For Hemant Parulkar and all his Whisky Connoisseur friends!
After a short stay in Truro, we headed north towards Scotland. Land of Whisky, and a
pilgrimage for Hemant. A drink that has been his all time favourite from the time I have known him. Arriving in Edinburgh by train, we headed to the rental car company office where we had booked a car, which would be our mode of transport for the next 3 weeks. There was a long line of people and we had to wait for one and half hour to get to the counter. Once we presented our booking we were asked to see how much luggage we had. After seeing our bags , the staff tried to upsell us to a bigger car which we politely refused. We had booked a Fiat 500. Please do not laugh, it was ,we thought, the most practical car for Scotland. The rental car company did not have a Fiat 500 and they told us that they would give us a SmartCar. I was a bit taken aback. How would we fit our bags in this car! Not knowing that it was actually a 4 door SmartCar. With apprehension, we accepted it and went to the bus to be driven to the car lot to get the car. I waited by the luggage while Hemant went to get the car. He drove back with this beauty. We travelled approx 1600 kms in this vehicle. Our first stop was in a small village called Nethy Bridge in the Majestic Cairngorm National Park. The drive took us through a terrain that I had not experienced before. Big mountains with purple heather like a carpet spread on the earth. August seems to be the heather flowering season and can be seen from Lilac to purple.
DRAM
Whisky as everyone already knows is the national drink of Scotland and is proudly displayed in cabinets all over the world. “Dram” as I was explained is a measure of whisky poured to drink. In other parts of the world its called a “peg” or “shot” or “tot” and I am not sure why? Some in India called it a “Patiala Peg” ! What I found out was that a Dram is an immensely flexible unit of measure. I am sure Hemant’s friends out there will be happy hearing this. And you know who you guys are! The size of the Dram can be described as
wee over healthy to
stiff. Depending on the mood of the person pouring it might always end at the stiff end of the scale. As you can see, even when trying to define a “Dram” as thoroughly as possible, its flexibility in volume is hard to grasp. Much to Hemant’s delight that even the Scottish don’t really measure the whisky when they drink it! I even asked one of the staff as to the quantity of a Dram and they were confused as to what I was asking looking at me like I should know what a Dram is!
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The Famous Single Malt
Distillers in Scotland have perfected their distillation process. The basic ingredients spring water, barley are transformed into this precious spirit that is poured in oak casks that come from America and are tucked away in warehouses to mature. Whisky kind of goes into a long sleep in these cask’s …sometimes for decades. What we found out on this trip is that because the markets are now so competitive, the distillers now give fancy names to their whisky and blend several different stored casks, that is differently matured whisky, and market it so cleverly that it is difficult to tell the actual age of the drink. The whisky is blended by experts and they are familiar with their markets. They do not mark these bottles with a year. So only the Whisky that has a year noted on them are matured that long. Single Malts seems to be the most prized than any other Whisky.
The first Distillery visit was Glenlivet. One of Hemant’s favourite and was not far from Nethy bridge in Speyside. Speyside whisky trail is the most famous for its single malt whisky. The distillery tour and tasting is free at Glenlivet. Most other distilleries have an entrance charge or tasting charge. The process is fascinating, to see the Stills of liquid and to see the various stages of how the barley is converted into this golden liquid. We had decided not to see each and every distillery from the inside but to visit every location close to us. Like the vineyards of California, every distillery had its own gardens and charm. Of course, Hemant tasted every possible Whisky he could get his hands on. A true single malt connoisseur! Every step of the way remembering his friends from school and college, and thinking of how to convince his friends to visit Scotland on a trip together.
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Cooperage is also in the same area. Cooperage supplies all the oak cask’s to all the distilleries. They import the cask’s and distribute them. Did you know that a Cooper is a person who makes the oak casks?
Glenlivet or Gleann-Liobh-Aite in Gaelic means “Valley of the smooth flowing One”. Hemant agrees!
A visit was made to each one of the following in the few days in Scotland, Glenfiddich, Dahwhinney, Aberlour, Glen Moray, Ben Nevis, Cardhu, Knockando, Tomatin, Talisker and Oban. I may have missed a few names as I could not keep up with the number of distilleries around. Varied price range as well, some prices making the mind boggle.
Where they say never drink whisky without water and water without Whisky! I am not exaggerating when I say there is a Whisky there for everyone. So many to choose from!