Whisky galore at Speyside Whisky Festival

As Scotland prepares to celebrate the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival - one of Europe’s largest whisky festivals - distilleries, hotels, restaurants, bars and events in the area are getting ready to serve up a considerable quarter of a million drams of Scotland’s national drink.

Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival (1st-10th May) forms the highlight of Whisky Month in Scotland’s Year of Homecoming 2009 programme and offers an exciting selection of exclusive events for everyone from the casual whisky consumer and the connoisseur to the non-whisky drinker.

Speyside lies between Inverness to the west and Aberdeen to the east and is home to over 50 distilleries - more than half of Scotland’s malt whisky distilleries - and the Festival programme capitalises on its location at the heart of Scotland’s Whisky Country, the area’s culture and heritage, outdoor activities, food and drink and landscape.

Almost 300 events include 180 whisky tours and tastings offered by some of the world’s leading brands such as Glenfiddich and Glenlivet, 21 whisky dinners, 12 bracing whisky walks, 12 cooperage tours and a range of distillery visits; and for events with a non-whisky theme, visitors can choose from 18 train rides, ceilidhs, painting exhibitions, cookery demonstrations and landrover tours.

Festival goers can also enjoy a rare peek behind the scenes at other well known distilleries in the area, usually closed to the public, including Mortlach, Benrinnes, Tamdhu and Tomintoul.

And if whetting the whistle wakens a deeper interest in whisky, then visitors will be able to delve deeper into the production process with a series of lectures and demonstrations covering topics from mashing and fermentation to the art of cooperage.

For the true whisky enthusiast, an exclusive new addition to this year’s programme is the Malt Whisky School, three knowledge-packed days of lectures, workshops, distillery and cooperage visits for a limited number of 18 lucky aficionados of the drink.

After discovering the delights of the dram, whisky lovers and would-be gourmets can take the opportunity to learn more about the spirit’s role as an ingredient or accompaniment. Workshops looking at the relationship between whisky and cheese, whisky and chocolate, and of course, whisky and haggis will run throughout the Festival, with a number of distilleries hosting lunches and dinners featuring menus carefully constructed to compliment the contents of their casks.

And what better way to work off these indulgences than by joining one of the many walks through Whisky Country? Take a gentle “dramble” around the seven distilleries of Dufftown, or take advantage a special guided ‘hike’ with whisky expert Dave Broom to the summit of Ben Rinnes and enjoy the panoramic views across the Cairngorms north to the Moray Firth and south to Lochnagar. And there’s the chance of spotting mountain hare and ptarmigan on other guided walks and off-road trails in the wilder parts of the Cairngorm National Park.

Visitors can also follow in the footsteps of the Speyside smugglers - whose illicit stills were hidden in the hillsides and backcountry braes and whose existence echoes in the culture and customs of whisky communities today - where festival goers will be invited to join ceilidhs and concerts performed by traditional talents.

The festival will culminate in ‘Spirit of Speyside’, an outdoor musical celebration on Saturday, 9th May on the banks of the River Spey at Aberlour, with performances from iconic Scottish group Capercaillie, pipe bands and fiddlers before a lone piper performs a floodlit solo on the church tower heralding a stunning fireworks display over the Spey itself.

Prior to heading home festival goers may feel the need for retail therapy to select souvenirs of time spent on Speyside. Highly recommended are visits to Johnsons Cashmere in Elgin, where woollens are washed in the same soft Speyside water used to create those wonderful whiskies; Brodie Countryfare near Forres, a family run business which offers a wide selection of country wares, food and home interiors; Baxters Highland Village at Fochabers offering speciality shops, cookshop, gift shop and restaurants; and Gordon and MacPhail’s retail shop in Elgin featuring a quality delicatessen, local produce and probably the largest selection of malt whisky on retail sale anywhere in the world.

From the first drams to the last golden drops sipped at the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival, visitors will be immersed in the culture of Whisky Country and will get a true taste of the Speyside spirit.

Log on to Spiritofspeyside.com for further information.