Robertson's of Pitlochry and Gordon & Macphail

Two years ago Hubby and I took our first trip to Scotland, we were not great whisky fans when we set off but we certainly were when we came home. You can read about our previous adventures in my May 2019 blog posts.

Always happy to revisit places we have just enjoyed 10 days exploring Scotland with friends; visiting old places but also discovering new. There is so much to write about I have split my blog posts into themes but it may take me a while to write them all. 

I'm beginning with our tasting at Robertson's of Pitlochry hosted by the very knowledgeable owner Ewan McIlwraith. It was at this tasting two years ago we discovered whisky so we were all looking forward to another whisky afternoon. 

The tastings are held in The Bothy on a beautiful oak table laid with barrel staves holding four Glencairn glasses. Although a second visit I learnt so much more about this golden liquid.

Whisky can only be whisky if it has been in an oak barrel or cask for 3 years and 1 day and it cannot be below 40%. Blended whisky is different to malt as it can contain many different whiskies; Bell's can have up to 46 different varieties in its blend.

Whisky is a clear spirit when it enters the cask, it draws its colour and flavour from the type of cask it is stored in. Bourbon, sherry and wine barrels are the most commonly used, however some whisky producers do use caramel to add colour. It is often thought that the older, darker, more expensive a bottle is the better the whisky; this is not always the case but my final part of this blog will hopefully agree with that thought.

Our four whiskies were Stronachie 10 year old, Edradour, Robertson's Tobermorey and Golden Cask. All very different in colour, flavour and enjoyment.

Stronachie is a Speyside whisky finished in a bourbon cask. There were plenty of toffee and vanilla aromas along with hints of coconut and creme brulee in the flavour. As it warmed I could certainly find flavours of rich vanilla custard.

Edradour is a small distillery just outside Pitlochry; the next day we drove up to see the beautiful white buildings although the distillery was closed to visitors. We found many distilleries closed or only had their shop open due to the current restrictions, it must be so hard to comply with all the guidelines. Even though closed it was lovely to visit them as all the buildings are very different and all in beautiful settings.

As you can see we liked the Edradour so much we bought a bottle for home (along with many more on our travels, but more about that in my other posts). Aged in a combination of an Oloroso Sherry and Bourbon cask it is chill filtered to 40%. This is a more complex whisky with earthy, woody notes and a touch of honey.

Robertson's Tobermory was our third tasting, this was only launched on 21st March 2021. It is finished in a sherry cask and is sold at 61% cask strength. A little strong for me, I needed 10 angel's tears (drops of water) to soften it but it's marmalade notes were a hit with Hubby.

The Pitlochry shop has many many whiskies in their own range. Ewan chooses and buys a cask from a distillery and cask finishes the whisky to his own specification. Hubby previously bought a Robertson's Tullibardine and this year I bought him a bottle of Robertson's Tobermory as a treat for his upcoming milestone birthday. 

Our final tasting was Golden Cask, an Islay peated whisky at 57%. I'm not a fan of peated whiskies as I struggle to get past the medical ointment smell, I do keep trying though. The peatiness in a whisky comes from the firing to stop the grain germinating, in these whiskies it is peat that is used as the heat source when malting.

Thank you Ewan for a superb tasting, it was so lovely to be back in The Bothy and I hope it will not be too many years before we are again. 

Now returning to the assumption of the older, darker, more expensive a bottle being a better whisky. Ewan told us about a very special whisky soon to be launched by Gordon and Macphail, the world's leading malt whisky specialists based in Elgin.

They have an 80 year old Glenlivet whisky that is being launched on 7th October 2021 with the first bottle being sold at Sotheby's in Hong Kong. It is expected to sell for between £80,000 and £140,000 although it could go higher. There are 250 decanters from this 80 year old cask.

Distilled in 1940 it has been in a sherry cask ever since. Sir David Adjaye OBE has designed the unique decanter and oak case around the theme 'Artistry in Oak', it currently rests in the tasting room at Gordon and Macphail's Elgin whisky shop. 

Trees for Life is a charity whose mission is to rewilding the Caledonian forest and proceeds from Decanter#1 will be donated to resource their nursery which grows 100,000 rare native trees from seed. 

It will be so interesting to see how much this unique whisky sells for, and how much the remaining decanters are priced at. It is a long long way out of my buying range but I have seen the whisky as we were privileged to be shown into the stunning tasting room. The proof I was actually there is obvious in this photo.

Two super visits as part of our Scotland touring holiday, there's plenty more whisky, beer and so many beautiful sights to blog about I'll be busy for quite a while.

Hartlepool

Hubby and I have missed our short breaks away, we have always been travellers and often took our children away for a few days especially for their birthdays and between Christmas and New Year.

The last 18 months has been unbelievable for everyone, it is impossible to put it into words and does feel so surreal. For us taking  short breaks is our way of bringing life back - with caution.

We are very impressed with Premier Inn - a basic hotel chain that offers good clean comfy rooms. We know what to expect and are very confident with their policy of not housekeeping the room unless your stay is over 6 days (in which case you get a clean room and your room is deep cleaned). If we need anything such as clean towels or new rubbish bags we ask at Reception. 

That said we do take our own pillows, I use antibacterial on the chairs and headboard and we wipe every surface with antibacterial wipes - it may sound OTT but it gives me confidence to be away from home. 

So mid August we took had a short break in .... Hartlepool. I had seen their Premier Inn was on the harbour side so as everyone rushed south we drove north.

What a super location, boats in every view. We were right at the end of the corridor on the first floor, a long walk with the cases but an amazing view outside our window.

The National Museum of the Royal Navy has a base in Hartlepool with the stunning HMS Trincomalee it's feature ship. The dockside around the ship is full of buildings recreating the shops needed to support sailors and life in an 18th century seaport.

We had a super visit including a tour on board. It was very tight in places with low ceilings and narrow passageways. I'm very glad not to have been born in that era and thankful neither my Hubby or son worked on such a ship, I cannot imagine the noise, smell and danger when the cannons were fired.

Our hotel faced the museum and at night HMS Trincomalee looked magnificent against the setting sky. It would have looked very formidable at sea.

As well as visiting the museum we drove a few miles north for a stroll along the cliff tops. A glorious day with still waters. The beaches below looked similar to those at Berwick-upon-Tweed where we stayed in April, it's just under a 100 miles north from Hartlepool.

We also drove a little south to Middlesborough, a large industrial port that has one of the only two transporter bridges in the UK. Sadly it is not in use but we wanted to see it as it's an amazing structure.

We also visited the Tees Barrage used to control the tidal river. There's a foot and road bridge across and alongside is the Tees Barrage International White Water Centre although no-one was rafting when we were there. 

I was amazed at the Archimedes Screw that generates power and the fish ladder for the salmon needing to get upstream, along with spikes to stop the seals sitting on the wall stealing the fish.

Hartlepool is not known for being a holiday destination, it has very few shops in the High Street (but if there you must go to Sambuca for dinner, lovely food, good prices and a lively atmosphere). There a large shopping centre with the usual big stores and Camerons Brewery is nearby as well as a good selection of bars and restaurants along the harbourside.

We had a lovely couple of days seeing new things in quiet surrounds, thanknyou Hartlepool.

 

Visiting old memories and fulfilling a wish

My lovely Hubby treated me to a couple of days away in North Wales as an early birthday treat as we will be on holiday with friends on my actual birthday. 

From an early age St Asaph, Llanelwy in Welsh, was my holiday destination, camping in a field on Pen-y-clink farm with the scouts. I was only 11 months old on my first camp and I think the last was 1981 (although we did alternate with camping in Weymouth in the late 1970s)

This is a photo of me in the arms of one of the scouts at Caernarfon Castle on a day trip during that first camp in 1966, and of me at camp a little later. 

I also found a photo of a couple of 'end of camp under the flagpole' must have photos. I think the years are 1974 and 1976 but I may be wrong. All the photos were my Dad's but there were no dates on them.

This is the campsite and the farm as it is today, it was nice to see the name plaque on the fence. We used to get our water and milk from the farm. The water was in a huge metal milk run that we had to take down the lane to full up, it was hard work pulling it back up even on the trolley. The milk was fresh from the milking parlour in a smaller urn. 

I'm not sure it's fit for camping anymore ... times move on with campsites having plumbed in pitch services rather than milk churns, although it was nice to see that the field was not a new housing estate. 

Not far from St Aspah is Rhuddlan, we used to pass by to get to Rhyl for the day. There's a ruined castle there dating back to the 1200s, it is ruined due to being destroyed in the Civil War. It has always been known in our family as 'my tatty castle', it was so lovely to see it again ... even more amazing that our room looked directly over it, we hadn't requested it. 

Before checking in we visited Dyserth Waterfalls, it's quite an impressive drop. We did climb to the top via the steep stairway, with a rest halfway. The views were amazing, a bit hazy, but we could see as far as Llandudno. Unfortunately the river walk was closed due to needing repair but we had a lovely walk through the woods and down the lane to avoid going down the steep steps. 

It was so nice to be back in North Wales, if only one night, added to with our journey home being through Denbigh, Ruthin and the Horseshoe Pass. The weather was very misty, I think at 400m we were actually in cloud but you can see the road snaking down. After breakfast at the Ponderosa Cafe on the very top of the pass we travelled down into Llangollen for a very special birthday treat.

I have always wanted to cross the Pontcycyllte Aqueduct which carries the Llangollen Canal over the River Dee. It is only 13ft wide including one tow path (originally for the horses) and is 126ft high. There is only a rail on the towpaths side so it's quite precarious looking down from the boats. It is only wide enough for one boat and is just over 300m long. 

My birthday treat was a canal boat trip along the canal from Llangollen with Afternoon Tea as we sailed along. It was lovely if at times a little bumpy as the canal is very shallow so the boat bottom scrapes along, and narrow so the sides bump the walls. Our tea was super, of course we added a glass of bubbly each too.

Back in Llangollen we just managed to see the horse drawn trip leaving, this trips goes the other direction along the canal. On the way home we passed by the Aquaduct going over the small bridge in my photo, it is very high and amazing to have travelled across it. 

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We had a super two days, we love a road trip and it was so good to visit old places again. Thank you Nick for a lovely birthday treat!