Scotland, Day 4: Highland Drams and Back to Edinburgh
Scotch
| Whisky | What I thought |
|---|---|
| Caol Ila 12 | Smooth, with a nice finish. First choice in the Taste of Scotland flight. |
| Balblair 12 | Peatier/smokier finish. Second choice. |
| Macallan 12 | Smooth, simple, easy drinking. Third choice. |
| Glenturret 10 | Sherry cask, chocolate notes, and dark fruit. |
| Glenturret Peated 10 | A good balance of peat with those flavors. |
| Ardnamurchan | A really smooth start, then the fire builds. Three drops of water. |
| James Eadie’s Trademark X | Complex, but well balanced. |
We were on the bus at 8:25 for the last day of our three-day Skye trip. There were hairy coos—Highland cows—along the way, then Plockton at 10:00. Pretty.
We stopped at Rogie Falls at noon and reached Inverness for lunch at The Highlander around 1:00. Ksenia had shrimp scampi; I had a chicken burger and the Taste of Scotland whisky flight. We also visited Leakey’s secondhand bookshop.
At 4:00 we were in Dunkeld. The cathedral was pretty: a basic stone building on the river. At Whisky Barrel, a bottle shop offering drop-in drams, I tried the two Glenturrets, Ardnamurchan, and James Eadie’s Trademark X.
Back in Edinburgh, dinner was at Badger & Co.. We’d made reservations for the wrong day. They took pity on us and squeezed us in. While we waited, we had drinks at the bar, which they forgot to charge us for. Whoops.
The Tom Collins and Last Word were both made with Edinburgh Gin and well made. Ksenia’s Tea-Totaller was nice too. The bread and butter was OK; I’d expect more from something listed as freshly made. My tomahawk pork chop was well cooked, though small for a “tomahawk.” The bone marrow was small and bland. Meh. The steak pie in puff pastry was very nice.
Part of our August 2025 Scotland trip. Trip summary.
From the Notebook
