Paul Mclean to the LEFT!

Paul had an away day (overnight) trip to Ed-Dram-Burgh,

Saturday 29 & Sunday 30 December 2012. 

Here is his report; I took the train from Perth to Edramburgh, och it was full of screamin kids, an hour of purgatory later, we arrived at Waverly, whereby I set oot for some breakfast – it was still early! A favourite place of mine is Whiski on High Street (Royal Mile), apart from being a good bar, they have lots of whisky and great food. I settled down with an Irn Bru and ordered an Eggs Benedict, it was on my plate nae more than 5 minutes, grand stuff! Followed by a Dalmore – medical reasons you understand. After a wee bit of shopping, well I need get something for Liz, I headed up to the whisky experience near the castle (www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk).

They were really busy, I mentioned what I was after and immediately was sent to level 3 to the whisky fair, even at 1pm it was busy. I wandered in, many excellent bottlings to sample, so I did. Dondered over to Ben Nevis (www.bennevisdistillery.com), old pals o mine, whereby a dram was placed in front of me. Ben Nevis Distillery is one of the oldest licensed distilleries in Scotland, nestled at the foot of Britain’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis, 4’406 feet above sea level. This imposing mountain provides an impressive background to a traditional Scottish craft. I enjoyed the craft with a 10 year old single malt, introduced to the market back in 1996 using whisky produced in 1986, the last year that Long John International produced whisky at Ben Nevis distillery. They were awarded a grand gold medal by Monde Selection in 1999 and again in 2000. It also won a gold medal in 2001 and a trophy for three consecutive years of being awarded gold and grand gold medals. Quickly followed by McDonald’s Traditional Ben Nevis Highland Single Malt Whisky, Distillery Bottling. A special edition whisky from Ben Nevis in celebration of their 185th year. It is an attempt at recreating the McDonald’s Traditional Ben Nevis which was a popular dram in the 1880s. The Clan MacDonald are no far from we Maclean’s, it was superb!

After promising to go back (which I did) Dewar’s followed (www.dewars.com), it was calling me, well, Big Ross and George were! After “hello’s” – hadnee seen the lads for ages – I settled into a dram or three; DEWAR’S Signature – a superb blend, as usual, I enjoyed it more being a sample (free). “Anything new for me?” I enquired; as it happened, aye, Bits of Strange, 16 year old, man! What a smooth dram that is – dinnae believe me? see the photo. After more chat and more samples, I bade them farewell (for now), heading over to Inver House (www.inverhouse.com). I started with the Balblair 1975; fantastic dram, iconic bottle shape with a liquid inside to charm a snake handler! Spicy, raisins, sherry, honey and green apple, a long smooth finish that stayed with me ages! So much so, I had to get over to the cheese table to cleanse my mush. There was a line waiting to be served, myself included. Then, my eyes flew wide open, closely followed by my mouth, other people around me the same, what could this be? Some big troll of a woman was after cheese … “cheeeze” she slobbered as she pushed through, dear me, she had a face like a vandalised Scotch egg and a slash of a mouth, red eyes and the size of an Ork (is that right spelling? Lord of the Rings). I tell you, people (myself included) got out of the way fast! Cheese can do later I told myself. Jeeze, that could scare dogs!

Back to the whisky – quick. Tried another favourite; Glenfarclas 40 year old (www.glenfarclas.co.uk). But hey, hold on a smidge here, it was one of the smallest measures I had ever seen! My neighbour standing next to me said the same, come on guys, superb whiskies but dram sizes? If that was what they were doin, I was away. So went for a good smack of a dram to Tomatin (www.tomatin.com), where a 40 year old had my name on it. Had this before, no disappointed again either, great stuff. I was slowing down by now, peeping through people to find the troll, scary, she was nowhere to be seen so I dondered to the cheese again. “What the hell was that?” I asked, the poor lass and big fella there were still in shock, a nice bit of applewood cheese cleansed my pallet before heading back into the fray. I ventured into a Drambuie (www.drambuie.com ). After the Battle of Culloden, 1746, Prince Charles Edward Stuart fled to the island of Skye. There, he was given sanctuary by Captain John MacKinnon of Clan MacKinnon. According to family legend, after staying with the captain, the prince rewarded him with this prized drink recipe. This version of events is disputed by historians who believe it to be a story concocted to boost sales of the drink.The legend holds that the recipe was then given in the late 19th century by Clan MacKinnon to James Ross. Ross died young, and to pay for their children’s education, his widow was obliged to sell the recipe, by coincidence to a different MacKinnon family, in the early 20th century. The latter MacKinnon family has been producing the drink since. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Drambuie being bottled in Edinburgh, the makers launched a new style of bottle and embarked on a television and print advertising campaign. I had for bypass Diageo as I ran out of time (and the will to live after the troll from hell). I said farewell’s to pals and headed into the sanctuary of the bar, had a quick Ben Riach 25 year old to settle me nerves, before heading out into the glorious summer warmth and sunshine of Edinburgh (I wish). I stumbled into the Bow Bar, great selection of real ales and even better whisky selection, I ordered a triple wood Balvenie and a haggis pie (dinnae tell Liz), ate up and chatted to a couple of Australian’s here for the whisky (sitting next to me), a good long chat, gave a few helpful (I hope) tips and moved on, a wee bit more shopping, before taking a taxi to my hotel.

Kirsty welcomed me in again and I was shown to my den. Quick shower, change and brush up, before heading out to the Dome – my favourite Edinburgh haunt. A whisky/champagne cocktail and I was happy, the place was looking fantastic, it was heaving full, I squeezed up at the bar to a few lassies waiting to be served, “might I be cheecky and ask you to include my next drink with your order?” sure enough, nae bother, the blond girl even paid for it! Great I thought, until it was my turn to get a drink, there were four of them, one of me! Oh well, stumbled back to my hotel over the road and dropped on the bed. I did have a nice bottle of Merlot to keep me company, so dropped me clothes (as you do) fell on the bed and looked at Match of the day (football) on telly. It was then the nightmare started again!!!

Outside the window a frighteningly haggard face was looking at me, I was terrified – the troll! And I was 7 floors up! As I panicked and tried to get under the bed, no mean feat for a stodger like myself, the face went higher, it was a bloody halloween balloon!!! Breathing heavy (nae, dinnae go there!) I carried on with a glass of wine watching the footy, eventually falling into a heavy daze and waking up 8 ish on Sunday, thinking about breakfast.

I arrived home to Perth, settled down, checking every room for the troll, before sittin doon with a glass of wine. An eventful couple of days, but they always are eh? Was it worth it? Aye. Dram of the fair? It has to be the Dewar’s Bits of Strange, I will be chatting to Ross again about this one, it’s only available at the distillery, thankfully that’s 40 minutes away, even better, Ross lives in Perth! Until my next outing, slainte!

Paul is owner of www.mcleanscotland.com and www.angelswhiskyclub.com along with Liz, who is away in India, missing all the fun.