Scotland/England '22: Day 5

Ruins and Whisky

Scotland/England '22 Gallery

Duffus Castle

Ruins, ruins, ruins. Above is the Duffus Castle (Elgin) which first appeared 900 years ago. Rebuilt in stone around 700 years ago and then fell apart as the hill it was built up on started sagging. Like many similar ruins around the country, this is simply at the end of a road in some farming country. Just a small sign about the castle. It must be a great sight to see in a morning coffee from the small house just next door!

Cathedral in Elgin

The cathedral in Elgin must have been an impressive sight in it’s day. Sorry, I didn't do too much reading at the sight. Just simply taking it all in and shooting some photos and struggling with my old lenses on my newer camera (these are all phone photos)

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Speyside: Whisky, Whisky, Whisky

Staying in Rothes means simply walking 5 minutes to the GlenGrant distillery. After only 3 generations of the Grant family. The distillery has changed hands a few times from some larger companies. Currently owned by an Compari (Italian) and caters mostly to a European market (Italy, France) which makes sense since their whiskies are not sweet from the bourbon barrel casking.

Whisky Scoreboard:

• Glenfarclas 15 - thumbs up, kind of spicy

• Macallan 12 Triple Cask - so so

• Macallan 12 Double Cask - so so

• Macallan 12 Sherry Cask - not bad, I would buy it.

• Macallan Edition No. 2 - decent, alcohol forward, then kind of spicy

• Macallan Edition No. 4 - decent - grasslike quality, don’t ask me what that means.

• Macallan Edition No. 6 - ok, I’ve been drinking all day, it seemed ok now in hindsight

• Speyside Braden Orach - not bad, alcohol forward

• Singleton 12 - definitely drinkable

• Knockando 12 - not bad

• Glenrothes Whisky Makers Cut - after so many whiskies I’m not sure what to make of it. So different than the others, it is hard to be objective. Different for sure and I think decent. Might have to try again!

• Ledaig Sinclair - I like this one and it seemed to be perfect to go with a Smokey BBQ. It was Smokey for sure, but I like those kinds of whiskies.

• Caol Ila DE - Smokey but not a lot of body. There are better options for something similar. Still drinkable though.

• Singleton 12 (Dufftown) - ok, tasted better before trying the nest 2 on the list

• Singleton 15 (Glendullin) - the best of the 3 Singletons we tried here at the distillery.

• Singleton Celebratory (Glen Ord) - great nose, kind of spicy, only 3 thousand bottles made, would be nice around the holidays

• An Cnoc (Knockando Distillery) - Smokey and nice!

• GlenGrant 10 - Not special, but also not bad. I’ll drink it if you serve it to me.

• GlenGrant Arboralis - Light, perfect for summer Scoth drinking, if there is such a thing. Also really inexpensive for the bonus

• Dailuaine 16 - Nice but not awesome. Alcohol forward then the sweetness from the sherry casking

• BenRiach 12 Sherry - We have drive past BenRiach so many times this week it seemed necessary to try this one. I actually liked this better than the Dailuaine 16.