The soft steady patter of rain greets me as I pack the car in preparation for my drive through the Speyside countryside to Inverness.
The road out of Aberdeen winds it’s way through fields filled with sheep and cattle, stone fences are common and trees line the road, in some places forming long tunnels as the foliage come together. Winding my way up into the mountains I am greeted by wind farms full of windmills there blades appearing and disappearing into the mist, descending into the valleys find fast flowing rivers topping there banks with icy water.
It is not long before the signs that I am on the whiskey trail appear with distilleries appearing at regular intervals, every town now seems to have a distillery. Being Sunday many are closed, damn it, but I do manage to fine some that are bucking this trend.
Heading into the town of Dufftown, and wondering if the creators of the Simpsons have ever been here, I find the Glenfiddich Distillery beckoning me to visit. The tour is fantastic, consisting of a film followed by a guided tour of the facilities, this all concludes with a sampling of there 3 main whiskeys the 12, 15 and 18 year old. Since I am driving 3 drams will put me over the limit here, which I find out is .035, so I regrettable can only taste the 12 and 15 but savour the 18 year old, which is a lovely dram.
Next it is on the Glenfarclas Distillery which I was hoping to tour but it is closed on Sunday, so it is back on the road again winding my may through more fields and pine plantations. Just out of Inverness I find a lovely constructed train bridge, the mountains here have now lost there trees and there sides are covered by mores whose water form waterfalls that spill down the steep sides of the road cuttings.
Arriving at Inverness it takes a bit of a find to arrive at my hotel, this is forgotten quickly when I see that I have a river view which is very picturesque, the rain of today is predicted to stay tomorrow so i good night sleep should be had.
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