THE WHISKY TRAIL

A taste of the water of life

Over 40 whisky distilleries welcome visitors during the summer. The art of distilling came to Scotland more than 1,000 years ago. It was brought by the Celts, but refined by the Celtic Christian missionaries, who found a land blessed in abundance with all the natural elements to make this unique noble product - and they found the people only too willing to learn the mysterious art.
The ancient Celts gave the name Water of Life to the precious liquid they distilled because of its magical power to revive tired limbs, dispel the cold and lift fallen spirits. They called it Uisge Beatha and from "uisge" comes the anglicised version "whisky".
The Highlands of Scotland have clear spring water, great fields of peat, healthy crops of barley and pure Highland air.
The first written record of whisky is in 1494 when Friar John Cor was supplied with 8 "bolls of malt ... wherewith to make aqua vitea". A boll was an old Scots measure.
King James IV is recorded as having enjoyed his dram in 1506, and by 1690 the Scottish Parliament made reference to a distillery. In those early days all Scotch whisky was malt, it was not until the early 1860's that blending was developed, a judicious mixing of different malts and whisky distilled from grain.

There are two distilleries close to Water's Edge - 

• Tomatin Distillery (20 minutes drive)
• Glen Ord Distillery (20 minutes drive)