Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The distillery looked like something out of a sci-fi film, with giant cauldrons (I think
that'sthetechnicalname)offermenting'stuff'.Theodoursthatemanatedaroundtheroom
were completely overpowering, but not unpleasant.
At one point, Sandra opened the hatch on top of one of the cauldrons and we were told
to put our head inside and take a proper sniff. Ben went first and put his entire head in and
inhaled deeply. He gave a loud cough into the cauldron and emerged gasping for air with
his eyes streaming.
'Oh my god. I wasn't expecting that,' he spluttered.
'It certainly clears your sinuses, doesn't it?' said Sandra. 'Who's next? There's no need
to put your head in as far as Ben did.'
I was next up, and, after copying Ben, my eyes were streaming and I was coughing and
spluttering too. It was how I imagine snorting a line of wasabi would feel. The rest of the
group decided against having a go.
This particular batch of Glenmorangie single malt is best avoided. It contains traces of
our spit.
The highlight of the tour was a visit to the cellars, in which thousands of barrels are
stacked up until they are ready to be bottled. Every single element of the process is con-
sidered an influencing factor on the product, such as the natural spring water that is used
fromthenearbyspring,tothetypeandageofthewoodenbarrels,totheseaairandthetem-
perature. I felt guilty that I had entertained the thought of ruining all of this with a splash
of Coke.
'Ok, now you can all come and take part in a tasting of some of our whiskies,' said
Sandra at the end of the tour.
'Thanks, but we already did one before this tour,' I whispered to her.
'Lucky you. You might as well come and do another one.'
We duly obliged. It would have been rude not to. Besides, we had both become fascin-
ated by studying the different people in the group. They were a very strange bunch. One
particular bloke took notes on a little notepad the entire way round, and then asked Sandra
veryspecificquestionsattheend,referringbackinhisnotebooktohowGlenmorangiewas
different to the other distilleries he had been to. His wife could not have looked more de-
pressed the entire time.
WegottalkingtoBruceandAnne-acouplefromVermont,USA.Theytoowerewhisky
enthusiasts, but not as hardcore as the freaky notepad guy.
'I've been to Vermont,' I said, to try and impress them.
'Really? Where did you go?' said Bruce.
'Errr, the Ben & Jerry's factory,' I said.
'Yeah, Ben and Jerry's is about the only thing that brings people to Vermont.'
Search WWH ::




Custom Search