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Inverness and day Trips – eastward

Actually before heading to Inverness we stop in at Duff House in Banff (is part of the Explorer pass).

Mr Duff had well known architect, William Adam, design and start building the mansion in 1735. By 1741 interior it was incomplete inside and way over budget.
The wings were never added. Mr Duff never moved in. Long lawsuit which Duff lost to Architect, Adam.
Dining room. Mr. Duff’s son moved in with wife but not a happy couple – story goes she almost killed him.  The Duff family married into the royal family eventually and gifted mansion to towns of Banff and MacDuff in 1907.

Glen Moray WHISKEY Tour

In Elgin an hours drive west of Inverness we have a private tour with James.

Farm home turned tax man’s home at the entrance to the distillery after whiskey production was made legal in 1823

Workers were given whiskey at breaks but still stealing was a major problem.

Workers tied these copper tubes on their legs to fill on the sly
Once management got on to that they tried breast plate containers.
We are walked through the distillery process steps
Demonstration of evaporation in various barrels. The more evaporation the better the whiskey.

Political reality is having the organization look at alternatives to American oak barrels.

Traditionally American oak whisky barrels have been used (the American standard only allows for single use). Experimentation now with a variety of other barrels: wines even maple syrup.

Our official tasting, much of the sampling we put in take-away small bottles.

Great personalized tour.

Back in car we do a couple more pit stops:

Duffus Castle

Originally built with wood on a man-made mound.

This version is from the early 1300’s but did not age well due to weight of stone structures on the original man-made mound resulting in areas collapsing.

The Seaside Village of Hopeman

A popular beach spot
These little beach huts (daytime use only)are very coveted by the locals…one woman told us her mom was on the wait list for 25 years before there was one  available to buy !
You own the hut but it is on municipal land.
An the Hopeman folk take their clean beaches seriously
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kerry

Love slow travel, following paths less trodden where possible. Meeting locals. Sharing.

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