Travel
The Spirit of Speyside
Every May sees whisky fans from all over the world gather to sample the latest at the festival
The region broadly encompasses the Moray area, which lies between Inverness and Aberdeen in the North East of Scotland and is home to some of the world's best selling whiskies, Iconioc and legendary names such as the Macallan, the Glenliver, Glen Grant, Glenfiddich and Balvenie to name just a few. Six of the world's top Scotch whiskies are based in the region with two of those - Glenfiddich and the Glenliver - both selling over a million bottles each year. Each May, the Whisky Festival brings in 30,000 visitors to the five day event with over 50% of them coming from outside of Scotland. The Festival is fantastic for those who are deeply passionate about whisky because of the unique opportunities that it presents to our lesser known distilleries and have a wee dram with the managers and master distillers that are so important to the industry. Tickets went on sale in February and within 24 hours were sold out. Many events sold out within minutes.
Three of the best Whisky Bars.
The Highlander Inn, Craigellachie. Home to around 300 single malts and a carefully curated selection of local ales. www.whiskyinn.com
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The Mash Tun, Aberlour. It is situated on the banks of the River Spey and for those wanting to stay after enjoying dinner and drams, it offers visitors a choice of several whisky themed bedrooms. www.mashtun-abertour.com
The Spirit Safe Whisky Bar, the Station Hotel, Rothes. The bar is stocked with over 300 whiskies and also has an excellent selections of gins. Most of the whiskies are on display as part of the whisky wall at the back of the bar. There is also a Station Hotel exclusive dram, bottled by the owners that you can try. www.stationhotelspeyside.com
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Enjoy - my father used to say, having a wee dram (little sip) was the best medicine. He had a wee dram when he played golf, and I don't remember whether he was a smashing player or not. We had so much fun in all weathers.
Maureen Jones
All Horizons Travel/Frosch
825 Santa Cruz Ave