Thursday... whiskey trail!

Mary and I did not get up and walk. I am Dad's alarm clock while Mary snores. I knocked on his door and hear some expletive, and then I went back to bed for another 30 minutes. It was very cold! Mary said there was ice on our window.
Grantown-on-Spey is in the Grampian Mountains. The Spey river is a salmon fishing mecca as well as being near skiing and other outdoor activities. Forbes, my father's cousin, was an avid fisherman. He once told me that he loved the peace and quiet and the connection with nature as he was standing in the cold river currents.
It is a small village with a big hotel and many B&Bs. It is also near the whiskey trail.

Mike picked us up at 8:30 to go to the cooperage. With so many distilleries, there is a constant need for coopers to make the barrels. They are paid well... work hard and do amazing work.

It was a fascinating tour and my father enjoyed every thing he learned there. We then went to the gift shop and sampled some whiskey liqueur. Mary smiled and said, "I LIKE this!" We had to hussle and jump in the car to go to Glenlivet. Cousin Mary's father worked at Glenlivet in the 1930s, so we were able to get a private tour. Dad was thrilled when they greeted him as if he was a celebrity!
On the way we passed by other distilleries and beautiful houses and estates. Sheep are still dotting the landscape as are the highland cows.
At Glenlivet we met up with cousin Mary, Moyra, and Andrew. We got to taste 3 or 4 samples and get a quick tour (because Dad and cousin Mary can't walk well). My sister, Mary, still makes faces when tasting whiskey, but she definitely prefers the Speyside malts.
We walked around a bit, and then tried MORE. Our great guide gave us a sample of the good stuff. At this point, we had almost had enough for our morning.
Now off to a big lunch... too much each eating... where we were the only patrons. It was a bit stuffy, but at the end we sat in their single malt room in comfy chairs looking at over 600 single malts. Yikes. I had to have one!
I did. Didn't look at the price until later (18 pounds for a dram of the one I chose.) My cousin/husband told me he couldn't afford me. I told him that he was lucky that I have a generous dad. Moyra told me that if I was married to Andrew then she would be an honorary daughter and next time she got to take a trip with my dad. Okay with me!
Dad was still enjoying himself.
Now we had to rush off to the Abelour tour. This was by far one of the best. (and most expensive). The guide was witty (from Canada) and informative and just fun. Did you know there is a fungus that grows just where there are high concentrations of alcohol. It is called the whiskey fungus. SO if you drive around whiskey country and see black spots on the buildings and plants that is the reason. Well... I found it interesting.
I was impressed with my father. It was a 2 hour tour and included a lot of stairs. He managed it with some grunts and groans. He was funny, at one point, he just sat down next to the computer guy (almost all of the whiskey making process is regulated by the computer). Dad is very friendly and the computer guy was loving the attention. Computer guys showed dad how it all worked.
The floor upstairs was metal and not solid. You could see through it to the floor below. I was not scared, but my body reacted as if I was going to fall and I felt dizzy. The guide asked if I was okay. It embarrassed me. But I couldn't walk well. I couldn't decide whether I should share the chair with Dad... hold on to Mary... hold on to Andrew or hold on to one of the Dutch guys on the tour. One of them looked soo much like Hans that I almost hung on to him, but I grabbed Andrew instead. He thought I was just being an affectionate spouse, but I really couldn't walk on my own until we got on solid ground.

The guide was really funny. At one point he asked a question and Dad gave a sarcastic funny answer and the guide started laughing. He said to me later, "what your dad said was really funny.. I can't forget that... I will use it in my next tour." My Dad can be very funny when he wants, but you have to be able to understand that he is joking. He sometimes scares waitresses and taxi drivers.
FINALLY we are at the tasting room.... 6 glasses are arranged on tables and we tasted. The funniest thing was one of the Dutch guys wasn't drinking because he was driving... BUT he brought little bottles to put his samples in for later.
Okay, the other funny thing was that the first taste was pure alcohol.. clear like water. Chris the host, said this is the water of pure whiskey. Mary heard water and was thirsty and gulped it. She nearly fell off her chair. Her face was red and contorted. She recovered though and was able to taste the rest.
On the way out, Dad had to use the toilet (we say men's room and restroom, but they always say Toilet). As I mentioned, he loved the handicap bathrooms. But today we learned that the problem with them is that there is no where to hang his coat. Don't ask.... I walked Dad to the the area where the toilets are. as Mary and Andrew walked on. Suddenly, I saw Mary laughing and she came over to me and said that Andrew said, "its been hours since I had a bloody fag". She didn't understand what it meant. We got quite a laugh out of it. Mary is still talking about it. She didn't know that fag is the word for cigarette.

Falling asleep!!!! More tomorrow.