Dufftown, SCOT

We had a very nice sleep in our Bed, and were looking forward to Breakfast as the second part of our stay.

Always curious, I had signed on for the “Scottish breakfast”, which included haggis, black pudding, and some more typical breakfast components. It was my first try at these Scottish classics, and I must say that I enjoyed them more than expected – especially the haggis. Christina took the more traditional “continental” route. Her heaping plate of fruits and cheeses, though formidable, was eventually dismantled. During breakfast we chatted with another family who are from Aberdeen, and who gave us some advice on how to tackle the next leg. They pointed out that the more popular road along the westerly side of Loch Ness was more popular because of Urquhart Castle, one of Scotland’s most famous, as well as the other touristy stops along the way. We had thought to take the road less travelled, and make our way north along the east coast of the Loch, but had not realized that this would mean we miss the castle.

It turns out Loch Ness looks a lot like Okanagan Lake. We drove along the lake shore, and stopped in for a quick peek at Urquhart, but were again deterred from entering due to the high tariff. We took our freebie pictures, along with all the other tightwads mixed in among the “real” tourists loading and unloading from their giant busses. It was neat to see a proper ruin, even if from a distance. Christina assures me that by the time we finish Europe I’ll be completely sick of castles and churches and ruins.

We got back on the road, but were forced to pull over for one more picture when we were confronted with indisputable, incontrovertible, and undeniable proof of the existence of the Loch Ness Monster. As fantastical as it may seem, we know what we saw. A short distance further along the road we stopped briefly at the Info Center, which had exhibits about Loch Ness, and the history and science of monsters in the loch, all of which confirmed our sighting. Or so I presume… we didn’t pay for that one either. Touristy stuff accomplished, we pressed on and didn’t stop driving until Inverness.

We had discussed stopping here for the night, but after a look around town decided that we might try our luck elsewhere. Inverness is a nice enough town, but I was put off somewhat by the “castle”, which I had been looking forward to, and which ended up being a glorified courthouse that didn’t look nearly “antique” enough for me. In its favor, you could walk around the castle grounds without paying any entry fee, but unfortunately the building itself is too clean and plain to be of much interest.

Having decided to move on we selected Dufftown as our stop. Dufftown sells itself as “the malt whisky capital of Scotland”, and lives up to this line quite well, with over ten distilleries within a couple of miles, including big names like Glenfiddich, Balvenie, Glenlivet, and Macallan.

We drove through the incessantly pretty countryside and into this sleepy town which is composed of a collection of pubs and B&Bs set around the town square, and hemmed in by residential buildings which start out as old stone “village” buildings then progress toward more modern constructions as one travels further from the square. We took a room at Morven B&B almost at the exact center of town. What sealed the deal was the aroma which greeted our entry. Our hostess, Glo, was finishing up a fresh batch of strawberry jam. By chance, her husband and partner, René, was helping to run a whisky “nosing & tasting” later that very evening. We committed to this, then headed out to have a look at the Glenfiddich distillery, both because it was closest to town and because the tour is free.

The tour concluded with a tasting of three of their products, after which we took the scenic route home, through the fields behind the distillery. These fields contained two things. First was Balvenie Castle, which was closed, so we didn’t get to go inside, but it was pretty neat to see from the trail anyway. The second thing was fields of highland cows. Christina had seen these shaggy beasts in a few postcards along the way, and had remarked on how cute the little calves are, so it was a major highlight of the day to see a very friendly little one for her to play with.

We had dinner at Taste of Speyside, a restaurant just a few doors from our lodgings. It was a little more expensive that I would have liked, but was probably one of the tastiest meals here in Scotland. Christina had a dish of hen in coconut milk with dried apricots, I had a venison stew, and we had an enormous platter of vegetables to share between us.

After dinner we had a short rest before heading to the “nosing & tasting”. We very nearly didn’t get seats, and would have headed over earlier if we had known how popular an affair this was. The experts and samples were provided by a small distillery called Tomintoul, and they walked us through a selection of six products, mixing the tastings with a description of the distillation process, very similar to what we had heard earlier at Glenfiddich. It was a fun evening, and everyone got enough scotch to justify the 8£ entry. Afterword the real party started, back at our B&B. René and a friend of his who was also helping with the “nosing & tasting”, as well as an American guest were all sharing around various beers and whiskys that they had on hand, and we drank and talked about scotch and Scotland until past midnight.