Needless to say, all extremely positive and exactly what we wanted. The following is what they sent me to pass on, a mixture of comments from all four:
Firstly, I would like to thank you for a pleasurable experience, we all thoroughly enjoyed it – It was amazing.
Ron our driver and guide was very pleasant and professional throughout the tour. As soon as we landed, Ron made introductions to our party and got us underway with no fuss at all. He was very well presented at all times and the vehicle spotless. A thorough professional.
We got away from the airport and Ron passed us a box of 10 or so more bottles with fresh nosing glasses of various whiskies from around the world. It was early in the morning but never too early for a ‘wee dram’! We started off at The Speyside Cooperage which gave a full appreciation and instantly gave an understanding of how whisky is matured – a great introduction and clarified on the myths of making the liquid gold.
We finished off that afternoon with a great trip to Glen Moray. Previous to this, I had been a bit of a whisky snob and drunk only aged single malts. This totally changed my perspective on how temperature affects the dram and adding of fresh spring water changed the nosing and taste.
The next day of so was a blur! – and I think Ron was impressed with my drinking skills and starting before 0900…… The rest of the tour was fabulous. Visiting Glenlivet, Macallan (Troy’s still talking about this), lunch at Glenfiddich and Tomatin distillery was all very special. My preference was always West Coast Malts but have now been totally swayed to Speyside and the love of the Cairngorms mountains.
The whole trip has totally changed my perspective on whisky, the distilling process to drinking a dram – truly an unique art.
The hotel in Grantown was fantastic. A family run business who were always happy to help. Great rooms with great food and bar. The local town was a short walk away – not that you had to leave as everything we needed was provided.
Ron was more that helpful and would go out of his was to provide a service, we had a few random stops on the tour. A true gentleman and made our trip all the more remarkable. The highlight of the trip for me was visiting the first pub for lunch – The Highlander, an unique whisky collection.
Hopefully I will see Ron again for a shoot on the grouse and a cast on the salmon, or maybe a West Coast whisky tour to finish off on. A total pleasure.
As you can see from the comments above Liz, the tour was exactly what we wanted. Although they have all commented on the tour itself, I cannot finish without a personal thank you to yourself for making all the arrangements. I know none of this would have been possible without your hard work. I will most definitely be in touch when we get our next set of American visitors, perhaps a visit to the west coast or Ireland. The one think I can guarantee is that on the next one, I will be on it! Kind regards, Glyn