (aberlour.com) does an extended tour and offers a chance for visitors to hand fill their own bottle of cask-strength whisky. A reservation is recommended since the distillery only does two tours a day.
The GlenDronach Distillery (Glendronachdistillery.co.uk), just outside Speyside, offers a “connoisseurs’ experience” for 20 pounds (about $26) that includes a longer tour and a “tutored tasting.”
As walk-ins, we managed to visit a half dozen or so distilleries in a day, almost enough to sate my husband and more than enough to quench my thirst. (I had the car keys and over the course of the day had only a wee sip here or there - some diluted ever so slightly with water to release the oils. Never, we were cautioned on more than one occasion, add ice to any Scotch.)
One of our most enjoyable stops of the day was at Cardhu distillery, where for about 10 pounds my husband was able to pick seven whiskies to taste. The Cardhu brand may not be familiar to Americans but it’s used to make the blended Johnnie Walker.
He skipped the Johnnie Walkers in favor of more obscure brands, ones not on the U.S. market, including a 16-year Dailuaine finished in sherry.
The Cardhu distillery (discovering-distilleries.com/cardhu) was founded in 1824, but started producing whisky illegally - a lot of operations were unlicensed in those days - at least a decade earlier. When revenue officers stopped by the operators would disguise the fermenting operation as bread making and even warn their neighbors the tax men were on the property.
OWNED BY BIG COMPANIES
Today, most of the distilleries are owned by major corporations. Chivas Brothers (chivas.com) produces The Glenlivet, Aberlour and Strathisla. For tourists, that makes tasting and buying whisky all the easier, since gift shops stock multiple brands.
While a few places will let a visitor do a tasting only, many insist that visitors first take a tour that shows off the stills and cask rooms and explains how Scotch becomes Scotch.
Smell barley and pinch peat, inhale the bready smell of “mash,” fan yourself in the heat of a room filled with copper stills and blink as your eyes adjust to the darkness of a cask room.
It is an experience Scotch lovers will love and their designated drivers probably will too. Those who want to broaden their experience can walk through the ruins of the Balvenie Castle, which lent its name to the Balvenie distillery. The castle is just behind Balvenie’s sister distillery Glenfiddich, the most touristy of all the distilleries. If you tire of Scotch history, you can skip the distillery’s movie and head straight to the expansive tasting bar and restaurant. The website is glenfiddich.com.
Or you can stroll through the shops in Dufftown or Keith - where Scotch is generally cheaper than at the distilleries. You can also watch coopers at the Speyside Cooperage refashion bourbon and sherry casks into the vessels that over years turn distilled liquor into Scotch. Such experiences will only set you back a few pounds, if you can resist buying a bottle you won’t find for sale at home.
MALTED BARLEY STARS
The ingredients in that bottle are simple. The star is malted barley. Malting is a process in which the grain is allowed to partially germinate. Peat is then used to fire ovens in which the malt is dried.
Peat lends its flavor to the final product. Some regions, particularly Islay in eastern Scotland, are known for their heavily peated products, while others insist they’re light on the peat. At Cardhu, my husband sampled an unpeated cask strength from Ila that had been aged 8 years. Without the trademark smoky flavor, it was almost like a silver tequila.
After the drying process, the malted barley is ground into grist mixed with spring water and heated in a process called mashing, which takes place in a “mash tun.” This is where the spring water and its flavor will come into play.
Add yeast and ferment for 72 hours - hence the smell of stepping into a bakery. That liquid known as wort is held in washbacks, giant vessels that resemble the casks that will hold the distilled product.
Resist, the urge to lean in too close, Duncansol said during the Strathisla tour - the fermenting process releases gases that have made more than one Scotch enthusiast swoon.
Once fermented, the liquid is passed into copper stills to be distilled twice.
Don’t confuse it with Irish whiskey, Duncansol warns in the shadow of Strathisla’s copper beasts. They distill three times and still don’t get it right, he explains. It is one of quite a few jokes he makes at the expense of his neighboring country, although he’s not really joking about the final product. The two countries can’t even agree on how tospell the spirit.
Alcohol has a lower boiling point than water, so it will evaporate first. The vapors are collected to produce a spirit with a higher volume of alcohol.
A pair of copper stills is used in the distilling process. The first produces what’s known as “low wines,” which are about 20 percent alcohol, and the second still produces a product that is about 70 percent alcohol. Even after aging, cask-strength whisky can be that strong. It’s usually diluted before being sold.
The two distilleries we toured had marked differences.
MORE MODERN FACILITY
Earlier in the day, we toured Glen Grant. The facility was far more modern than at Strathisla, which is a stone throwback to the 1800s, mill and all.
Glen Grant, which was bought by Campari in 2006, was extensively remodeled in the 1990s. The inside gleams with polished wood and glass and even the stills are in more modern, fluorescent-lighted digs. See more at glengrant.com.
Even though the rest of the distillery was modern and immaculate, the storehouses looked the same as they do everywhere, even Strahisla.
Vapors evaporating through the barrels blacken the walls - roughly 2 percent of a cask’s volume evaporates each year - and the storerooms’ main light comes through tiny windows. The thick stone walls keep a constant temperature year round.
My husband liked Glen Grant because - unlike at the other distilleries - we were the ones pouring the taste, in actual glasses. Most of the distilleries offer tiny sips, sometimes only enough to cover the bottoms of plastic shot glasses. One does want to still be able to taste, and walk, after all.
Still, his pour was pretty generous, which he reasoned was only deserved after strolling through the sprawling, lush Victorian woodland gardens and gift shop, then visiting exhibits on the museum’s 160-year history - all before the full tour.
Aside from the fine pours, there was one constant throughout the day. It was often pouring, and we’re not talking Scotch.
There was no shortage of umbrellas bearing various distilleries’ logos for sale and we came close to buying one at about every distillery we visited - out of necessity, not brand loyalty.
More information on the Scotch Whisky Trail can be found at dis
covering-distilleries.com, scotch
whisky.net
or maltwhiskytrail.com.
Travel, Pages 60 on 10/24/2010