14 September 2009--We have a 10:00 appointment this morning to tour the
Glenglassaugh Distillery, just outside the old Moray herring port of Portsoy. Arrive to find a work in progress--the plant
was closed for more than twenty years before new owners took over last year. Our host is the manager, Graham Eunson. He takes
us places his insurance company probably wouldn't like to hear about--some parts of the place are seriously dilapidated. The
important bits are up and running, though, and after a very thorough look around, we are privileged to taste new make ("The Spirit
That Dares Not Speak Its Name"), along with some of the precious remaining old stock. There are only a few hundred barrels remaining,
from which a 21-year-old and a 30-year-old bottling have been released. Eunson, an Orkneyman, tells us about his own history in the
industry, and we get a few good Orkney stories out of him, as well. I ask him if he ever played in
the Ba' [Orkneyjar], and he tells us about the time
his father nearly died in the crush. I don't know whether our conversation has made him nostalgic for his homeland, but it definitely
has me hankering for a return to Orkney.
After, we wander around the pretty old harbor of
Portsoy [US], and stick our noses into the Shore Inn. The comfortable atmosphere of the old pub and the prospect of a proper pint
convince us to stay for lunch.
We get back to our home neighborhood in time to make a side trip to Aberlour, where we each fill bottles from a cask in
the tour tasting room. I also grab several bottles from the Chivas Brothers Cask-Strength Edition line--Glenlivet, Glenburgie,
Scapa. Back in Craigellachie, we have time to take a stroll down on the banks of the Spey, in the shadow of Thomas Telford's bridge.
Dinner and pints in the Highlander, of course.
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