DuckDrams

Oh Flower of Scotland
When will we see
Yer like again?

In the beginning of July I went on a short holiday in my favourite city that I called home for four years. The purpose of the visit was to attend Zoe’s graduation and meet some old friend (…and while there to enjoy a dram or two.)

When I had a some time for myself I made the obligatory visit to the two best shops in town, Cadenhead’s and Royal Mile Whiskies. (Pretty much any other shop in the central district is to be avoided as a tourist trap!) The classic whisky board at Cadenhead was carefully studied. These days the Authentic line of single casks is only sold at UK Cadenhead shops. I then had a great chat at RMW and got to do a side by side tasting of two exclusive Bruichladdich bottlings. The left one I’d have liked a bottle of, but at around €200 I took a pass in the end.

Later I visited my favourite whisky bar, The Abbey. A non-peated 18yo Caol Ila and a 22yo Cadenhead’s Tullibardine at very fair dram prices were the highlights of the night.

But the most memorable whisky-related experience of the trip was the distillery tour at Hollyrood. The distillery completed construction while I was living almost neighbour to it, but I hadn’t visited due to Covid. It was an intimate tour where much of the process is visible in one and the same room. The tasting regime consisted of a number of new makes with different barleys/yeast and the Embra whisky.

Later, I took the time to properly review a Bonnington in their whisky bar. The bar focuses on having a selection of drams from other newbie distilleries as well as creative whisky cocktails. My WOLS pal Dougal works in the bar but was on holiday during my visit.