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Clockwise from top left: Ancnoc whisky cocktails; the Quaich Bar at Craigellachie Hotel; the Malt Whisky Trail; and the Glenfiddich distillery
liasy Drinking Whisky have helped steer the image away from heather and bagpipes. losing the waffle and telling people to ‘stop worshipping‘ the whisky. while Glenfiddich recently pumped £1.5m into sprucing up its distillery and visitor centre area. transforming it into a user-friendly introduction to the drink. Unlike larger. soulless grain distilleries elsewhere in Scotland. the family-owned Glenfiddich business is a romantic operation: dusty warehouses and shiny copper stills give the site a cute. cottage industry feel. At the end of the
hands-on tour. rich with the reek of
yeast and the clatter of coopers' hammers. we go to the bar for a tasting session. Die-hard purist Ruairidh goes for a neat tipple in a cut crystal tumbler. while I try out a sweeter triple malt blend called
Monkey Shoulder. served with half a can of cola and a few chunks of
ice.
We pop into the cafe for a bowl of
tomato soup before heading for the Speyside Way. which cuts very conveniently past our hotel. Walking south towards I')ufftown.
we catch occasional wafts of
whisky on the wind. It’s not the smell of our breath — just a reminder of the 2% of alcohol
which evaporates from whisky barrels into the air. Whisky makers call it the Angel's Share.
Chuffed that I can now correctly identify brands of whisky on appearance and smell alone. I am ready to expand my whisky menu beyond ginger beer. The distillery has passed on recipes for whisky cocktails involving tequila. pear liqueur. honey and lemon juice.
WHISKY COCKTAILS
SCOTCH lN-FASHION
50ml malt whisky
1 tablespoon of runny honey 3 orange slices
Soda water (optional)
Ice cubes
Fill a rocks glass 34 full with ice and add honey and orange slices. Stir well before pouring in the whisky. add a dash of soda if you'd rather
drink it long. then stir and serve.
OLD FASHIONED 50ml malt whisky
Dash of Angostura Bitters 1 lump brown sugar
Slice of lemon
Orange peel, burnt
Pour the bitters onto the sugar cube. Using the back of a spoon. gently muddle the sugar cube with a splash of still water. Add some of the whisky and a couple of ice cubes and stir for two minutes. Pour in the rest of whisky and ice and keep stirring. Strain everythrng into an ice—tilled glass. garnish with a twist of lemon and a slice of burnt orange peel.
‘55.. H
Welcome to the
Malt Whisky Trail
which
will prove useful in convincing the doubters among my
friends. Who knows where my new- .
found knowledge will lead me'.’ I might even start ordering a nip at the bar.
Double rooms at the Craigellachie Hotel (www.craigellachie.com) from £135 per night. The Glenfiddich distillery (www.g|enfiddich.com, 01340 820 373) is open Mon-Fri, 9.30am-4.30 pm and tours are free. Connoisseurs Tours with a tutored nosing cost £20. The Spirit of Speyside whisky festival (www.spiritof speyside.com) runs from Thu 3-Mon 7 May.
Boldly going where no-one else really wants to . . . I This fortnight, Baggage is concerned about carbon emissions. The ongoing budget airlines versus environmental lobbyists fight got another shot of adrenaline this month after an Institute of Public Policy Research report recommended that aeroplanes ought to carry warning stickers along similar lines to those currently printed on cigarette packets (pictured). I Both this story and EasyJet‘s angry rebuttal claiming that budget airlines were unjustly being made into scapegoats for the carbon emission problem got buried under Ryanair’s latest headline-grabbing announcement. Return flights to the US for $12 by 2010? It's probably worth noting that that scandaloust cheap price doesn't include tax or in-flight meals or entertainment, never mind the new air-passenger duty. However. this announcement refocused the debate on the responsibilities of budget airlines to the environment. ‘If persuading people to ignore the lure of Italy and France was hard. with six cities in America now on offer for less than a wet weekend in Cornwall it will be a real struggle to encourage peeple to holiday at home,’ observed Hilary Osbourne on The Guardian's travelblog. I Meanwhile, amidst all the raised voices and shocked headlines, Eurostar quietly announced that it intends to reduce carbon emissions by 25% by 2012. The company has also unveiled plans to become the first carbon neutral rail company by November this year, investing in offsetting the emissions caused by every single passenger journey and promising customers that ‘it won’t cost a penny more’. Baggage would like to see the trains sporting a range of stickers of their own. How about one reading, ‘Travelling by rail is much better for the environment and your conscience. However, it can also increase levels of smugness by up to 50°/o.’ (Kirstin Innes)
26 Apr-~10 May 900.’ THE LIST 97