Whisky, Whisky everywhere and not a drop to drink...

This weekend was full of alcoholic excursions, which for a pregnant lady was not too fun. It was just like when I was back home last month and would go shopping in stores that only had summery and non-maternity clothes on the racks. It was almost painful to see all of the beautiful garments that 1) wouldn’t fit me, and 2) would never be weather appropriate in Scotland, even on it’s warmest day. No fun at all. 

So both touring a whisky distillery and going to a shareholder’s meeting for the local brewery this past weekend was a very similar experience for me. Still, Jon had a coworker in town from the States who brews his own beer. Getting an inside peek into the process at an authentic scotch Whisky distillery was a ‘must-do’ on his list, so I was happy to play designated driver. 

The closest distillery to Aberdeen is probably Fettercairn, which is just about 15 miles south of Dunnottar castle, so it was a no-brainer to include this on Friday’s itinerary. It’s kind of a hole in the wall as far as Scottish distilleries go, but I find this adds to its charm. 

We visited it as tourists when we visited my parents in September of 2009, and since then, it’s been sold to an Indian company and completely rebranded. 

Now

Then

Most of their spirits are currently being used for blending, until the new company can build up enough stock of its own recipe to start selling the traditional 10, 12, 18 (etc) year single malts. In the gift shop, they were offering a special 10 year ‘distillery exclusive’. They only made 250 bottles, and they are all hand signed by the ‘Master Distiller’ who hand picks only the best casks for these unique occasions (seriously, how do you get that job?).

Since I was unable to fully partake in the whisky sampling, Jonathan chose bottle number ‘22’ as a souvenir, since that’s my favorite number. 

We’d love to build a collection of these unique spirits, but that’d become quite complicated when it comes time to move away. None of the shipping companies will ship alcohol so everything we buy here has to be consumed here, unless we can fit it as part of the 2 allotted bottles we can carry in our suitcases. With all the whisky and Italian wine we’ve acquired, I have a feeling we’ll be having one doozy of a going away party. 

On Saturday, a local brewery, BrewDog, was having it’s annual shareholders meeting. Since our friends Nary and Gerald own stock in the company, they offered us a few of their guest tickets. Again, it was kind of depressing to be surrounded by craft beer and not be able to partake in the sampling. 

When we arrived, we sat down for the ‘informational’ part of the meeting where we learned way more than I ever needed to know about the brewing process. 

I felt a bit like I was back in one of my auditorium classes at LSU. After we were ‘dismissed’ we headed over to the bar and food area where my buddies got beer and I got a burger and fries. 

Nary wanted to meet one of the owners and ask him a few questions about future plans for the brewery, and I went along for the photo op. I guess he just assumed Nary and I went to school together, because he was flashing the Hook ‘Em horns sign in my picture. 

Thanks for inviting us Nary and Gerald! We had a great time and Jonathan told me that the beer was really good:).