Time for the second to last Europe Trip recap. I promise. We left off Friday night in Edinburgh.
Saturday morning we got up early so we could watch the the train station to make our way up to Pitlochry, Scotland.
When we were in London, we met up with some officials for work and one of them was from Glasgow, Scotland. I asked him about distilleries that we could take the train to that were worth it. He recommended
Edradour Distillery. He said it was the oldest and smallest distillery in Scotland and definitely worth it. Plus he said the views along the way were incredible. It was decided that that is where we would go. My co-worker wasn't a scotch person, but said he was willing to try it.
We took the train to Pitlochry which was about 2 hours. We saw so much greenery and beauty along the way. I can not stress enough how beautiful Scotland is.
Once we got into Pitlochry (around noon), we asked the information counter how far of a walk it was to Edradour. They said it was within walking distance, so we walked. The man who recommended the distillery to us told us to walk up the path that leads by a waterfall. It was about a 10 minute walk from the road and it was beautiful. He also said you can walk the street if you would like as well.
Well this "little walk" was more of a hike. Not a bad one, but we definitely sweated and earned our scotch. We may have taken a wrong turn once and got a bit lost on the way up. Once we got there, we freshened up a bit and paid for our tour.
I would recommend the tour. You get to learn about how scotch is made, taste two scotches and walk the beautiful grounds.
River next to the bar/tasting room
Our first stop was the mill where they roast the barley. This was also the area where we watched a movie on scotch and tasted two scotches.
Malt bar/mill
This shows the different casks they put their scotch in.
Edradour 10 year and Ballechin
We tasted two scotches. The first was the 10 year which is their signature scotch and one of their Ballechin's. The 10 year went down smoothly. For the Ballechin, I had a sip, but then added two drops of water (upon recommendation) since it was very smokey. It was good and grew on me, but I loved the 10 year more.
After the mill, we headed to the warehouse to see all of their scotch that was "resting". Some of the casks have really old scotch and would be amazing to try. They also house other companies scotches there.
I wouldn't mind trying this 25 year
One of the owners Ballechin Scotch
After the warehouse and a ton of questions, we headed to another room that houses the barley (to taste) and see the fermenting process.
Distilling process
Barley
Still
Working on the mash
Filtration and cooling
The liquid is then moved into another area that distills and also an area for the makings of beer. Yes they do make beer (small quantities) there. We were able to put our hand in the hole and scoop up (no you don't touch the liquid) and it smelled like bananas. Strong bananas.
We headed downstairs to see the mash and the collection area where the scotch comes out of. Think Moonshiners when the alcohol comes through the little tube to their mason jars and buckets. But on a much more professional level.
We went to one more area about bottling the scotch and then the tour was finished. I wanted to try two other scotches before making any purchases. Scotch is serious business at our house.
I tried their 12 year which was very similar to the 10 year, but slightly smoother. I also tried the Sauternes Cask Scotch which had hints of honey flavoring to it. I had a hard time deciding between the Sauternes and the 12 year. I almost got both, but ended up with the 12 year.
I also bought
Edradour fudge (caramel like fudge with scotch in it) and a polo for Rory. We got to keep our scotch glasses from the tour as well.
Once the tour and tastings were finished, we called a taxi since it was a long trek back to the train station. Since we took the taxi instead of walking, we made it back into Pitlochry with time to spare. We stopped at
Hettie's Tearoom for some scones and jam. Seriously so good!
We took the 2 hour train ride back to Edinburgh with all of our goodies and went back to the hotel. We relaxed for a bit and called our families before heading back to Bar Italia. We had every intention of going to a pizza place, but it was only take out, so we went back to Bar Italia for Italian brick oven pizza. Definitely worth it again.
Sunday, we got up super early for our 9 am flight. We had to leave our hotel at 6:30 am. The Edinburgh airport had a great lounge which we hung out in until our flight to Gibraltar through London.
Stay tuned for the last part of my Europe trip, Gibraltar.
I am linking up with
Jenn and
Jessi.
