If you follow me on social media then you have noticed two things, one - I have cut down my social media game a lot; two - we recently went to Scotland.
I cut back on my social media feed because I decided that real life needed to be my focus, not a virtual one and quite honestly, I just wanted to have my privacy back (at least somewhat). Social media can be a positive place but it can also be a mind suck and we all have to find our balance.
Okay, okay I know I need to talk more and stop daydreaming but, hey it happens! Things I learned about myself on this trip really surprised me. I normally am not an inner-city person but Edinburgh is not a normal inner city. People are always walking everywhere, they are nice, not just polite. The energy was so joyous, seeing people out laughing and having fun. And they want to talk to you about their city, the old, the new, even the "emoji" mall! (if you don't know, Google the new mall they built) It was wonderful to see and I loved that nobody is interested in what you wear, what brand you have on, and no one is wearing heels! My gosh, it was so relaxing to be somewhere that people were more interested in each other than what label they carried. I found the best conversation to be with the cabbies and hired drivers. They really love their city and are open to talking about all of it and I do mean all of it. They want you to love it and they want you to understand even about the crime. We took a cab on our first night over to the Scotch Malt Whisky Society's The Vaults which is in Leith. Our driver was engaging but he wanted us to understand that we needed to be alert because Leith, which he loves, is having some drug use issues that make people do foolish things.
I'm jumping ahead of myself, let me back up. Surprising to most, this was my first trip to this ruggedly beautiful place. It was a bit of a step back in time and much needed I might add. We went because we took a two-day course at the Edinburgh Whisky Academy (I have mixed feelings on how the course was, not ready to share that) but, let's talk about everything outside of that, shall we? We stayed at Motel One in the heart of Edinburgh just across from Waverly Station so transportation to anywhere was easy. Tram, train, bus, cab, rental car all just steps from the hotel. We were just off The Royal Mile and not too far from Grassmarket and the castle but, the best part was the restaurants, bars, and Christmas market were all within a ten-minute walk! The favorite spots were Whiski Bar & Restaurant, The Albanack Bar, The Abbey Bar, and Treacle for some serious Indian cuisine. Now if you know me, I am a coffee lover and prior to our trip I bought a set of books that had all the indie coffee shops for Scotland, Ireland, England, and Wales (I'll put a link below), and am thankful that I did. While the hotel offered coffee and a nice breakfast layout, to me, the best way to start an adventure is with independent coffee shops. My two favorites were Gordon Street Coffee and The Milkman (ships internationally), both literally steps from our front door. My only regret is that I did not buy any Gordon's to bring home because they don't ship to the U.S. (Thanks Brexit). Gordon's is dog friendly and I found that most places we went were.
So aside from the usual touristy stuff, which we chose mostly not to do this trip we learned that it is not a good idea to take the train on Sundays because the union contracts only run from Monday to Saturday so Sundays are iffy. Sadly, we experienced first-hand just how iffy as we flew into London, took a cab to King's Cross Station (yes, Harry Potter fans I was there!), and took a train up to Edinburgh. If you get motion sickness at all, I don't recommend it. I was as green as my handbag by the time we arrived and it was seriously chaotic with people getting on wrong trains because other trains didn't show up, short-staffed because people decided not to work and all the trolley carts were not properly stocked. I will say the seats were very comfy and it was extremely clean.
Monday we spent trying to recover from travel lag as I call it, and perusing all the shops until it was time to do the Underground history tour then go to the new Johnnie Walker Experience. I was very excited to find a coat I had been looking for for over ten years! I am going to drop a few links to some of my favorite shops that I frequented during our stay. Tuesday and Wednesday were class then dinner and sleep on repeat. Thursday we did what our driver almost asked me not to do (well, he asked me to think really hard about NOT doing it) and that was rent a car and drive to Glengoyne Distillery. It is the one time in our life that both wished we had not received an upgrade on a car and maybe had taken that advice. So, the city streets were built for horse and carriage, not vehicles and most definitely not larger vehicles (never mind the whole driving on the other side of the road). Anyway, we ended up with a larger four-door sedan even though we had tried to rent a tiny car. The one we wanted was brought back with a lot of damage and this was the only automatic they had (yes, they still have manuals over there). Off we go and it was somewhat okay getting out of the city but those country roads! It was beautiful and magical and too damn narrow. I got several up close and personal glimpses of the hedgerow and learned something important, when night drops in Scotland, it drops. They are not big on light pollution in the city and most definitely not in the countryside couple that with a very large car and unfamiliarity with our surroundings led to anxiety-like neither of us had known. But we still had fun. We stopped at Glengoyne which is breathtaking, went to the Devil's pulpit on a wee hike then drove over to see the Kelpies after hours. They are magical. They truly are something to see and I HIGHLY recommend going after dark to see them in their full glory. The park closes at 8:00 pm and the gift shop closes at 4:30 pm which is disappointing because I could not find anything for the Kelpies in the tourist shops.
After this excursion, we returned to Edinburgh and promptly got lost trying to return the car. Thankfully people are pretty patient and I am guessing most saw us and thought "tourist!". It was a bit of a nightmare because the GPS in the car got confused so we opened Google maps and am pretty sure we went the wrong way down a one-way street at one point. Again, other drivers were patient and no yelling or honking, lots of laughter though. We decided to go find a dram after that chaos. Friday we woke to high winds so our trip to Edinburgh Castle got canceled. We roamed around, went to the Scotch Whisky Experience, and enjoyed the day wrapping up with dinner at the Whiski Bar and Restaurant. All in all, it was wonderful.
Underground history tour - Do it. Just go and sign up. The booth is located in front of Starbucks on the Royal Mile. Try to get Hazel as your tour guide. You won't regret it.
The Johnnie Walker Experience - We did the Whisky Makers' Cellars. We were the only two which made it all the more personalized and enjoyable. They have you set up to taste 5 drams and you have to choose as you go through. It was very well thought out with some distinct flavor profiles for single malts vs blends, none of which are Johnnie Walker. You get to nose the liquid in the cask and then draw your own (since there were only two of us) which leads to more conversation around the actual work of a distiller, training, and maturation. The end of it brings out the geek because you choose as a collective a specific flavor profile (there are 11 to choose from) and they blend it right in front of you while you listen to the story behind that blender's choice. This is an experience that really steps away from your typical tour and tasting. It gives you a back story on distillers and blenders in a more personal setting. And let's just admit the smells, the tools, I was in geek heaven!
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society Vaults - The setting is rich, luxurious, and old world. The drams the shining star. The food is mediocre and unfortunately, my interaction with staff was miserable. They kept looking to Vince and directing questions to him even though he kept redirecting them to me and I got mansplained to a lot. I kept our membership specifically for this purpose and I will not be renewing. (Note - this is the ONLY time I had to deal with this in Scotland. Women are prolific in the industry there and there is not any gatekeeping or bullshit like here in the states).
The Scotch Whisky Experience - It really is like riding The Haunted Mansion except you are in a giant barrel and it is talking about whisky instead of Disney. It was a lot of fun going through and you get to do the tasting at the end. My one caveat is that if you are at all claustrophobic, you may want to skip the ride. There are some extreme close-ups and tight spots. I had to shut my eyes. The collection at the end is beautiful and it was fun seeing how many bottles matched what we have. The bar is very well designed and stocked as one would expect.
Buying Whisky -
The Whisky Trail has a small, yet more obscure selection with very knowledgeable staff who don't push brands but flavors.
The Royal Mile Whisky Shop has a good selection but these are more mainstream, can buy in the U.S. unless you look up above the doors and down on the bottom shelves.
The Whisky Shop is located on Victoria St and has the best selection (IMO). We found one of our unicorns there, a Balblair single cask released exclusively for W Club members (yes, I have a lot of memberships).
Random kitschy tourist shops - go in and look around! They all have whiskies and they don't price up because most of the staff know nothing about whisky. I found the entire set of Jura (Prophecy, Superstition, Origin, and Diurach's Own) 20cl bottles just sitting on the shelf! Now if you are a House of Jura person you know they don't produce these anymore and we cannot get the 20cl in the U.S. I bought them and paid roughly €22 each. I would have bought all they had but... No luggage space left.
Normally in my post, I would give you pictures but this time you'll have to go to Instagram if you want to see those. 😉
One observation that I would make is, know that the whiskies stocked in all the bars tend to lean more towards smoke, peat, meaty. It was very hard to find lighter, fruitier whisky that was not Glenmorangie. You will find all the major players and beware the Walking Man for he is everywhere.
Truthfully though it was all a joy and I am ready to go back!
As promised, links to help you research and plan.
Beautiful. Your trip sounds like a journey of a lifetime. Can't wait to visit Edinburgh in the future.
-Jas