Today is whiskey day, so I started with a full Scottish breakfast - egg, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, tomato, potatoes and black pudding. Our first distillery was Strathisla (owned by Chivas Regal). We got the full tour and learned/saw how whiskey is made, then got to sample a few. Next we stopped at Glenfiddich and Chardu, where we skipped the tour and just sampled. In between we had lunch in a pub [#21]. Finally we ended up at Benraich, the smallest distillery in Scotland. this time we took the tour and learned the rest about making whiskey. It doesn't look that complicated if you have the right machinery. The exception seems to be the ingredient selection (water, yeast and barley) and knowing when to uncask it and how to blend it (if you so choose). My expertise lies in the sampling.
Next we skirted Inverness and raced down along Loch Ness to see Urquhart Castle and then raced back through Inverness and north to Dornoch, where we spent the night in a castle. It was originally a bishop's palace in the 13th century and expanded to a true castle in the 15th century. Like all good castles, it has a long and speckled history and a ghost. And the bottom floor is a pub [#22] so it is my perfect castle.
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