In a nice flip from Monday (from my perspective anyway), Fiona was up bright and early to attend an American Women of Aberdeen board meeting while I had a decent little sleep in. A late breakfast followed. There wasn't much on the agenda, at least not anything that could be done before noon on a good conscience.
We had planned, as every good Scottish host should, to visit a whiskey distillery. We had quizzed our good friends Vicki and Bob and they had recommended Strathisla, located about an hour away in Keith. We arrived in Keith at about noon and had a relaxed lunch in the Royal Hotel. The relaxation was forced as we waited for the menus, waited for the starters, waited for the mains, etc ...
We finally got to the distillery at about 2pm, in time to join a tour. The distillery itself is beautiful, an old stone building sitting in the woods with pagoda chimneys and a working waterwheel. Strathisla is the oldest working distillery in Scotland, started by the Chivas brothers of Aberdeen over a hundred years ago. They brew their own single malt and put quite a bit of their production into the Chivas Regal blended Scotch. I would totally recommend it if you only have time for one distillery tour - it's informative, it's pretty, it's close and you get two drams instead of one.
We started with a wee dram of the Chivas Regal, which was much better than I anticipated. I've been trying to develop a taste for Scotch as I feel it will make me more sophisticated, a quality I currently lack. I could take up ballroom dancing or expensive cigars, but I feel forcing myself to drink Scotch is easier and cheaper.
The tour was very good and incredibly informative. It ended with another wee dram, either a Chivas 18 year old or the Strathisla single malt. Both were tried and both were enjoyed. We all left quite happy.
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