Oban and Eriska

Long a favourite of mine, Oban 14 yr was next on the curriculum. It was a nice long ferry ride from Islay to Oban and a pleasant surprise to see that the name was not only for a fine malt distillery, but also the name of a good size market / port town. We took the full tour and learned that the barley is grown elsewhere, as with most brands (just try and grow grain predictably in Scotland), the malting is done elsewhere, and so is the bottling and packaging. The whisky, however is all made on site. They have only two stills, the minimum required for the process; they can’t expand - having been there since 1796, the town has surrounded them and they’re boxed in. So all of the whisky made here goes only into making Oban. Most other houses make much more than they can sell as their own product; they sell the excess to blending houses such as Johnny Walker. An awful lot of those bright shiny stainless steel trucks on the road are moving scotch from distillery to aging houses, from barrels to bottling plant, from bottling plant to wholesaler etc. We did get to try some spirit straight from the cask, before it’s properly aged. Pretty rough stuff, even allowing for the cask strength.

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That evening, we arrived at the Isle of Eriska Hotel north of Oban. This is a favourite place of Peter and Ann. The hotel owns the whole island and has a very smooth-running establishment. Every creature comfort is catered with extreme courteousness. In the mornings, coffee and two newspapers appeared in the sunroom of our villa and whenever we were out of the room, elves appeared to tidy up. Our private patio had a Blackbird nest (Turdus merula) in a bush by the wall. We saw more birds as we walked the perimeter of the island and when not ‘working out’ on the putting green, we sat on the patio bar for afternoon tea, and played a little croquet or went to the pool for a swim, sauna or steam session in the hopes of justifying the excellent dinner to come in the main house. Now we know what it’s like to stay in one of those ‘castles’ you sometimes see on TV travel programs. Two days passed quickly and we had to leave the bike rental, spa, golf and skeet shooting for another time. . .

After another ‘full’ Scotch breakfast of fruit, orange juice, eggs, Ayrshire bacon, fried tomato, haggis, hash browns, black pudding (not what you think), toast and coffee, we hit the road for Edinburgh, driving through the Highlands and along the shores of Loch Lomond. Not a warm day, but beautiful nonetheless. Tomorrow we’ll have look at Edinburgh before heading on to Newcastle, where Susan’s Mom Joyce was born and where Peter grew up.

Loch Lomond was chilly and Susan needed to wear her Klazek tartan (car blanket) to stay warm