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| Walk / Tour | 2.00 Miles |
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| | Walk / Tour | 2.00 Miles | 2 Hrs | | 1.00 mph |
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| no partners | | I'm not a whisky drinker. Indeed, I pretty much avoid hard liquor altogether, other than the very rare martini (5 parts gin, one part vermouth, two olives) or Bloody Mary (they suck on airplanes). I am a beer guy. But when in Rome, do what the Romans do, and when in Scotland, do what the Scots do.  So, a distillery tour it was.
Today's walking was up Buchanan Street, around the Galleries, to the bus station. Then back in the afternoon. The bus took us north up Maryhill Rd., past the towns of Milngavie and Strathblane, to just short of Killearn, where, at the foot of a mountain stream, lies the Glengoyne Distillery. All on one bus, no transfer. The distillery is a designated bus route stop, and has tours every hour, and we had at least a dozen people on our tour, so obviously Glengoyne gets a lot of tour traffic. It does not hurt that they are so close to Glasgow. Yet, it is in the Highlands. (The whisky is distilled in the Highlands, but aged in warehouse's across the road, which is actually in the Lowlands -- yeah, Glengoyne is right on the edge.)
After watching an introductory video, accompanied by a dram of 10-year old, we went on tour, the main event of which was the building where magic happens. (We did not go in the dry house, nor across the road to the warehouses.) Things I learned about Glengoyne, or whisky in general:
1) Glengoyne air dries their barley, instead of burning peat, so it is smoother, rather than smokey.
2) Being inland, Glengoyne's whisky does not absorb sea salt flavors. (As for instance a whisky from Islay would.)
3) By law, whisky must be at least 40% alcohol (80 proof).
4) Glengoyne ages their whisky in Sherry-aged Spanish oak casks.
5) Whisky is clear when it is casked: It is the cask which lends it color.
6) Glengoyne uses their casks no more than three times, as each usage leaches some of the sherry and oak flavors out of the cask. Older bottlings only use the cask once.
7) I forget which stage it is where they add yeast, but they do that in vats of American pine. The process generates *A LOT* of carbon dioxide. As a demo, David the Tour Guide had us take turns turning our head sideways, place it slightly into the opening of bubbling vat, then use a hand to scoop some of the "air" to our nose. I watched the other tourists jerk their head back, or stagger sideways, thinking "Oh come on ..." I went last. It nearly knocked me out. 
8 ) Glengoyne is a single malt, meaning it comes from only one distillery. Blended whiskys -- e.g. Johnnie Walker -- blend from several distilleries. Thus a single malt has more terroir. (My term.) However, a single malt distillery may still "marry" whisky from several of its casks so that different ages of bottlings will have consistent flavor over many years of bottlings.
9) Glengoyne is independent, not being owned by a drinks conglomerate such as Seagrams. (Personally, I consider this a very good thing.)
After the tour we had a tasting of the 12, 15, 18 and 21. Like I said, I am no expert, and I can't detect the different flavors, but I preferred the 12 and 21. I brought back a bottle of 21. 
Back in Glasgow for dinner, we walked down Buchanan St. looking for a place to eat on what was Scotland's Mothers' Day. Didn't find anything to our liking, but did bump across the busking drum & bagpipe band we had seen by the Galleries two days prior, on our way back from the sew shop. I had been so blown away, I had bought their CD, and considered it a steal at only £10. I also filmed a song, but unfortunately, that was on the 16 gig chip which got nicked, along with the camera it was in, on Saturday night. So, I was chuffed to see them while we were looking for dinner. Though we only stayed for one song -- https://www.youtube.com/embed/qN1g9J1TD2 ... autoplay=1 -- I still put £5 in their jar. (I used one of the songs from their CD as the soundtrack to my Stirling video.) Clanadonia is the name. After that we walked through the Argyle Arcade looking at £5,000+ Swiss watches. (Most expensive I recall was £28,000, which is over $46,000 at the current exchange rate. A bit out of my range, but I nonetheless reminded my wife that if she really loves me, she will get me the Hublot King Power Gold I have been lusting after for several years. She said maybe if we win the lottery. |
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| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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