Overview

Our tour of Edinburgh concluded after an overnight stay at Indigo hotel, (photo 1) Princess street, and late morning we went down the ramp (photo 2) and into the bar lounge (photo 3) in which we enjoyed a final drink and light refreshments, and being from a Scottish family, I think it right to let you know about Scotland’s favourite drink, a Scotch whisky. My father was born and bred in Wick, Caithness, Scotland, and just a few yards from his home, was the whisky distillery of Pultenay, where they produced a single malt whisky, Old Pultenay. I much prefer this whiskey, matured in American oak Bourbon barrels, and Spanish oak Sherry casks. Its taste has a hint of chocolate, citrus and peanuts, and when sipping, you can just make out toffee and lemon hints. My Grandmother however was a Dewar, from the whisky producing family of Dewars, who’s distillery lies in the Scottish highlands, south of Pitlochry, and just 75 miles north of Edinburgh. The distillery is at Aberfeldy, just some 3 miles away from where it’s first producer lived, John Dewar. Now they produce a blended whisky, that is a mix of various types of whisky, and sometimes grain spirits which have been distilled at other distilleries. They do have a single malt as well though. So we see what blended whiskies are, but just what is a single malt whisky ? It is still a blended whisky, from different barrels or casks. Each cask has its own taste, left in the barrel when first used, and it’s these tastes that helps to make one whisky taste different from another. So each distillery blends each barrel together to get the flavour they want, the barrel may have held a Sherry, bourbon, or other spirits. But I still want to know what a single malt whisky is ? Simply put, it must have been made by ONE DISTILLERY, such as Pultenay. Now this has surprised me, because I always thought it was a special blend of whisky of some type of cereal, magically produced and blended together. But no, it’s just made by ONE DISTILLERY. So what is a single malt whisky then ? It’s the grain they use to make the whisky. In a single malt whisky it is always BARLEY, to which water is added, which makes the Barley grain germinate. Then it’s spread out on a malting floor, and after a few days, say 6 or 7, after having been tossed about in the air, it’s now known as GREEN MALT. It’s then put into a kiln, with a heat below 70c, and now, some distilleries will add peat to the fire to give it flavour from the smoke. This drying allows them to grind the malt, or mix, into a grist (flour) and then water is added again, first at 67c, then hotter water is added, and finally the last hot water near to boiling point is added. To the distillery, the quality of the Scottish water used is so important, so careful eyes are kept on the streams and rivers. All this mix is now known as MASH, which is then stirred to convert the starches produced into sugar. So after the Mash is finished, the sugary liquid is called WORT. The left over grain will then be made into cattle feed. This WORT is now cooled and pumped into containers, and yeast is added to allow fermentation to begin, which will produce alcohol, and other compounds are added. Each distillery has its own carefully selected stills, and they will use these stills for many years. The still is now heated just below boiling point, and the alcohol vaporises and is condensed into a liquid. This colourless spirit, now 63% alcohol, is filled into the oak casks (or barrels) which held Sherry, bourbon or even scotch whisky, and it’s now, from these stained insides of the barrels that whisky gets it brown colours. By law the mix must be left in the barrel for at least 3 years, but most single malts are left for 8; 10, 12 and longer years, the longer the more expensive of course. Finally, it’s put into bottles, after which it no longer matures. Now we know why whisky costs us so much, so drink it carefully, appreciate each sip, and don’t gulp it down. Satisfied with our holiday in Scotland, we departed Indigo hotel (photo 4) and crossed Princess street ( photo 5) saying farewell to Edinburgh’s famous castle (photo 6) walked across, or in my case, pushed across, to take the lift (photo 7) down and over the glass roof top of Waverley station (photo 8) exiting on the concourse (photo 9) and walked to the mobility assistant stand (photo 10) and then taken onto our Avanti train (photo 11) and settled into our seats (photo 12 for the long journey home.

Transport & Parking

Parking in Edinburgh can be difficult as past experience showed us, so we traveled up by train, and arrived at Waverley station, which we found easy to get around, although involving some long pushes for my wife. To get around, we used the public buses, finding almost all of them will arrive or depart from some point along Princess street, and everyone on these buses were kind and helpful, and always managed to make use of the wheelchair section on each bus.

Access

At the station, on buses, and generally moving about we found it reasonably easy, a lot of our visits were on the level, but up above Princess street it can be very hilly, so that may be a problem for some of you. Mind you, we saw all we had planned to see.

Toilets

We had no need to use toilets so cannot advise you about public toilets.

Staff

We will say this, Scottish people seem to be naturally friendly, will people, and we received all the support we needed. Staff everywhere are just the same, so we offer high marks for our Scottish friends.

Photos