Old friends above the valley of the deer

This is the first of two "catch-up" posts from the end of October.  A bright and breezy day looked good for a hillwalk, and looking at the map I realised that it had been a while since I'd been over the hill to Speyside. I decided to climb Corryhabbie Hill, but not via the usual route.

My route from Donside to Speyside climbs up through high farmland and across the Cabrach, an area of moorland studded with mostly abandoned buildings.  It wasn't always so and there's a good history of the Cabrach on "Lenathehyena's" blog.  The play of light was marvellous on this October morning, rainbows appearing and disappearing as showers passed through.

I started my walk at Bridgehaugh where there's space to park a couple of cars clear of the estate road and entrance.  A steep slope covered with bracken was virtually glowing against a blue sky.

A look at the map in the link above will show that the track leading southwest from Bridgehaugh goes upstream alongside a river which is by no means large, but has a name known throughout the world.  This is the River Fiddich, and this view looks along part of Glen Fiddich.  Downstream the river runs through Speyside's "whisky capital", the village of Dufftown.  Along the banks of the river are some of the best known of Scotland's distilleries; Mortlach, Balvenie and, of course, Glenfiddich among them. Nowhere else in Scotland (or indeed the world) has a higher concentration of distilleries than this corner of Speyside.

I walked alongside the river past the now delapidated Glenfiddich Lodge, a former shooting lodge, and took a track climbing above a bend in the river up into a landscape of rounded hills covered in wind-clipped heather.  the track made for fast walking and I was soon swinging around between two hills and beginning the climb to the broad ridge which forms Corryhabbie Hill's summit.

From the higher ground the views open up to be really expansive.  To the north west, the most distinctive hill in the area, Ben Rinnes, is prominent.  It's a hill which has given some great days.  The "normal" route to climb Corryhabbie Hill from Glen Rinnes comes up the track in this image - my route would only coincide with that one on the summit ridge itself.

To the north, the slopes of the wonderfully named Thunderslap Hill fall to the Dullan water, and rising beyond is the Dufftown "double" of Meikle and Little Conval.  Looking to familiar hills - old friends-  is one of the small joys of hillwalking, and the more hills one climbs, the more joy there is to be had!

On the upper ridge of Corryhabbie Hill I was exposed to a biting north wind - to the north there's no higher ground between these hills and the north pole....and today it felt like it.  I stopped to put on another layer, gloves and a hat. 

Crouching down to sort out my kit I noticed the stunning colour on tufts of Deer Grass (Trichophorum cespitosum).  The name is misleading, it's neither a grass (actually a member of the sedge family) or particularly favoured by grazing deer.  The name derives from the wonderful shade of the plant in autumn, reminiscent of the coats of Red Deer.  There was a theme here too, because "Glenfiddich" is valley of the deer in Gaelic. 

Wrapped up against the chill of the wind, I walked on along the ridge.

Roll out the barrel (s)

On a recent visit to Speyside we called by a cooperage serving the many whisky distilleries in the area.  There were some nice images to photograph, whether quite plain.......

...or full of vibrant colour.  It's possible, with a little knowledge, to guess the origin of some of these barrels - Glen Grant, Glenlivet, The Macallan and many more from Speyside, as well as examples from far and wide such as Islay's Laphroaig.

I liked this image with the end of a huge stack of barrels lit by sunshine with the backdrop of a storm-black rain cloud.

There are so may barrels here and in other cooperages they seem almost uncountable - and these are just the ones not in curent use; there will be many times more maturing in bonded warehouses throughout Scotland.  This seemingly endless supply is a good thing.....

......because we use some of the staves and lids to make handcrafted items, for lighting.....

.......or for enjoying the products of the barrels.  Looks like we'll not be running out of the raw materials any time soon!

Catching the tidal travelator in the Sound of Islay

 We enjoyed a most comfortable camp on the Islay shore and woke to another glorious Spring morning.  There was plenty of time for a leisurely start as the north-going tidal stream didn't start until 1048 so we spent the morning engaged in those most satisfactory of activities - drinking coffee, faffing and fettling the packing of our boats

A northerly breeze was getting up by mid morning and so we decided to get on the water a short time before the tide turned.  A breeze acting against the north-going tidal stream had the potential to create some lively conditions in the narrowest part of the Sound of Islay, so it made sense to pass through before the fastest of the tidal stream became established.  It looked like the sailing ship "Stavros Niarchos" had used the last of the south-going stream to make her transit south back into the Sound of Jura.

After enjoying an exhilarating sail across from Islay to the Jura shore in a solid F4 wind, we reconvened on the shore before setting off northwards.

 The first indication of the wind against tide conditions was a defined line of choppy water marking an eddy line where the main flow was beginning to pour north.  I took no photos for the next couple of kilometres as it got really quite lively.  We kept close together and the worst of the chop was over relatively quickly.

 We kept glancing over our shoulders as we expected the MV Hebridean Isles to overhaul us somewhere in the narrows, and right on time she motored past to berth at Port Askaig prior to making an onward crossing to Colonsay.

 Islay is blessed with a number of fine navigational marks by which seafarers can determine their position along the coast.  Conveniently they are mostly painted white and have suitably prominent lettering to aid identification.  The first of these we passed was Caol Ila, and further north Bunnahabhain. 

 We made good an average speed of 10km/h on our way back through the Sound of Islay, and this was against a stiff breeze for most of the way.  Catching the tidal travelator is definitely the way to go in these parts!  Once clear of the narrows we turned back up the west coast of Jura to retrace part of the previous day's route towards Loch Tarbert.  When the coastline is this good paddling the same section on consecutive days was certainly no hardship.....

...and we saw things we'd not noticed on the previous day.......

 ...including this splendid mimetolith which bears a striking resemblance to Queen Victoria.......

.....and, resplendent in green, a rock which had a slight resemblance to a pixie..... (and no, we hadn't visited either distillery on the way past!)

The tradition, art and magic of a malt whisky

Our guide for the distillery tour was Andrew, who was very knowledgeable and informative - we've been on tours of other distilleries but this was by far the best. What's more we were the only visitors and it felt very much like a personal VIP visit!

As this blog features the occasional enjoyment of a dram, I thought it might be fun to feature some ofthe tradition, art and magic of malt whisky.......

Glen Grant was founded in 1840 when two brothers, James and John Grant, applied for a distilling licence.  They were no newcomers to distilling whisky by all accounts, having been involved in the production and distribution of illicit spirit for some years.  When the tax on whisky was reduced they like others sought licences and turned to legitimate distilling, using the same distribution networks which had served them so well.  Among other achievements, the Grants were involved in bringing steam railways to Speyside which further improved the infrastructure of the area.

By 1872 the founding brothers had died and the distillery was owned by a nephew, James "The Major" Grant.  A real innovator, he introduced new ideas to the distillery (it was the first to have electric light) and introduced the tall slender stills and purifiers which gave Glen Grant whisky the fresh, light character which still defines the house style.

In  1931 "The Major" was succeeded by his grandson Douglas Mackessack who further developed the business.  Notably, he supplied an Italian whisky buyer with 50 cases of Glen Grant to sell in Italy when no other distiller would; the result was that Glen Grant became, and remains, by far the best selling malt whisky in Italy.

During the period from 1972 to 2006 Glen Grant was owned by a variety of big players from the world of whisky distilling and then in turn by multinational drinks companies, reflecting the surge in popularity of Scotch malt whisky.  In 2006 the Italian connection reached a nice conclusion when Glen Grant was acquired by the Campari group.  It remains their only brand of whisky and as such has benefited from a benign ownership with respect for tradition but an eye for the future.

Having immersed ourselves in the history of the brand we moved into the distillery proper to immerse ourselves in the magical sights, sounds and aromas of whisky production.....

The primary ingredients are malted barley and pure water from the stream we'd walked along.  All the barley used for Glen Grant is all sourced from the northeast of Scotland and is first "malted" - partially germinated - in order to release fermentable sugars.  This is done by soaking the barley in water for a few days until it begins to sprout then the sprouting is arrested by drying the grains using heat.

The malted barley is then milled to small size grains called "grist" which are mixed with warm water in a large "mash tun".  The liquid produced is called "wort", the residual grains are either fed to cattle or, in a modern twist, turned over to biomass power generation.

The wort is fed into huge fermentation vessels called "washbacks" and has yeast added to it - starting the fermentation process and the conversion of sugar to alcohol, which takes about 2-4 days.

The washbacks used by Glen Grant are very traditional and are made of Oregon Pine, which they feel is a better material than the stainless steel used at some distilleries.  They are really huge, this image is showing just the very tops; each holds around 90,000 litres of fluid and is two storeys high.

The now alcoholic liquid is called "beer" and is typically around 7% alcohol - the liquid is constantly agitated by revolving blades and the fermentation process is quite energetic, producing a bubbling, heaving froth at the top of the washbacks.  If this part of the process is where the magic of whisky distilling takes places, then the next stage could almost be considered as alchemy .....

In the Still House are four pairs of copper stills consisting of four "wash stills" and four "spirit stills", giving four distillation sets.  The first stage of distillation takes place in the larger wash stills where the fully fermented wash is carefully boiled by passing steam through stainless steel pans within the still.  Alcohol vapours rise to the top of the still and are cooled before the process is repeated in the smaller spirit still (this is the double distillation process).  The alcohol is cooled in condensers on the outside of the Still House wall, cooled by water from the Spey which is diverted then returned to the river.  The residue from this part of the process is collected and used in the production of farm feed.

What sets Glen Grant apart is the addition of a Spirit Purifier between the wash and spirit stills. These were introduced by James "The Major" Grant and allow only the purest vapour to pass from the stills to the condensers, ensuring a light but complex spirit.

The elegant stills at Glen Grant are particularly tall and slender, a shape which gives finer, lighter spirits whereas shorter, fatter stills will produce a fuller and richer spirit. Each is polished and beautifully lacquered as is all the pipework.  The liquid produced from the wash still is known as "low wines", when passed through the purifier and spirit still the resulting condensed spirit is sent across the Still House to spirit "safes" where it arrives in three distinct phases.

Alcohols from the beginning of each distillation are harsh and high in alcoholic percentage, these are technically called "foreshots" but are normally referred to as the "head".  Alcohols from the end of each distillation are weak in alcoholic percentage but pungent, these are technically called "feints" but usually referred to as the "tail".

It is only the alcohol from the middle part of the distillation - known as the "heart" and of about 65-70% alcohol which is skillfully drawn off by the Stillman and collected through the spirit safes.  The head and tail are then combined and passed back to be used with the next distillation run.

So far there's been tradition, magic and a dash of alchemy in the production of the spirit, and what follows takes us into the realms of the mystical........

The spirit is poured into oak casks for storage and maturation. It must be stored in oak, in Scotland for a minimum of three years in order to be legally termed Scotch Whisky.  To be termed a "malt" whisky it must be made only from malted barley and to be termed "single" it must be produced from a single distillery.

The barrels used are of varying sizes and types - Glen Grant use mostly American Oak casks previously used for a fill of Bourbon, and some Spanish oak casks are also used, these having previously held sherry or port and which can add a nuance and character to particular "expressions" from a distillery.  Bourbon aficionados can rest easy that their drink has done its most important job of preparing the casks for a much nobler purpose!

The wood on the inside of the casks is surface charred to enable the whisky to access the character of the oak; it's said that although the water, barley and distillation process all help to determine the nature of the finished whisky, as much as half of the character is determined during the maturation period.  Each cask to be used is individually hand-picked by the Distillery Manager - it's that important.

Whilst maturing the casks allow up to 2% of the whisky to evaporate out through the wood each year, the loss is known as "the Angel's share".  There must be some very well-fuelled Angels around the Speyside area!  The spirit lost through the wood is replaced by air, meaning that the location, temperature and humidity of the warehouse also plays a part in the character of the spirit.  This loss also partially explains why more mature whiskies at 18, 20 or more years old are more expensive to buy; aside from the extra time invested in their production there's simply less whisky in the cask to bottle.  There's also more risk to a distillery with older casks in that there's more which can go wrong over the longer maturation.

The whisky emerges from the wood at "cask strength" alcoholic content which is typically 55-60%.  Some bottlings are made at cask strength but the vast majority of production has water added to take the strength down to the standard 40% alcohol content.

Glen Grant, like most distilleries uses casks three times, so by the time they're sold on they are probably over 60 years old.  We have a particular interest in the casks once they've reached the end of their whisky-making lives.......

...as we buy some staves and barrel ends to make handcrafted items such as candle holders.....

...and practical accessories for the enjoyment of the whisky they once held......... :o)

Ownership by Gruppo Campari has brought investment to Glen Grant in the form of an ultra-modern bottling plant.  The distillery is one of the few to bottle their own whisky on site, and this is the largest bottling plant on Speyside.

Meanwhile, the casks work their magic on the whisky within and they'll lie quietly fuelling the Angels whilst developing fine single malt whisky........

...and we'll all have to exercise patience until it comes out of here and the Excisemen have imposed their tax!


We went from the production area back to the Visitor Centre where we were offered two generous tastings - included along with the tour and entrance to the garden in the £5 per person charge.  Unfortunately I had to drive home, so my tasting was the merest touch on the tongue....

The first was The Major's Reserve, a bottling with no age statement but we were told that it's around 8 years old.  Light, fragrantly fruity and ever so slightly dry - it's a very pleasant dram and a perfect expression of the Glen Grant tradition of light but firm whiskies.

The second tasting was of the 10 year old Glen Grant - and it was a revelation.  Flavours and nose of orchard fruits followed by a smooth intensity with no hint of sharpness and a light body, this is an immensely good whisky and is described by one of the most influential whisky guides as "undoubtedly the best 10 year old official distillery bottling I have tasted"

There are other expressions on sale in the distillery shop at older ages and some really exclusive offerings in limited editions.  Our £5 charge also gave us a £2 discount on a bottle....no prizes for guessing which one we went for!

Glen Grant is a wonderful place to visit - the whole ethos of the place shines through in the pride that's taken, the combination of tradition and innovation and friendliness of the staff we met.  If you take only one distillery tour, make it this one.

So there you have it, tradition, art, magic and a touch of the mystical....Sláinte Mhath!

A walk along the water at Glen Grant

A raw and grey end-of-November Sunday morning with a forecast of snow to come was no enticement to do planned outdoor jobs at home; instead we drove across to Speyside for a leisurely day out.....

...we first went to Dufftown, and "cam in by Fiddichside"....

...passing as we did the gates to Auchmair farm in the Cabrach with their reference to John Bunyan's 16th century book "The Pilgrim's Progress" plus wrought iron cattle, sheep and even shepherd's crooks.

The place we'd planned to visit was actually closed due to icy underfoot conditions, so we travelled a little further north along the Spey valley to Rothes, where we stopped on impulse at the Glen Grant Distillery Garden.  Here in the north of Scotland, late November might not seem to be the logical time to visit an ornamental garden, and the friendly staff at the visitor centre (which was just about to open for the day) made this point - but the view up into the garden area promised a pleasant stroll - and so it proved.  A very modest £5 per person is charged for access to the garden, the distillery tour and a tasting.  We didn't really intend to take the distillery tour, rather just to visit the garden and have coffee in the Italian coffee shop situated in one of the converted buildings.

The heart of all good whisky is pure water, and Glen Grant like almost all distilleries is built around a stream tumbling from the hills above.

The garden was originally designed by James Grant, one of the founders of the distillery, and has been restored beautifully in recent years.  The burn (stream) forms a thread down through themed areas, and though the summer flowers were long gone there was a surprising amount of colour to be found.

Golden-orange berries on this tree contrasted nicely with the lichens on the orchard trees surrounding it.

Nearby, a couple of trees we thought might be Skimmia japonica bore large bunches of intensely red berries which lit up the muted colours of a grey day.

Higher up the garden is a "dram pavilion" where one of Glen Grant's owners - James "The Major" Grant - indulged his guests with a dram from his private cask.

Under the conical thatched roof of the rustic pavilion is a candelabra made of stag's antlers - all very grand and Victorian!

Above the main garden, a series of timber bridges and stairways leads up a narrow gorge, the tiny hut on the left contains another of "The Major's" dram stowages in a locked safe, clearly a man who didn't expect his guests to walk too far without a dram!

Above the hut is a tumbling waterfall - it's a lovely spot to pause for a while; and we weren't the only ones to think so....

...above the burn two Roe deer watched us intently. 

Despite the gentle exercise around the garden the November chill was beginning to make itself felt. We walked back down through the garden, following the burn past where the water is drawn to supply the distillery and into the warmth of the coffee shop. 

We were asked would we like to take the tour, a warm and genuine offer even though we were the only customers at this early hour on a Sunday in November.  We thought that actually it would be good to follow the water from the burn right along its journey to becoming "Uisge Bheatha" (the water of life).

A Speyside "double" - the last drop

After descending from Meikle Conval to the bealach (col) separating the two hills, it's a short and straightforward climb to the summit of Little Conval. Near to the summit itself are the remains of a hillfort, the visible remains are tumbled walls and the hint of a trench.  The date of the fort is prehistoric, but uncertain beyond that; one thing won't have changed at all though - it would have been a windy spot!

The view to the west from the summit is into the heart of whisky country and right below the hill is Benrinnes distillery, one of many I could see from here.

The trig pillar on Little Conval is about 100 metres north and below the summit itself, a position which has a much wider view than the domed top of the hill.  There's a good view of Ben Aigan a few kilometres to the north, and I hoped to climb that hill later in the day......

...but first I had to get back down to my starting point in Dufftown.  the path I took skirts the top of the golf course and requires some picking through rough ground and a wood lower down, a better option would probably been to have gone back down to the bealach separating the Convals and to have taken the track following the pylons to the road.

But no matter, I was back in Dufftown for lunchtime and savouring the last drop of the view of Little Conval from the town.