Scotland Travel Blog June 08

"Happy Hour in Aberlour"

The observant will notice that we haven't made a diary entry for May. The reason for this was simply that we had such a busy month in May that we didn't manage to get out of the office to do anything other than visit 3 new B&Bs in the Loch Lomond area. All 3 B&B's were great and will soon be featuring in our guides as will a new scenic route that we discovered through the Fintry Hills.

This month we travelled quite a bit further because we had a special 80th birthday treat planned for Mike's Dad. Fortunately the touring that we do for Secret Scotland means that we are always finding great places for special occasions like birthdays, honeymoons, anniversaries etc. Mike's Dad is quite a connoisseur of Malt Whiskies so it didn't take long to settle on the idea of a special distillery tour, but which one!?

Several of the distilleries offer extended tasting sessions, but we wanted to find a place that would be within walking distance of one of our recommended B&Bs. Several places fell into that category, but from our previous tours we knew that the Aberlour Distillery offered a great choice of malts and a very entertaining tour guide called Dennis Hendry!

The tour lasts ~2 hours and, judging by the smile on the face of Mike and his Dad, it was a great success. However, any event where you get 6 malt whiskies for £10 would be a success in Mike's eyes.

Fortunately, our dinner and accommodation for the evening was in the Mash Tun, a bar/restaurant with bedrooms that is within a 5 minute walk (10 minute stagger) of the distillery! The Mash Tun is a quirky 100 yr old building with a semi circular shaped front wall. The bedrooms have been beautifully modernised with tasteful colour schemes, and some of the best beds that we have ever slept on. We don't hesitate to recommend this B&B!