Whisky Galore

A couple of our friends won a campervan for a week so they travelled up to Scotland and have spent the last few days on the Black Isle.
Today we took them to Dalmore Distillery,. It was founded in 1839 and produces a single malt scotch whisky. It has been in owner ship of the Mackenzie family since 1886.

Each bottle has a label of a twelve-pronged stags head based on when a member of Clan Mackenzie saved King Alexander iii of Scotland from a 'rampaging stag whilst out hunting. In reward the king allowed him to bear the royal emblem of a twelve pointed stag in his coat of arms.' A painting of the event by Benjamin West 'The death of stag' can be seen The National Gallery in Edinburgh.Quite impressive

We also learnt that the reason some distilleries are coloured black is because of a mould, Whisky black, that grows on the walls feeding from the 'angels share', the vapours that escape from the wooden barrels enclosed within as the spirit matures.

One bottle of whisky,a 62 year old, sold for £32, 000. This was enjoyed over one night !

This picture shows the different colours the whisky goes through as it matures. Quite a difference from start to finish as the liquid takes on the colour and taste from the barrels it is contained in.

There was no production at the moment as they have time off to allow enough water in the River Averon to allow the salmon to spawn. This did mean we had a free tour, we could take photos and we could hear without the noise of the distillery.

As we walked out I spotted a family of swallows on one of the vents. They looked very happy :)

We finished the day with a lovely meal in the Kinkell country hotel and then watched the footie ,7-1 quite unexpected, well done Germany !