Drink the elixir

A warning to us all...

Last Thursday, myself and the Young Man ventured far afield (well, a few miles on the train) in search of the elusive elixir of life. But failing to find that, we settled instead for the Uisge Beatha, with a double distillery visit in Pitlochry. Famously home to leaping salmon, hydro-electricity, and approximately ten thousand woollen mills, the Perthshire town also houses two whisky manufacturers.

Edradour, Scotland's smallest distillery

First on the list was Edradour, home of the smallest copper stills in the country (any smaller and they'd be illegal apparently). A very pretty little place, it's also an absolute bargain for a day out - you get a long and detailed tour of the distillery for the grand total of zero pounds and zero pennies, with a complimentary dram thrown in for good measure.

Blair Athol

Blair Athol distillery is, despite the name, situated in the south of Pitlochry, and works on a larger scale than Edradour. Owned by that all-conquering force of the drinks market Diageo, the Blair Athol malt is one of the central ingredients in the Bells blend. As a large proportion of production goes towards this, the malt itself is still pretty much a hidden gem. It would have been churlish to return home empty handed, so I have a bottle to keep me company through the dreich January days.

Ooh look, a waterfall

Apparently some clever people can look at maps and figure out that the easy stroll through a woodland path will actually be verging on an uphill hike, but hey, a little exercise never killed anyone, did it? And that did make it all downhill on the way back, so it ain't all bad...

Pitlochry Theatre waterfront at night

The worst thing about Pitlochry in January is that the town is very much geared towards seasonal tourism. Which can make such things as finding something to do after 4pm and locating an open restaurant a bit more difficult. It was almost like a ghost town at times, so empty were the streets - presumably the locals were all tucked up at home waiting for the sun to come out again before venturing forth. They really should head outdoors though, it's a pretty little place...

Separated at birth: scary figure at Blair Athol and celebrated fiddler Aly Bain