10 September - Dufftown and The Balvenie Tour!!

Finally....the day I've been waiting for since I made our tour reservations back in April of this year....we finally get to tour the distillery of my FAVORITE whisky....The Balvenie!  Unfortunately, the day began with clouds and rain, but we had close to a two hour drive ahead of us so it wasn't much of a problem.  Well, except for Annette who was driving for us once again (I have to say, she was an incredible chauffeur during our vacation!)  Not that it matters, but we left Ballater via the A939 to Tomintoul, then took the A95 to Craigellachie and finally the A941 to Dufftown.  Below is one of the roads that we drove....I'm very glad that Annette was driving!

Low clouds and rain....and this was the GOOD part of the road

We had a 10:00AM tour scheduled and figured we may be there a bit early, but it gave us time to actually FIND the place as they didn't have a lot of signage out like the other major distilleries.  We did find the proper street in town....

I should live on this street

....and after driving around a bit and finding the Balvenie Castle (not open), we drove back to the main square and found a map.  We were on the correct route, but we didn't drive far enough.  Further on down the road, past the Balvenie Castle and past the Glenfiddich Distillery, we found a small sign and made our way into the private car park for Balvenie tour guests.  Finally, I was home.

The Balvenie Distillery

Where we met up with David, our tour guide

Fancy loo....

We were the first to arrive (of course....I wasn't excited about this part of the trip at all!) and were met by David Mair, who has been with The Balvenie for 23 years and is currently a Balvenie Ambassador.  He brought us into the lounge area, complete with a coal fire burning, and offered us up coffee, tea and biscuits while we waited for the rest of the group to arrive.  He began with a bit of history and a basic talk about how whisky is made....which I will continue at a later date.  Unfortunately, it's now the night before we leave for home and I need to pack my things.  I will update this blog upon my return to Minnesota this weekend!

Cheers!