We’re nearing the end of our trip around Scotland. After two nights in Edinburgh, Oban, and Skye each, it’s time to head to Speyside for a little lesson in ancestry.
After breakfast the next morning, we were off again for one of the longer drives of the trip. We were on a mission from Skye to Speyside – a 3.5 hour drive according to Google Maps. But first, Doug and I took a wander down to the beach in front of the hotel. It was so peaceful and beautiful. Next time we need to spend more time here. It felt very rushed. More hiking, less driving.
They finally got us into the car, back over the bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh, and through the mountains to take a peep at Loch Ness. Nessy didn’t feel like making an appearance as we drove nearly the entire length of the loch to pass through Inverness. We stopped briefly for a break and coffee at Drumnadrochit before we got to Inverness. Then it was full speed ahead to make it to Huntly for our 1:30 PM tour of Huntly Castle – the supposed stomping grounds of the Huntley Clan of the Quad Cities, Illinois.
I’ve never been able to prove that Jason’s ancestors had anything to do with the castle in Huntly (by the same token, we also can’t prove they didn’t). I’ve been in contact with those much deeper in the research than I have been able to do and have mounds of books written by them, but they can’t prove anything either. The records that far back are too spotty. So…it’s a good story. I do however know that the first Huntleys in America were coopers (barrel makers) in Connecticut, so…it’s entirely possible they came from the Huntly region and maybe hauled some barrels into the castle. It is one of the heaviest whisky-producing regions in Scotland after all. (Jason says: that’s all fine and well, but our family name is still on a castle, so…) (Tasha says: only because it’s in the village of Huntly, which is probably the last name your family adopted when they came to America because they didn’t have one, so…😉)
After a good look around the castle and various Gordon Tartan (the ruling family of the Huntly area – Huntly Tartan) paraphernalia purchased in the gift shop, we headed for our next hotel – Dowans Hotel in Arberlour, Scotland. This turned out to be my favorite on the entire trip. The rooms AND bathrooms were huge, we had a gorgeous tub in a turret (a turret!), the bed was so comfy, the food was amazing, the owners and staff were so personable, and…it SNOWED! It was magic.
Oh gosh, I forgot the best part (for Jason, I was enjoying the snow). They had an ENTIRE room full of whisky. No joke; there were something like 400+ bottles in their collection. When I couldn’t find Jason, I knew he would be here, up on the ladder, admiring the selection, talking with the staff, and trying to pick something to try – an impossible feat. We had the best time. I need to figure out how to put this hotel back in a future itinerary.
Jason had to work that first evening, so I enjoyed the tub in the turret before we headed back down to the bar to wait for dinner. They had us order ahead and then brought us into the restaurant when our food was ready to come out. Nice. Like I said, dinner here was amazing. We all, except Jason, had a turkey dinner the first night. It was so good that Doug and Sandy had it the second night as well. After that long day of driving it was time to hit the sheets before our final day of sight-seeing.
After a huge breakfast, we wandered down the road to Speyside Cooperage to learn about making barrels. I thought this would be fun because it is a huge (HUGE) part of how whisky is created AND remember I said the Huntley ancestors were coopers? Just your friendly little tour guide connecting the dots. This turned out to be a really informative tour. Who’d have thought that making barrels was so interesting? Since the coopers are actively working, very hard, and are paid by the barrel, the visitors to the cooperage observe from a gallery above while your guide tells you what they are doing. I believe she said they have 21 coopers currently in their operation with a handful of apprentices in training and they were all hustling. They make very few new barrels and instead focus on refurbishing barrels for their next life. It was fascinating, super hard work.
Much to our surprise and delight, the tour ended with a tasting of the Cooperage’s whisky. No, they don’t distill their own whisky on top of cranking out barrels, but they purchase from one of the zillions of local distilleries and remove the label, so we don’t know what we had! Sneaky. They do this so as not to show any favoritism among their customers, and it changes all the time. The staff doesn’t even know which whisky they are servings so as not to have favorites.
After the cooperage, we decided to take a little trip to Elgin, about 20 minutes away, towards the north coast. The hotel owner told us the local cashmere maker – Johnston’s of Elgin – was having their annual tent sale. So we set out to find a deal on cashmere, and oh did we find it! I think we came home we 3 cardigans, 3 scarves, 2 pairs of gloves, and a sweater for a tiny fraction of their original price. What a great find! Somehow we managed to shove that all in our already full suitcases. I really need to pack less so we have room for such treasures! We got tea and cakes at the store’s café before we headed back to the hotel.
We took up residency for hours in the Still Room (the one full of whisky) at the hotel once we got back. Just chatting and tasting. I had a whisky – Glenfiddich‘s Orchard Experiment – it tasted like a green Jolly Rancher. The most bizarre thing! It was aged in a Somerset Pomona Spirit Cask, which is right up my alley. I love how distillers are experimenting with cask finishes these days! They’re coming up with some really unique things in Scotland.
We had dinner a little early that night as we had to pack up again. We decided to crack open the orange wine we got from the Wee Wine Shop in Oban, so we all shared that before turning in for the night. Have you ever had an orange wine? To clarify, we don’t mean wine made from oranges, it’s still grapes. It’s so unique. It tastes not quite red, and not quite white, but also not blush. Try it sometime and let me know what you think. Ours was from Georgia (the country).
Our last day was our longest driving day. On the map, it looked like it should take us about 3 hours to get to the Dalhamoy Country Club near Edinburgh Airport. It ended up taking us about 5.5 hours, but we did stop a couple of times. Once at a super sketchy truck stop that was like turning back the time to somewhere in my childhood – a smoke filled room that smelled like woodsmoke and bacon with cooks working a griddle behind the counter. Twice trying to get gas (petrol) when the first stop wouldn’t take a foreign credit card, or cash (bizarre). And finally at Scone Palace to visit the café and gift shop. Also, I like to visit the resident peacocks. We were stopped in traffic for almost an hour, so we missed the tour window, but were able to hunt down a wooly coo ornament and various other things. Also, more coffee.
Jason and Doug dropped Sandy and I off at the Dalmahoy to check in and pick a place for dinner while they returned the car to the airport – one less thing to worry about in the morning. We ended up having to wait for our rooms because they were running behind, but they took our bags and treated us to complimentary drinks while we waited. Not mad about that at all. We chose the Pentland restaurant for dinner. It was quite good, but it took forever to eat, it seemed because they were short-staffed. I think we were there for over 3 hours and I was majorly head-bobbing by the time the desserts came out. I passed on dessert and headed for the room. I needed sleep, but do you think I could sleep then? Not on that super-hard mattress! Brutal. We won’t be back to that one. The hospitality was top notch, but it was very tired and in need of renovation.
We caught our cab the next morning at 6 and headed for the airport. We were plenty early, so we got breakfast at Wetherspoon’s before going our separate ways and getting on the planes back home. We were flying home through Toronto (where you do US Customs – interesting) and Chicago. Thankfully we had long layovers because all our flights were delayed and we sat on the tarmac in Chicago for over 30 minutes before they let us off the plane. Jason was upgraded to 1st class on our last flight into Springfield, but I had an entire row, all the way across the plane, to myself. So who really won that one? Our amazing neighbor picked us up and we collapsed in bed (after showers because airplanes are gross) for the best night of sleep in nearly two weeks after 22 hours of flights.
And the best part…no one got sick on this trip – I can say that now weeks later. Woohoo!!
So ends another whirlwind adventure through Scotland. Who is ready to go with us next time? We’re hoping to have itineraries available soon and group trips available possibly later next year!
You can read about our time in Edinburgh here, Oban here, and Skye here.
