May 2015 Edinburgh -- Pitlochry -- Edinburgh #2

We are back! And this time, we brought reinforcements!

Monday, the 18th May

The train journey up North is quick and easy. We reach Waverley around noon, drop off our bags, then proceed to find a bite to eat. We stop at the Photo Gallery on the way, then settle for lunch at Spit/Fire. What I want (Brooklyn sandwich) is not available (I get bacon and brie sandwich instead) and adc receives the wrong dish (sweet potato jacket potato instead of asparagus jacket potato). Good start! The food is good, when we finally get it. The ladies even indulge in a coffee and seem pleased with it.

Ze bar

We then make our way to the Royal Mile -- more accurately the Whisky Experience. We hope to see GR, but he is not there, today. The place is mobbed with tourists, of course. No matter! We head to the bar downstairs.
There we taste the following (I take no notes):

• Tormore 15yo 1998/2014 (57.4%, OB Cask Strength Edition, TM 15 001) 8/10
• Glenburgie 20yo 1994/2014 (50.7%, OB Cask Strength Edition, GB 20 006) 8/10
• Glenlivet 17yo 1996/2013 (55.7%, OB Cask Strength Edition, GL 17 013) 8/10

Full of win.

Next stop, Cadenhead's. Well, we stop a few times en route, but nothing noteworthy. Jolly Toper now works at Royal Mile Whiskies (we will not see him, this time), while his bearded acolyte is in Campbeltown for the festival. Nevertheless, we are well received by the staff at Cadenhead's. The shop is very busy, though. Not much chance to sit and taste. We choose, pay and go. What do we buy? You would probably like to know.
We quickly go home to drop off our purchases and shower. We have an appointment, tonight.

md, DD and FMcN join us at L'Escargot Bleu. I am miffed to realise they do not offer the killer pistachio dessert we had last time, but it is too late to change venues. FMcN only stays with us for the starters: he has moules marinières, md goes for a plate of escargots, while DD has a fish tartare made in real time. JS and I choose the coquille St-Jacques, finger-licking good, while adc has the wild-garlic soup.
All great, yet the main course is where it is at: md and I have the horse steak (I nearly cause a riot by asking it more than medium rare -- to avoid repeating the recent incident involving uncooked steaks, you see -- it turns out cooked to perfection). JS and adc has roasted salmon fillet, which is delicious, but buttery. Not sure what DD has.

The brand-new Findus lasagna

Buttery salmon

We even have dessert, despite being more than replenished. I have a Liégeois something and almost immediately regret it. It is 2/3 good (cream and custard), but the chocolate mousse is of French standard, which is well below what I go for (being from Huy and all). DD has a crème brûlée she almost faints for and JS has some sort of apple and almond tart.

This Liégeois is not Belgian!

The tart

Back home for a last dram (35.89 17yo Spell-binding and breath-taking (59.7%, SMWS Society Single Cask) for me, Clynelish 1997/2011 (46%, BBR for Boisdale, Bourbon Cask, C#4704, 298b) for JS, The Dalmore 12yo The Black Isle (40%, OB, b. ca 2004) for md), then it is off to bed.

Tuesday, the 19th May

Being a creature of old habits (it is in the name, ffs!), I want to go back to a certain venue for breakfast. I go for a haggis roll, while JS has a buttery with a plate of cheese (merely a posh name for a croissant) and adc has toasts with jam. All delicious and made with local produce. I even have a banoffee to round it all up (less good, unfortunately).

JS needs a sharper knife to crack the buttery open

Attack of the killer jam

The roll to end all rolls

A disappointing banoffee

Once replenished, we take a stroll and visit the National Gallery for some culture. We do not linger on too much, though, as we have to call at the Photo Gallery again before the owner leaves for Campbeltown.

The ladies robbing a bank

We wander about the new town for a bit, then head towards Waverley. This leg of our sojourn has come to an end: we have a train to catch; a train to Pitlochry.

The journey is very smooth, we find the B&B very easily, settle down, change and go out for supper.

Another well-known place: The Smiddy Inn. adc and I are very happy with our food. JS unfortunately is not. Her hot-sauce prawns are little more than battered and deep-fried, the chips are not of Belgian standard and the dessert is not to her liking. Worth mentioning that the Lithuanian waiter has a hard time explaining what a parfait is without saying it is a parfait. Not very helpful, eh? :-)

We sat at that background table, last time

My lamb's liver

JS's prawns

Grampian chicken

My split banana

Ze pahrr-faye

adc's lemon sorbet

We leave the place around 22:00, yet the sun is still out at this latitude (sort of). That gives us a chance to do the first, very short walk back to our accommodation and see the dam and the salmon ladder. We see no salmon inside the ladder itself, but spot a few jumping out of the river below... as well as a wonderful grey heron.
It is getting cold. Time for bed.

Wednesday, the 20th May

Today is a big day. We have two hikes back-to-back that should keep us occupied for the whole day, if we do not stop too long. We are prepared to stop for long intervals. In preparation, we will have a solid breakfast: full Scottish for JS and myself, salmon on toast for adc.

This is where Squirrelgate happened, last time

Once food is in, we set off for Moulin. The first hike is the same as the one we did in 2013. It takes us through the Atholl Palace gardens (where we see a roe deer and have a chat with a guy walking his dogs), then into the fields, past Caisteal Dubh Maohlinn. The plaque reminds me that the place was burnt in 1560 to contain a plague epidemic and has been abandoned since.

Also, several gorgeous red beeches

And another pheasant

From there, we take the road to Edradour, where we tour the distillery. En route, we spot a song thrush, which gets adc very excited indeed.

The descent through the Black Spout forest is easy and rather uneventful, despite carrying a cardboard box full of purchases. The Black Spout viewpoint is mobbed by a group of Dutch tourists who take turn for portraits and look at my box of goodies with much surprise (or envy?)

Slightly better weather than in 2013

We briefly stop at Blair Athol (for no result), then proceed to drop off our load at the B&B. It is 14:10 and we are late. The distillery tour ate up all our contingency. We are now in a rush.

You read that right

The second hike of the day is Bealach na Searmoin, which takes us past Ben Vrackie, to Killiecrankie, then back to Pitlochry alongside the rivers Garry and Tummel. Seventeen kilometres and an estimated five hours. Or six, depending on which guide you look at.

The Start is very sporty, not really off-piste or anything, but as steep as it gets. We are climbing fast! We stop often to try and identify birds (we spot a wheatear for the first time), take pictures, regain breath, listen to a passing cuckoo or have a dram  (Caperdonich 12yo 1997/2009 Autumn Distillation (46%, DMG Provenance, Refill Hogshead, C#DMG5569)).

Breaking the law

This wheatear made our day

The scenery is breathtaking and sparsely populated. The few people we do come across are headed towards Ben Vrackie. We take a different path, this time, which means we see no-one from about halfway into the climb.

Followers go right.

Explorers go left.

The descent towards Killicrankie is as beautiful as the ascent, taking us through pastures and sheep encounters.

Chaffinch

I <3 pheasants

From Killiecrankie itself, we see almost nothing. We observe the fauna at a bird feeder -- blue tits, chaffinches (loads), jackdaws, great tits and a couple of turf-fighting pheasants. Those last ones amuse me a lot. We promptly cross the river and carry on our journey.

On the other side, we take a short detour to see the Soldier's Leap, the point where a government soldier jumped across the stream to escape vindictive Highlanders. The legend probably exaggerates reality, but it does not alter our enjoyment of the experience. An experience we quickly forget about when we spot a bird on the water: a duck? A goose? A diver?

*Flicks through book*

A second appears and helps the identification process. They are a couple of Red-breasted mergansers. Another first. Very exciting!

Ride across the river

Soldier's Leap

Red-breasted mergansers

Squirrelgate is forgotten

Unfortunately, the clock is ticking again and we have to make a move: eating places close early and we are only halfway through the hike.

The return leg of the journey takes us through lovely forestry, alongside the rivers, which means more bird-spotting (mallards, geese, swans and more pedestrian birds) and... A COUPLE OF RED SQUIRRELS! Midges start coming out too, especially near ponds and quieter areas of the river, where there is fishing and boating. Even though our feet are becoming sore, we hurry to escape and make it into town before nightfall. We of course beat nightfall by several hours -- it is more a case of make it in before the kitchens close: thirteen hours after breakfast, we are now hungry!

George Clunie power station

Midges territory

In memoriam

Curious, juvenile mute swans

The first place we find is the one that was highly recommended by our B&B host: the Westlands Hotel. JS and I take the soup of the day (bacon and lentil), adc skips starters.


We briefly outline our programme of the day to the waiter who then encourages us to eat and rejoice at the portions, rather than be surprised. Portions? adc has a delicious three-sauce duck, I choose a "tower of lamb and black pudding", JS goes for a "giant Yorkshire pudding filled with haggis."
I cannot help but shout when the Yorkshire pudding arrives to the table. It has the size of a bucket. And I have to help finish it.

Three-sauce duck

A Yorkshirepuddingful of haggis

Tower of lamb and black pudding

It's a flipping bucket!!

Despite being full and slightly annoyed at American guests who 1) hardly touched their food and 2) spent the whole supper on their phones, we have dessert. Well, the ladies do. My dessert was the haggis. adc has the crème brûlée, JS chooses a chocolate and mango cheesecake.

Milk chocolate, ffs!

If you like that kind of things

We hardly manage to walk back to the B&B for a shower and some well-deserved sleep. It has been a long day, but what a day!

Thursday, the 21st May

All stiff and sleepy from last night's food abuse, lack of sleep and, well, all the hiking, we meet up for breakfast. JS is still full with supper, so she only has porridge. adc is bolder today and goes full Scottish. I am a trooper. Full Scottish too (I chicken out of the bacon, though).

The view from our dining room

No time to settle down and enjoy the morning much: our train departs at 9:25. One of our secret shops opens at 8:30 -- we go in just in case, but they may not sell alcohol before 10:00. Strange way to tackle binge drinking and alcoholism, but the law is the law. Bye, Pitlochry!

Once back in Edinburgh, we drop off our purchases (yes, more of them) where we stay, then head straight to the Whisky Experience again. See, they have more things we want to try.
The waiter today is of the Italian-carpet-salesman category who likes the sound of their own voice, without paying attention to what others saying. He miserably fails to realise he cannot tell us much we do not already know and goes on to "enlighten" us with what a batch is and how similar they all are. He even goes as far as telling our Canadian neighbours that Talisker always bottle at 47.5% (they do 45.8%, which is the imperial 80 PROOF). Anyway. We go for:

• Strathisla 19yo 1995/2014 (58.9%, OB Cask Strength Edition, SI 19 013): Good, but dry and woody 7/10
• Glen Keith 19yo 1995/2014 (56.3%, OB Cask Strength Edition, GK 19 002): woody too, annoyingly, not to mention we ordered the 17yo, which was advertised in the menu, but is unavailable 7/10
• Talisker Port Ruighe (45.8%, OB, Port Casks, b. ca 2013): agreeable 7/10
• Ben Nevis 15yo 1998/2014 (58%, OB, Sherry Butt, C#587, 629b): this was recommended by the waiter today and on Monday. It is atrocious, full of overly cured meat, like a bad Mortlach 4/10
• Tamdhu Batch No. 001 (58.8%, OB Batch Strength, Sherry Casks): quite nice 7/10

They have a Kininvie too, but I do not try it. It remains one of the very few distilleries I have not had anything from as a single. Another time.
We have another place to go to and rush out. I make a point telling the waiter how disappointed I was with his recommendation, to which he smiles and replies that it happens, sometimes. I will know not to listen to him any longer.
Outside, we spend a minute on the castle esplanade, since we are so close. They are building the metallic structure for the tattoo, which impresses me more than the old building -- some fine engineering going on.

Quick stop at Royal Mile (Jolly Toper is still not there) to get what we want, then we are off. We walk past Cadenhead's: it is closed. Good thing we went the first day!

Our destination is Leith. We take the more scenic route, today, and miss the slow descent into the social layers of the city. The parallels to Leith Walk seem less derelict.
I had promised adc we would see the sea (the firth, actually), yet once there, I need a loo break so badly we will never get past the Vaults.

It is always a mix of pleasure and disappointment to visit the SMWS headquarters. The place itself is gorgeous, there are antique books about the liquid gold, the selection is at least good and sometimes excellent, what with older bottlings surfacing here more than in any other members' room. On the other hand, the staff is often less than helpful, sometimes downright incompetent.
When I ask if they have anything out of the ordinary, e.g. leftovers from a tasting, I am told tastings only include things currently on the bar. Yes, sure, like that Inverleven, last year, of course! Never mind.
I forgot my notebook, so no notes. We have:

• 112.7 13yo d.2000 Youthful vigor in a barrel prison (58.5%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 209b) (me)
• 124.5 23yo d.1990 Juicy fruits and spicy oak (66.7%, SMWS Society Single Cask, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Hogshead, 142b) (JS)
• 128.5 9yo 2006/2015 As purple as Prince! (60.2%, SMWS Society Single Cask, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 213b) (adc)
• 50.47 18yo d.1990 Sweetly appealing and refreshing (57.2%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Hogshead, 262b) (me)
• G7.6 21yo d.1992 Like summer (57.7%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 217b) (JS)
• 50.60 24yo d.1990 Complex and interest sustaining (52.3%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 34b) (adc)

Everything is good, 7-to-8 material.

The Old Man being an idiot

We hit the road around the 18:00 mark, as we have a table booked at Blackfriars.
The place is almost empty when we get there. We order swiftly: fish and mussels for JS, lamb for adc and myself. We are advised there is a thirty-minute wait for the lamb -- ok, then. When we get the food, the lamb is raw. Upon complaining, I am told that is how it is served. I insist it could use more cooking: the waitress takes it back and brings it back: "We cooked the cutlet a bit more, since that was what was least cooked. The other pieces were fine." Yeah, thanks, the cutlet is now acceptable, but the other pieces are still raw, ffs! Why did they not ask how we wanted it cooked in the first place is beyond me. It completely destroys my enjoying the meal. I am fuming and unable to hide it. adc is not too ecstatic either. JS is delighted with her dish, on the other hand. I suppose we are even for the Smiddy Inn experience, then. :-)

We reach home early, which is just as well, considering we leave at stupid o'clock tomorrow morning and still need to pack up.

Friday, the 22nd May

5:46, the day is up, light is out, taxi is waiting (14 minutes early, no less). It is a short trip to the station, where we have a hard time finding working trolleys. Once we do, we head to the platform, JS gets us some breakfast (muffins and pasties), during which time adc secures a slot in the baggage coach for our large items. Yay!
Just under five hours later, we are home, heads full of memories, most of them good. :-)