“A Marriage Made in Heaven”
Story and
Photography by David J. Whyte
Slow-turning
seasons, soft mountain water and the
distiller’s centuries-old craft combine to
create Scotland’s number one export, whisky,
‘the water of life’. David J. Whyte takes a
slightly meandering amble along Speyside’s
Golf Whisky Trail sampling the ‘spirit’ of
this unique part of Scotland.
The busier parts of the
Home of Golf get gazillions of golfers.
There’s nothing wrong with that except you
sometimes feel you’re on a conveyor belt. “Hey,
there’s the guys we saw in Dornoch. Yeah, I
saw them in Carnoustie and they’re heading
for Gleneagles next – just like us!” Sometimes
it’s pays to get off the beaten track!
Speyside is a serene
and secluded part of the Scottish Highlands,
punctuated with spectacular scenery, superb
golf and 28 of the world’s most famous
whisky distilleries on or near the banks of
the Spey! The fast flowing River Spey has
the purest water in the entire British
Isles, ideal for the creation of single malt
whisky.
“Golf & Whisky! What an
ideal combination!” I mused as I sat in the
bar at the Knockomie Hotel in the delightful
wee town of Forres nursing a 10-year-old
Benromach with the flavours of dark
chocolate, melted butter and sticky toffee
pudding tickling my taste buds. As if by
magic this mouth-watering mélange
transformed into a finish of sweet fruit –
or was it California raisins with a hint of
Reggae Reggae Barbeque Sauce? Wow! I was
really getting the hang of this
whisky-tasting business.
If you’re a neophyte
whisky acolyte like me, you need a
spirit-guide to help you appreciate the
subtleties of Uisge-Beatha, Scots Gaelic for
the ‘Water of Life’. I was being ‘led by the
nose’ by Penny Ellis, Knockomie’s Honorary
Still Person and general whisky buff.
“Nosing is probably the most important
aspect of discerning the nuances of single
malt whisky,” Penny informed me. “Your nose
(and might I add, you have a particularly
outstanding specimen – she didn’t really say
this but I bet she was thinking it) can
detect around 35,000 different subtle aromas
while your taste buds only appreciate the
basic flavours of sweet, sour, salty or
bitter. Get your nose working with your
taste buds and you’ll soon appreciate the
uniqueness of each malt.”
I could tell my
whisky-tasting apprenticeship could take
many more hours of practical study. “What
else do you recommend?” I enthusiastically
asked Penny. She poured me a 12-year old
Glenlivet; honeyed, biscuit-sweet with a
malty edge, its tawny smoothness and
elderberry after-taste adding an ever-more
romantic glow to the prospect of exploring
this fascinating part of Scotland as well as
sampling its produce. As I sat back in the
Knockomie bar’s snug leather sofa to savour
the subtleties of the Glenlivet, I mused to
myself. “I’m going to call my article the
Speyside Golf Whisky Trail – ‘A Marriage
Made in Heaven’. I drank a toast to my
inspired if now somewhat inebriated musing
and stumbled off to bed, half expecting to
forget all by dawn’s early light.
Moray Old
The 18th at Moray
Old is one of the most testing finishes
in Scottish Golf
A 20-minute drive from
Knockomie House Hotel is one of Scotland’s
most laudable links, Moray Old. This is
golf-by-the-sea as it should be, an
unadulterated coastal track laid out by Old
Tom Morris way back in 1889. I don’t think
the Great Grandfather of golf had much
designing to do here! This is as natural a
golf terrain as you will find. Like St
Andrews, Moray Old starts and finishes in
town. It plays out towards Covesea
Lighthouse before turning at the 12th,
tracing the beach back and catching the full
effect of tempest and tide. The 18th is
considered one of the finest finishing holes
in Scotland. Its green sits on a raised,
natural amphitheatre usually overlooked by
knowledgeable and far too interested locals.
No real pressure then!
Moray is thrilling
golf, the turf as tight as a whisky barrel’s
bung and a joy to strike those penetrating,
low long irons off! Well, it would be if you
have that shot. Links golf, as you no doubt
know requires a whole new bagful of shots.
Firm, fast-running fairways with subtle
humps and bumps add yards to your drives as
well as an element of unpredictability to
the ball’s final resting place. Playing into
firm, flat greens also changes the paradigm;
I never realised playing off such tight,
closely mown turf can generate backspin. I
don’t usually do backspin! And then there’s
the wind! There can’t be a round that goes
by here without those variable coastal
breezes exerting considerable influence.
It’s all in a day’s
links golf and this Moray Golf Club is
certainly the ideal place to spend the day.
The club offers an excellent two-course pass
to play Moray New which offers tighter
fairways and smaller greens before taking on
the rigours of the Old. The ticket is a
bargain at only £65 through the week and £75
at weekends.
Forres
|
Forres Golf Club is
a delightful
heathland/parkland
combination |
In terms of golfing
variety, the Speyside
Golf Whisky Trail
presents an eclectic
collection. Forres Golf
Club is an excellent
heathland/parkland
combination ideal for
golfers of all
persuasions. Each hole
is different from the
diving-board drop at the
1st to
thought-provoking, risk
& reward holes such as
the 16th. Designed by
two old-time Open
Championship winners,
James Braid and Willie
Park, Forres is not long
by today’s standards but
there is a wealth of
intricacy out there as
confirmed by its regular
appearance as a venue
for the Scottish
Professional
Championship, the
Northern Open, and the
Scottish Young
Professionals
Championships. I also
enjoyed Forres’ tranquil
location, a delightful
woodland theatre
surrounding some
gorgeous holes with the
occasional glimpse of
the Moray Firth. |
Whisky Trail
The Speyside Golf
Whisky Trail is an association of golf
courses, distilleries and hotels whose main
purpose in life is to help golfers like us
discover and appreciate this very special
part of the Scotland. There are four golf
clubs involved, Boat of Garten, Forres and
Grantown on Spey, all distinct Highland
heathland tracks of Hellenistic beauty and
Moray Golf Club with its two well-ventilated
18’s adding the links element. Besides great
golf, they’ve gone to lengths to bring
together all that’s best in Speyside
including its whisky, food, and sightseeing
along with classy, comfortable
accommodation.
In
the Royal Burgh of Elgin with its
magnificent cathedral ruins and elegant
neoclassical architecture, Sunninghill is a
superb little hotel, renowned for its
friendliness and fine cooking. Sunninghill
is the economic option while Knockomie is
more of a boutique-style experience with all
the charms of a secluded country house.
I spent two nights at
the Knockomie and then two with Winnie Ross
and her husband, Donald at the Sunninghill.
Winnie & Donald have garnered an excellent
reputation for their food and hospitality
and the best way to experience this is at
one of their special whisky dinners, which
can be organised at the drop of a hat.
Donald’s a real whisky connoisseur and
delights in talking you through which drams
go best with the courses he is serving. A
whisky dinner might not have previously
crossed your epicurean palate but there are
malts of lightness and subtle flavours that
go well especially with Scottish dishes the
likes of venison or other time-honoured
favourites like haggis, neeps & tatties.
Food, by the way is
another Speyside speciality that you will
want to become familiar with. The area is a
veritable larder of all the very best that
Scotland produces. Fresh salmon from the
Spey is an obvious choice – and it really is
the best. But then there’s the prime beef or
lamb. And if you want something a little
gamier, try venison or perhaps a locally
‘bagged’ pheasant. In both the hotels I
stayed in, everything is produced and
sourced locally as well as prepared to the
highest standards.
If you really want to
go off on a foodie tangent, Baxters of
Speyside, Scotland’s most famous canned soup
emporium is only a 10-minute drive away from
Elgin in the delightfully named town of
Fochabers. Since 1868 the Baxter family have
been preserving, canning and bottling the
best of Speyside and exporting it around the
globe. The factory is a virtual tourist
village and well worth a visit. And what
should you have with afternoon tea?
Mouth-watering Walkers Shortbread world
headquarters is only 15 minutes south of
Elgin or Forres in Aberlour.
There is one shop
however that you really shouldn’t miss where
you can find everything the area produces in
glorious abundance. Gordon & MacPhail’s on
South Street in Elgin, reputedly the world’s
leading malt whisky specialist has a
staggering choice of 800 different malt
whiskies. But it doesn’t stop there; this
gastronomic Aladdin’s Cave is an iconic
one-stop-shop for meats, wines, cheeses and
chocolates. We discovered a bottle of Amrut
Indian Whisky but I had to say, it seemed
sacrilegious sampling a whisky distilled in
Bangalore compared to the superior Speyside
varieties from just round the corner.
Bespoke tastings can also be organised in
Gordon & McPhail’s shop for groups by
booking in advance (Tel: 01343 545110 or
email retail@gordonandmacphail.com). The
shop itself is a Scotch Malt institution
going all the way back to 1895.
Speyside, The Easy Way
We booked the Speyside
Golf Whisky Trail via their preferred tour
operator, Golf Vacation Scotland who know
the area intimately (Neil Robertson, one of
their directors, spent years as an assistant
golf professional at nearby Duff House Royal
Golf Club) and they will organise and
pre-book all the added extras to make your
tour especially memorable such as a whisky
dinner, distillery tours, castle visits,
salmon fishing etc. Prices for a few days
stay& play here in Speyside are a fraction
of what you pay on any of Scotland’s ‘Grand
Tours’ such as the Open Championship courses
– depending, of course on how much whisky
you consume.
Uisge-Beatha, ‘The Water of Life’
Talking about whisky,
it was time for me to get back to my malt
whisky meanderings. I was scheduled for a
visit to Benromach Distillery in Forres, the
smallest distillery in Speyside. After the
first two or three (visits that is)
distillery tours can become a bit
repetitive. Benromach is particularly good
if you book the Manager’s Tour, an
informative visit with distillery manager,
Keith Cruickshank who brings the process to
life followed by a detailed and highly
enlightening tasting session. Booking is
required (tel: 0044 (0)1309 675968 – email: info@gordonandmacphail.com)
but a visit here is highly recommended. You
can also ‘Bottle Your Own Benromach’ at the
distillery, label it and cork it. Then
there’s the ubiquitous visit to the
distillery shop. I visited two other
distilleries, Glenfiddich and The Glenlivet,
both fascinating and well presented but
slightly touristier.
Grantown on Spey
Grantown's 9th with
its view to the Cromdale Hills presents
a spectacular tee off
Grantown on Spey is a
sturdy little Victorian resort developed in
1766 when a trip to the Scottish Highlands
was de rigeur. The coming of the railway
assured Grantown’s success as a holiday town
and it has remained so ever since. Its golf
course is one of those delightful dalliances
where it doesn’t really matter how well or
poorly you play, because of its stunning
setting, you are going to enjoy it anyway!
The first few holes serve as warmers while
the real action starts after the 6th when
the course crosses the road and enters a
tree and heather-lined mid-section. Murdie’s
View is the 9th, a 275-yard Par 4 so it’s on
the lower limit and most will have a pop at
the green from the panoramic high tee. The
closing holes are more open and testing.
Grantown’s not a difficult encounter
although occasionally an expected wind (the
tee boxes are mostly sheltered) could catch
a high ball and blow it off course.
I enjoyed Grantown. The
tree-lined section is the most memorable
mainly because of its close encounters with
Speyside’s unique nature. This is red deer,
black grouse and red squirrel country so
don’t be surprised if you spot some movement
in the purple heather. You could conceivably
play Grantown and Boat of Garten Golf Club
in one day as they are only 10 miles apart.
The Boat
Boat of Garten Golf
Club was my last golfing port of call. I was
curious about the epithet and Nigel
McConachie, the Club’s secretary, who makes
a point of meeting Golf Whisky Trail
visitors for a coffee or something stronger
explained, “The name of both the Club and
the village comes from the small ferryboat
service that used to cross the River Spey
here. There’s no record when it started but
we know it goes back at least as far as
1662. The railway came to Boat of Garten in
1868 and soon after that the ferry was
withdrawn. The golf course was officially
established in 1898”
And as if by magic, as
Nigel was setting the historic scene, an old
steam chuffer pulled into Boat of Garten
station. “The railway used to come up to
Boat then branch off towards Grantown-on-Spey,
“ Nigel alluded, “or along Speyside to
service the distilleries, then north to
Elgin and Inverness.” Today the Strathspey
Steam Railway operates from Aviemore to The
Boat with a branch line that will soon be
extended to Grantown.
All this took me back
to days of yore, teeing off to the sound of
a steam train chuffing past the 4th fairway.
I’ve got to say, Boat of Garten is one of
the most delightful heathland courses I’ve
encountered! The view from the clubhouse
over the 1st and 2nd fairways to the
Cairngorm Mountains with craggy Lairig Ghru
and the northern corries of Braeriach is
incomparable, the quintessence of golf in
the Scottish Highlands. The turf is not
unlike links, rather nibbled as if by sheep
or deer and delightful to play over. The
Boat’s course sails over rippling fairways
surrounded by heather, gorse and silver
birch trees. You could grow attached to a
course like this; it’s so peaceful and the
vistas are so gorgeous. Then there’s the
‘toot toot’ of the next train chuffing into
Boat of Garten Station before the peace
settles in again and you’re in Sylvain
silence. The only thing you’ve got to think
about is your golf and the Boat’s range of
challenging holes such as the 5th or
the outstanding 12th –
and oh yes, the incomparable 18th will
keep you engaged every shot of the way.
|
The 15th 'Gully' is
an unusual hole that
will catch those too
eager off the tee
|
The Speyside Golf Whisky
Trail is quite unique,
possibly one of the best
ways to encounter
Scotland, or at least
this particularly
enchanting valley. Now
that I’m a malt whisky
aficionado, I’m not the
biggest fan of blends
but the Speyside Golf
Whisky Trail is a blend
of some of the best
aspects of Scotland,
well worth savouring
with a round or two –
either on or off the
golf course.
David J
Whyte is one of
Scotland’s best-known
golf travel writers and
photographers. Watch his
videos and read further
articles on the Home of
Golf and many other top
destinations by visiting
WWW.GO-GOLF.TV
|
To help prepare
yourself for your own personal golf & whisky
expedition there are some toasts you really
ought to have under your belt.
~ The Selkirk
Grace ~
Written by Robert
Burns, this is a grace offered before meals
at Scottish gatherings.
Some hae meat, and
canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat
And sae the Lord be thankit.
~ Here’s Tae Us
~
Here’s tae us
Wha’s like us
Damn few,
And they’re a’ deid
Mair’s the pity!
How to Get to Speyside
By Air: Inverness
Airport is only around 10 to 25 miles west
of the region with British Airways (www.BA.com)
and Easyjet (www.easyjet.com)
flying into Inverness daily. Aberdeen
Airport is an hour’s drive serving British
Airways (www.BA.com),
Easyjet (www.easyjet.com),
Ryaniar (www.ryanair.co.uk)
and KLMuk (www.klm.com).
By Road: The A9 links
Speyside & Inverness to the main
English/Scottish Motorway network. If you
arrive from the south, Boat of Garten is
your nearest stop followed by Grantown on
Spey. The local A95 route follows the Spey
Valley to the Coast near Lossiemouth. If you
are driving from Aberdeen take the A96
towards Huntly then over to Elgin.
By Rail: East Coast
Rail (www.eastcoast.co.uk) provides daytime
rail services to Aberdeen and Inverness from
London and the south. ScotRail’s Caledonian
Sleeper also operates from London Euston to
both Inverness and Aberdeen, the advantage
being you can sleep overnight and alight at
Aviemore (7.45am) fresh and ready to golf.
Hertz offers a car hire service at Aviemore
Station. ScotRail also operates Scotland’s
local rail network. For more information
contact National Rail Enquiries on Tel:
08457 484950 Web: www.nationalrail.co.uk
David J Whyte travelled
on the Speyside Golf Whisky Trail with
Scottish-based tour operator, Golf Vacation
Scotland – visit
www.golfvacationscotland.com
