Benromach Distillery

Dover - Shetland Day 33
Dufftown to Nairn

Distance cycled: today 66.5km, total 1,952.4km
Ascent: today 528m, total 13,089m

Highlight: more largely quiet roads in attractive, although hilly, Aberdeenshire and Moray countryside and dry conditions (despite threatening black clouds) made for an enjoyable day on the bike, with a nice early finish and a great meal in a local bistro recommended by my AirBnB host.

Lowlight: I've continued to run the Aboyne men's tennis teams during my long ride, with the help of modern Comms technology. It's kept me connected with the club whilst on the bike and I have generally enjoyed it. However a late withdrawal on the day of this week's matches meant a lot of chasing around, during rest breaks, to find a last minute replacement. This eventually proved fruitless and frustratingly we had to cancel and concede the B team fixture as a result.

What else? The Moray Firth has a micro-climate due to being in the lee of mountains to the west and south, which makes its notably dryer and sunnier than nearby areas. I recall some years ago abandoning a plan to walk the long-distance Lairig Ghru path from Coylumbridge to Braemar with my father. Pouring rain dissuaded us, but instead we had a very pleasant day in the sun at the costal town of Findhorn, peering at the dark clouds covering the moors and mountains south.

Photo: I couldn't leave Speyside, one of Scotland's great whisky areas without a picture of a distillery. This is Benromach, on the north side of Forres where I rejoined National Cycle Route 1 for the first time since leaving it behind at Montrose a week ago. This distillery has been opened and closed a few times but now finally seems to be prospering and can apparently be run by just one person! I have a bottle of 25 years old single malt from here, just waiting for the right moment to open it.