Raw Video from our Trip to Scotland
July, 2008
For more than a year and a half, we've had plans of editing and combining these videos into something
more coherent than me playing with the on-off button on the camera (not realizing at the time that I should
have been hitting pause). So, what I have posted here are the raw files, converted into a smaller windows media
format from the original HD M2TS files from the camera. The sound track ranges from wind to whatever was on the car
stereo to me desperately trying to not be picked up by the mic while singing to what was on the car stereo. Enjoy!
Link to power point file with our itinerary
Link to pdf file with our itinerary
There are also over 50 pictures posted on my Facebook profile at
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=301&id=1740942920&l=abf6e6ac01
ST. ANDREWS GOLF COURSE
July 8, 2008
- Link to Video, 10.8 Mb: This is video Mike took near the hotel
at the St. Andrews Golf Course. We had traveled from Glasgow to St. Andrews to visit a professor he collaborates with.
Since the golf course is a public golf course across the street from the university, we took a walk around. As he spins
around to find me, you can see the university buildings.
- Link to Video, 2.3 Mb: Take 2, a little less wind noise
- Link to Video, 10.6 Mb: From the beach at the edge of the golf course
THE ROAD TO THE ISLE OF SKYE
July 9, 2008
On July 9th, we drove from Glasgow to the Isle of Skye. (took the bridge from the mainland to Skye)
I took this collection
of videos while Mike was driving. Don't worry, when I post the one with me singing, I will note it here. The videos are
posted in time order.
- Link to Video, 7.4 Mb
- Link to Video, 5.3 Mb
- Link to Video, 1.7 Mb
- Link to Video, 5.4 Mb
- Link to Video, 12.2 Mb
- Link to Video, 42.8 Mb
- Link to Video, 19.2 Mb
- Link to Video, 64.2 Mb: I finally decided to start filming the Garmin,
just for kicks. It was a single road to a roundabout by the bridge by this point. I think I was just more fascinated with
the Garmin we had borrowed from Mike's parents.
- Link to Video, 33.3 Mb: This one starts with a quote m hubby will never let
me live down about why we were listening to Irish music on the Scotland trip. This video switches CDs to "Within a Mile of Home"
by Flogging Molly.
- Link to Video, 58.3 Mb: I was not in the study when Mike first
found this video, but I could hear him laughing from across the house. Yes, I could not help but sing along to some of the
songs. I tried to be really quiet about it, but was not quiet enough. *grin*
- Link to Video, 149.4 Mb: THE BRIDGE! This video contains the last shots
of the road to Skye and ends with the bridge to Skye.
THE ISLE OF SKYE - KINLOCH LODGE
July 9, 2008
THE ISLE OF SKYE - KINLOCH LODGE & BROADFORD
July 10, 2008
- Link to Video, 2.4 Mb:
A valiant effort by Mike to film the narrow staircase at the lodge, it just ends with a pretty decent shot of me
- Link to Video, 9.2 Mb:
The sitting room at Kinloch lodge. This is where we had our official 10th anniversary after-dinner drinks. Mike
zooms in on the 50 year old bottle of Talisker (labeled "Isle of Skye", Talisker is the only distillery on the Isle of
Skye). It was amazing! and very expensive.
- Link to Video, 7 Mb:
The view from our lodge in Broadford. The Kinloch lodge was booked on our actual 10th anniversary, so we moved a mile or so
up the road to a very beautiful Bed & Breakfast in Broadford. It was right on the water! Upon the recommendation of our host,
Neal, we ate dinner at the restaurant in Broadford where the Bonnie Prince Charles provided his recipe for Drambuie in
gratitude for their help. We revisited the story of the prince when we went further south in Scotland - a contrast
cause by whether the area was for or against him.
THE ISLE OF SKYE - ROAD TRIP
July 11, 2008
For our anniversary, we took a drive around part of the Isle of Skye, and made a few stops recommended by Neal. If you look at
this map, we started at Broadford, went up through Portree to the northern edge, came back down through Uig, and then
headed back to Broadford. Later, we then went over the bridge to the mainland to have dinner in Plockton.
- Link to Video, 11.1 Mb: Trying to find the
Old Man of Storr. This
was the start of our race against the storm...the time spent at each spot was largely determined by when the
rain caught up with us.
- Link to Video, 8.4 Mb: Standing at the northern end of Skye, looking
at the North Sea....and sheep!
- Link to Video, 11.1 Mb: Pretty awesome cliffs along the North Sea
- Link to Video, 8.1 Mb: More cliffs along the North Sea
- Link to Video, 3.4 Mb: same spot
- Link to Video, 11.1 Mb: Looking north from the Faerie Glen. This was a
spot we had never heard of - Neal recommended it. There are geological formations and little trees that leave the whole thing
looking like a scene in miniature. He said there has been quite a bit of filming done for various movies in this area. This first
video is just looking north from the glen, the next set shows the glen itself.
- Link to Video, 15 Mb: Faerie Glen
- Link to Video, 4 Mb: Faerie Glen
- Link to Video, 7 Mb: Faerie Glen
BROADFORD B&B - Tigh An Dochais
July 11, 2008
- Link to Video, 3 Mb: A view of our room in Broadford.
- Link to Video, 5.7 Mb: View from the yard of the B&B
- Link to Video, 11.3 Mb: Inside the B&B - good intentions here,
but it looks like something out of a really bad horror movie. It starts on the bottom floor with the guest rooms and
goes upstairs to the very lovely living room with its view of the water.
- Link to Video, 3.5 Mb: Inside the B&B - Take 2 of the bottom floor
near the guest rooms. No shoes on the hardwood, no mysterious Kari shadow, smoother walk this time.
- Link to Video, 3.3 Mb: This video of a menacing turtle is for
Rob Lyon, from Mike.
FROM SKYE TO MALLAIG BY FERRY
July 12, 2008
We left the Isle of Skye via ferry and drove to the coastal town of Oban. you guessed it - this one has a distillery, too.
DRIVING FROM MALLAIG TO OBAN
July 12, 2008
THE ISLE OF ISLAY AND ITS MANY DISTILLERIES
July 14, 2008
One little island full of distilleries. On the 13th, we traveled to Isla by ferry - not really good for video because the
weather was terrible. That evening, we visited the Kilchoman Distillery - the newest one on Scotland. It was so new that their oldest
product could not yet be called Scotch - it was only 2 years old and by law, a Scotch must be aged at least 3 years. Tasty nonetheless, and along with
other enthusiasts around the world, we anxiously awaited the release of the first batch of Kilchoman scotches in 2009. We got a bottle from the fall
bottling and we were very pleased with it.
The next day, we started our planned tour of the isle. The distilleries on Isla were more open than the previous ones we had visited, and they
didn't mind cameras. So, you get to see some of the real action in these videos. Over all, I highly recommend a trip to Isla for anyone interested in
distilling. It's a fantastic place full of wonderful people. We loved it!
BRUICHLADDICH DISTILLERY, ISLAY
July 14, 2008
The first stop in a very busy day was the
Bruichladdich Distillery. They are so open that they
actually have web cams so visitors can see what's going on at any time. See their web cams page at
http://www.bruichladdich.com/web_cam.htm. They also have a
glossary of scotch distilling terms.
- Link to Video, 5.4 Mb: The mill house. This is where the barley is ground
into grist. From the Bruichladdich glossary, grist is "a mix of mainly flour and chaff obtained from
passing malted barley through a mill. Hence the phrase: ‘It’s all grist that comes to my mill’ =
it is to my advantage. The proportion of flour to chaff is important in determining the release of
sugars in the mashing process. "
- Link to Video, 2.8 Mb: Making the mash. You see the machinery mixing the milled barley
with hot water. From the Bruichladdich glossary:
"Mash is the mixture of Grist (malted barley flour & chaff) and very hot water that resembles a porridge-like solution
in the Mash Tun - a large cast iron vat. The mashing process, where hot water slowly percolates through
the Grist taking the now dissolved sugar with it, occurs in the Mash House, and is carried out by a mash man.
The resultant sweet, sugary water is called Wort."
- Link to Video, 5.3 Mb: Here is an empty Wash Tun.
From the Bruichladdich glossary: Wash is a "kind of 7% beer obtained after the ‘wort’ has been fermented. The ‘wash’ is distilled
to concentrate the alcohol from 7% to 70%."
- Link to Video, 2.8 Mb: The still house, part 1. This is where the wash is fermented - multiple times. The process starts with
the low wines. From the Bruichladdich glossary - "The result of the first distillation from the Wash Still,
at a strength of about 30% alcohol. This is collected in to the low Wines receiver and is then
re-distilled a second time in the Spirit Still."
You will see a lot on the web site about middle cut/feints or head/heart/tail. This refers to the chronological results of the distillation process. What comes
out first is the head, which is way too strong to be made into product. Next is the "heart" - roughly 68.5% alcohol, this is what is used to make the scotch. What comes
out last from the still is the tail or feints. This is too impure to be made into product, so the stillman diverts it into a different container. From the Bruichladdich glossary,
feints are the "weaker strength impure spirit which occurs at the end of the distillation process - after the desirable Middle Cut. Also called ‘Tails’.
These can be lethal if consumed and provide the origin of ‘Blind Drunk’"
You will
see a large glass box that is locked - the spirit safe. For tax purposes, the distillery is required to keep track of all the alcohol produced. They are allowed to
deduct evaporation losses of 2% per year once the scotch has been placed in the warehouse. (Note this is less than the 5% per year in bourbon
country, due to a difference in the climate.)
- Link to Video, 2.2 Mb: The still house, part 2.
- Link to Video, 2.3 Mb: The still house, part 3.
- Link to Video, 1 Mb: Looking at the exterior of the warehouse
- Link to Video, 4.6 Mb: Bottling room, part 1
- Link to Video, 3.9 Mb: Bottling room, part 1
CAOL ILA DISTILLERY, ISLAY
July 14, 2008
We didn't take video for all the distilleries we saw on the 14th - just Bruichladdich and Caol Ila. You've probably had Caol Ila before
and just didn't realize it. Until recently, Caol Ila was sold primarily to be included in various blends, like Johnnie Walker.
When Diageo
bought the distillery, they decided to start marketing the single malt more heavily.
This wasn't the first Diageo facility we had been to (pronounced like Diego). They own the following single malts:
- Caol Ila
- Cardhu
- Clynelish
- Cragganmore
- Dalwhinnie
- Glen Elgin
- Glen Ord
- Glenkinchie
- Knockando
- Lagavulin
- Oban
- Royal Lochnagar
- Talisker
I was very surprised that somehow the existence of this
giant company had escaped our notice.
Here is the summary info from Diageo's web site:
"Diageo is the world's leading premium drinks business with an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol
brands across spirits, wine and beer categories. These brands include: Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker,
Captain Morgan, Baileys, J&B, José Cuervo, Tanqueray, Guinness, Crown Royal, Beaulieu Vineyard and
Sterling Vineyards wines, and Bushmills Irish whiskey.
Diageo is a global company, trading in over 180 markets around the world. The company is listed on both
the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and the New York Stock Exchange (DEO).
We employ over 22,000 talented people worldwide with offices in around 80 countries. We have manufacturing
facilities across the globe including Great Britain, Ireland, United States, Canada, Spain,
Italy, Africa, Latin America, Australia, India and the Caribbean.
Diageo was formed in 1997, following the merger of GrandMet and Guinness, and is headquartered in London.
The word Diageo comes from the Latin for day (dia) and the Greek for world (geo). We take this to mean
every day, everywhere, people celebrate with our brands."
- Link to Video, 3.8 Mb: The wash tun room at Caol Ila. Just looking around you can tell that
this is a much larger distillery.
- Link to Video, 3 Mb: Just in case you couldn't tell, Mike provided a view at the total depth of
one of these wash tuns through the grated floor.
- Link to Video, 1.1 Mb: Mash-tastic
- Link to Video, 1.7 Mb: Mash-tastic part 2. Mike likes this one for the steam on the camera. He says he can almost smell it.
- Link to Video, 0.8 Mb: I just gotta be me...I'm not sure, but the whole purpose of this snippet may be to show me wandering around.
- Link to Video, 0.8 Mb: Various stages of fermentation, part 1
- Link to Video, 0.7 Mb: Various stages of fermentation, part 2
- Link to Video, 1.0 Mb: Various stages of fermentation, part 3
- Link to Video, 0.7 Mb: Various stages of fermentation, part 4
- Link to Video, 1.1 Mb: Various stages of fermentation, part 5
- Link to Video, 2.8 Mb: At most distilleries, they will let you sample the "beer". Here is our tour guide extracting a sample.
- Link to Video, 1.4 Mb: Those who know me well can already guess my reaction. Mike loves this video.
- Link to Video, 4.4 Mb: The still room
- Link to Video, 1.5 Mb: View of the Isle of Jura from the Caol Ila still room, part 1
- Link to Video, 1.2 Mb: part 2
- Link to Video, 3.7 Mb: part 3
- Link to Video, 1.3 Mb: Spirit Safe
- Link to Video, 2.4 Mb:
View of the Sound of Islay and the Isle of Jura from just outside the still room
BOWMORE DISTILLERY, ISLAY
July 15, 2008
Last Updated 08Feb2010