All the beer and whisky writing I’ve been doing lately has inclined me to write another post about my outdoorsy pursuits in Scotland. I’m not always in the pub draining pints of ale and sipping drams of whisky – before that happens I’m usually out in Scotland’s beautiful landscapes taking in the scenery and working up a sweat.
The Cairngorms National Park is full of such opportunities, and Craigendarroch Hill is the perfect half-day jaunt. The hill forms the northern edge of town and it’s surprisingly tall. The River Dee gives its name to this area of Scotland and the river hugs the pretty little town of Ballater against Craigendarroch Hill, which makes a gorgeous setting ripe for excellent views. Read more...
The snow-capped peak of Lochnagar pierces the sky above the green, leafy hills of what is now the Balmoral Estate in the Royal Deeside region of Scotland. Lochnagar, an extinct volcano with a blasted crater, hides a small lochan, or lake, from which its name derives: loch of the noise.
Lochnagar also shelters a far-from-noisy, eponymously-named distillery in the fields beneath the mountain, and it was here – not up the mountain – that my travels led me.
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The international reputation of Scotland’s drinking culture rests with the malt whisky industry, but within Scotland another contender is growing in popularity: craft cask ales. My love for the smooth character and rich flavors of cask ales has grown to the point where I prefer them more than the heavily carbonated lagers and kegged beers available in the States. Recent visits to the Stewart Brewery and CAMRA meetings have only made this love all the more clear. A day in Scotland feels incomplete without a trusty pint.
After a long day of sightseeing in Scotland’s castle country, few things could have rejuvenated me like the newly-christened Deeside Beer Festival. Read more...
Half a hundred thousand acres of escape, and somewhere roughly in the middle hides this modest monochrome castle. The royal residence of the north, Balmoral, is a sprite in the lineage of Scottish castles, a youthful only-cousin that would tremble before the age of Drum, Fyvie, and Kildrummy. A flag fluttered high above the coiffed tower, and the air was full of silence. Dark trees rife with grouse leaned in as if trying to reclaim this lonely clearing. I stalked among the shorn grass and watched as strands of ivy reached toward the corbelled rooftop and battlements like some great green hand of Gaia. Winds rumbled through the boughs, punished our thin selves, and spoke of rain.
Royalty is a riddle; it half seems those who bear it wish it were a mantle of invisibility. Read more...
by Keith Savage on August 3, 2011 · 1 comment
Scotland’s modern geopolitical designations are a tangle of lieutenancies, registration counties, and shires – just to name a few – that thwart honest attempts to plan simple trips. I had several conversation with Rene while in MoraySpeyside about that very name. Is it Moray? Is it Speyside? Turns out it’s both, but they’re different, and it’s also Banffshire. Somewhere in my head region pulsed a vein pulsed. In these situations, I tend to seek relief in the past. I have this romantic and assuredly false notion that it was a simpler time.
Kingdoms and earldoms and all manner of geopolitical distinctions sleep unbothered on ancient maps of Scotland. You could grasp the rising and falling tides of history by leafing through those parchments. Read more...
A hunter, oft-stubbled and bleary-eyed, driven by an insatiable hunger for exploration and experience - and perhaps a chance to thin the herd of caffeinated and alcoholic beverages. From the highlands and islands to Edinburgh, Glasgow, and the Borders, I explore Scotland with a pen in hand and a fire in the belly (which could be partly from the whisky). 
