Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 3 - 7 May 2012

In the first week in May, 2012 thousands of whisky lovers from across the globe gravitated to Speyside ~ the epicentre and spiritual home of Scottish malt whisky production. They were travelling from far and wide to attend the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival. Many visitors arrived from within the UK, including locals but others came from as far afield as Canada, the USA, Japan and Australia ~ with the largest majority making the journey from northern Europe/Scandinavian countries, particularly Sweden, Netherlands and Germany. All travelled to Speyside fuelled by their passion for whisky and an unquenchable thirst for greater knowledge and insight into the heritage and culture of Scottish malt whisky. 

From early in the morning of the first day (this year Thursday, 3rd May) the Festival programme is jam-packed with events to entertain and further educate this already very enlightened audience. Even before the ‘main event’, in the three days leading up to the Festival there is, based at Knockando distillery, a Whisky School ~ where up to 16 whisky buffs, keen to learn about and appreciate further the finer points of whisky production, are taught and guided by a group of whisky gurus with many years of experience in the industry.

 Most of the people planning to attend the Speyside Festival will start to book their menu of events just as soon as the new calendar of events is published ~ normally in January each year. Many will be returning Festival visitors, having been before and coming back for more of the same or similar. That said all are looking for the unusual or unique experience.

The most popular Festival events include the exclusive tours of distilleries not normally open to the public and ‘ultimate' tours of some of the finest whisky distilleries in the world. A popular, fast-filling visit is that to the Mortlach distillery ~ not normally accessible to visitors Mortlach opens its doors for just two days during the Festival and links its tours to the Grouse Inn ~ famous in this case for its outstanding collection of malts available to customers. This year distilleries offering exclusive tastings included Strathisla, Keith and Benromach, Forres.

Whisky and food pairing workshops are also popular. The Balvenie facilitated ‘Whisky & Deserts’ sessions whilst ‘Plough to the Plate’ took participants to view first hand, local agriculture incl. farm-visit, then to retail outlets and on to sample the culinary delights of Speyside in the form of a delicious dinner.

The 2012 ‘Mystery Bus Tour of Speyside’ entailed a journey upstream on the Spey, with a worthwhile stop off at Tamnavoulin distillery and then on to one of our smaller local, very picturesque distilleries ~ ‘Speyside’. Here, tucked away in a secret neuk on the banks of the River Tromie, across the Spey from Kingussie Festival visitors were treated to a very exclusive whisky tasting experience led by the distillery manager Andrew Shand ~ a young man ‘steeped in whisky’. Andrew was born in Elgin, his father having been manager at Longmorn and mother a guide for 20 years at Glenfiddich!

Travelling into Speyside visitors are welcomed to the Festival by large Marrying Tuns placed by the roadside in strategic positions. During the Festival these tuns serve as excellent welcome signs but normally these huge barrels are used by Malt-masters to ‘blend’ together malts of their choice.

My first event experience of the 2012 Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival was the well organised, fun ‘Whisky Awards 2012’. Those taking part were confronted by 6 anonymous expressions, representing three different age categories. ‘The judges’ (folk like me) were invited to nominate the ‘better’ of the two in each of the categories based upon the nose and taste. I enjoyed very much sharing the competition tasting with @themisswhisky @travelingsavage & #HeinfriedTacke.

The sumptuous Opening Dinner was a truly grand occasion. This banquet for 350 guests was served in The Macallan ‘filling hall’ ~ were normally oak casks are being filled with distilled spirit about to start its process of maturation. The scene was awesome within the filling hall~ over 30 tables immaculately presented ~ pure white tablecloths, topped by polished glasses, shining silverware and huge table-top candelabrum. Also on the table, shining gold in the candlelight were at each place setting 3 whiskies in nosing glasses to compliment each of the dinner courses ~ Tomintoul 12 Y/O for starter; The Glenlivet 12 for main and for desert/cheese an amazing Macallan from 1946 ~ produced immediately following the end of the war, when coal was hugely expensive, the kiln-drying for this particular Macallan had been completed using peat. There were hints of sherry, vanilla and ginger but distinctly smoky ~ almost that of Finnan (smoked) haddock. (I did hear mention of a £5000 per bottle price-tag for the 1946 Macallan!?)

The dinner was superb. All food locally sourced was cooked to perfection and beautifully presented ~ with hot dishes still hot when served ~ a true testimony to the expertise of the staff, especially the chefs. The partnership was outstanding between the caterers ~ Mansfield Hotel, Elgin and The Macallan distillery providers of such a wonderful venue for this grand whisky banquet. Following a wonderful dinner comprising delicious food, wines and whiskies, the icing on the cake was in the arrival on stage of the talented Scottish singer Eddi Reader. Described by many as having ‘the voice of angel’ Eddi entertained the dinner guests with her mix of traditional ballads; upbeat numbers and Glasgow humour, based upon life-experiences.

The following evening (Friday) Glenfiddich played host to the Celtic Spirit Ceilidh. Music for that evening was first provided by local young musical talent ~ ‘Cherry Grove’ ~ a five-piece band, who thoroughly entertained those present with a miscellany of mainly their own compositions. Much more than a ‘warm-up’ group Cherry Grove were then followed on stage by the well known band ‘Skerryvore’ ~ who had the place rocking for the remainder of the evening with their very entertaining musical mix, including traditional Scottish tunes and songs. Many thanks to those who helped make this such a special evening ~ Jamie @glenfiddichjm; Darren @thewhiskyguy; Roddy @rodbodtoo and of course Alwynne @themisswhisky.

 

 

Throughout the daytime during the Whisky Festival visitors disappear off to various corners of Strathspey ~ either as individuals /couples but very often in groups to take part in their chosen activity/ies. Whatever Festival visitors are doing however there is a great sense of friendship and camaraderie between all taking part. Also, the international feel of the Festival is outstanding. At the Opening Dinner I had the pleasure of sharing a table with lovely couples from Montrose, Scotland and from Norway ~ both on their first (but not last!) visit to the Festival. A German couple and Swedish couple had been twice before and now look upon the Festival as an ‘annual event’. 

On the day I took the train journey from Dufftown to Keith to visit Strathisla distillery, I travelled with groups from Germany and Netherlands. Already organisers of the Noord-Nederland Whisky Festival I met on that train journey are talking about joining me on a Spey Canoe Journey during the 2013 Speyside Festival! 

Many congratulations to the organisers of the 2012 Speyside Whisky Festival. Everyone I spoke with at this year’s Festival, from home and abroad, had a wonderful time. Now in its 13^th year and growing in stature every year, this Speyside gathering of whisky enthusiasts has become one of the most important whisky festivals in the world. Home to more than half of Scotland’s whisky distilleries ~ where better than beautiful Speyside for whisky enthusiasts to congregate to celebrate and share with likeminded people their passion for world-renowned Scottish produced whisky ~ especially our high acclaimed Speyside malts. 

Whisky Writers' Spey Journey - Final Part

Following a quick stop at Craigellachie Hotel for a change of damp footwear, our select little band were whisked off, compliments of Wm. Grant & Sons for lunch, at the lovely Malt Barn Restaurant within the picturesque, immaculate Glenfiddich Distillery site. Wonderful menu choices include delicious Cullen Skink and open sandwiches generously laden with tasty smoked salmon or juicy slices of steak.

After lunch Dr Dram (Andrew) acting as our chauffeur took us towards Glenfiddich’s neighbouring, pretty, quieter little sister ~ The Balvenie. Now in his absolute element, starting on the malting floors, Andrew captivates the writers with his enthusiasm and in-depth knowledge of whisky production, especially The Balvenie and its ‘5 Rare Crafts’ ~ i) its home farm still producing some of the barley used in production ii) only mainland distillery still regularly operating floor malting; iii) own in-house coppersmith (Dennis ~ over 40 years service); iv) own in-house cooperage; v) longest serving malt-master, the hugely respected David Stewart. Balvenie distillery is indeed a very unique place producing excellent, truly handcrafted malt whiskies.

After our fascinating insight into production of fine malts, culminating in a visit to the wonderfully mystical Warehouse 24  filled with some of the oldest Balvenie treasures, we returned to the comforts of Craigellachie Hotel where we were served a very nice dinner. After our meal we retired to the marvellous whisky-bar where bottles of whiskies lining shelves have replaced any need for wallpaper redecoration. In this world famous inner-sanctum of malt-whisky varieties one can savour whiskies from many years, from across the globe but with few matching true ‘Scotch’ and especially the many superb Speyside malts.

After a hearty Craigellachie Hotel breakfast our little band returned to the beach beneath the beautiful Telford Bridge and headed off downstream towards the Moray Firth. With many of the consistently most productive fishing locations on this section we find ourselves ‘zigzagging’ between anglers looking to land the silver-coated, iconic but at times illusive Atlantic salmon, intent in heading upstream in this its home river to procreate. We are almost at Spey Bay before, as protocol demands we are required to sit upstream, waiting for our fellow river user to bring ashore his hooked salmon. Once landed he weighs his catch ~ around 6lbs and as is now standard practice in preserving fish-stocks returns this hen fish to the water ~ undoubtedly with a wounded mouth but alive.

Before reaching this point, however, we pass the village of Rothes ~ a small village but with 4 operational distilleries, another huge plant converting draff and pot-ale into cattle feed and also a large engineering works producing small components for distilleries but now mainly for the off-shore oil industry.

We are now into estates with pools that have over the years delivered some of the Spey’s mammoths. Just a few years ago the fishing rights (only) on the Rothes and Aitkenways estate sold for around 6 million pounds. Once rounding the corner by the elevated site of the ruined Aitkenways castle, we are now into Delfur Estate and into a lovely pool called Sourden. From here one gains a stunning open view towards Ben Aigan, this highest hill in this area. In the shadow of Ben Aigan, are the Delfur pools, Holly Bush and Two Stones, famous for their ‘track record’ over the years for providing big fish e.g. monsters @ 48lbs! At a picturesque location named Otter Hole we stop for our picnic lunch and our first taste of the Scottish Malt Whisky Society bottle containing another  fine malt ~ most appropriately named ‘Capering on a riverbank’!

As we approach the parallel road and rail bridges at Boat o’ Brig (‘boat’ indicates a ferry was operated here) high on the hill river right we can just see the chimney of Auchroisk ~ another in the Diageo stable. Once into Braewater Estate, part of Crown Estates the group are enthralled by the Redheughs ~ cliffs rising to 30 or 40 feet from the river. Comprising glacial deposit affected by ferrous rock these cliffs are a stunning deep red colour. This is where the group witnessed their second osprey flopping its way upstream oblivious to our presence. Other birds spotted close to hand on this trip included ~ golden eye and mallard ducks; mergansers; goosanders; dippers; oyster-catchers; buzzards, etc.

On to Fochabers and the world-renowned Baxter’s’ food factory is clearly visible on its elevated site river left. The ever-changing shingle banks, strewn with the mighty skeletons of trees brought to the estuary in spate conditions requires paddlers to be alert and change course with minimal notice since his section is seldom the same twice.

Arriving at the Moray Firth, where the fresh meets the salt is normally an emotional experience for all who have paddled the majestic Spey here sharing her waters with the North Sea. Quite often the experience is made even more special by the sighting of seals or even dolphins, drawn to the area by the numbers of salmon who have come back to their home river after many months, indeed years at sea.

Our chariot awaited us in the Tugnet car-park and once all canoes and kit were loaded we headed back to Newtonmore. That evening and overnight our writers shared in a ~ at The Cross experience ~ a positively superb restaurant with rooms. We were all welcomed warmly by Katy and David Young, owners of The Cross. The dinner was absolutely superb with stunning presentation, excellent tastes and textures. The Cross has gained several prestigious awards for its extensive range of wines. 

The superb hospitality extended by The Cross was a very fitting way to end this great trip. Thanks to all who made this a truly excellent journey ~ Jude at The Beeches, The Craigellachie Hotel, The Cross in Kingussie, Wm Grant & Sons but in particular Andrew (Mr Balvenie) and the writers, Nicola, Fiona and Alwynne who shared their memorable Journey on this, Scotland’s most beautiful and ideal canoe-touring river. I look forward to sharing a future Spey Journey with you ......