UK 2014, Scotch tour and Iona Gallery Tea

We started the day with a tour of the Dalwhinnie Distillery. It had rained all night and water was pouring of the mountains, little streams and waterfalls as we drove back down the road we had driven up yesterday. It was still pouring as we drove into the parking lot. We gave them our information and received a "passport" to get a free tour there and at 6 other distilleries and 3 pound off any 700ml bottle. There were 13 of us on the tour and as we were taken through the rooms the process was explained. We were asked to turn off cell phones and not take pictures as the fumes, that we could smell throughout the building, are quite flammable. The building has burned down once.

How to make scotch: There are 3 ingredients in any scotch whisky; barley, yeast and water. The water is from a loch above the distillery that comes down via a "wee stream". Scotch needs a lot of water. The barley is not grown locally, but on the east side of Scotland. Our guide stated that most of the distilleries use very similar brewers yeast.  The barley is damped and heated and it sprouts (this used to be done in house but is now done at a malting facility). The copper peaked chimneys where to let the heat from the malt drying rooms escape.

The malted barley is then dried. At Dalwhinnie's it is dried in a tumble drier that peat smoke is blown through. The dried malted barley is then crushed into "grist", and mixed with hot water  in the "mash tun". It holds 64,000 litres. The "wort" is the liquid produced (now it has naturally produced sugar) and flows through the sieves at the bottom and out into huge wooden vats with yeast. The fermenting vats sit for 60 hours and it is then basically beer.
From there it moves into beautiful copper stills where it is heated into a vapour, rises out of the building into a condenser where it rapidly liquefies. Here's the tricky part. The initial liquid produced has a very high alcohol content (the head), the middle of the run is the perfect alcohol content (the heart) and the end (the tail) has a low alcohol content. The heart is then moved into a second copper still and through the condenser again. The head and the tail are added to the next batch and put through the distilling/condensing process again. The clear liquid (un-aged whisky) is stored, for at least 3 years, in oak vats, when it takes on colour and vanilla flavour from the ex-Kentucky Bourbon barrels. Some evaporates in the cellar. We could smell it in there. The guide called it the "angels share".  The alcohol content of the finished scotch is too high so distilled water is added which also modifies the flavour. Then we moved into tasting with a little piece of chocolate. Pam and I handed off our glasses to others who would appreciate it more.
The differences in scotch are attributed to differences in water, drying methods (not all use peat), different shapes of the stills, the finishing barrels and unspecified "tweeking" of the process.
You and I both now know more than we ever wanted to about the making of Scotch.
We returned home to out wet laundry and as there is no electric drier here we used the tried and true method - radiators.

Sock drying Kingussie style.

After lunch we had been invited to the Iona Gallery for an afternoon tea they were putting on. It was our first chance to see our rug hooking hanging in the gallery along with fabric art from local artists.

My piece in the exhibition, "Call home".

Wet wool felted piece by Katie Jackson

Wet wool felting by Jennifer Budd

We had bought some materials with us to demonstrate rug hooking and ended up doing a bit of a presentation and instruction. The local people present were very friendly, complimentary and interested in the craft.

Sitting around talking and trying rug hooking.

There was also a display of old rugs, borrowed from the local folk museum.

One of the old rugs had been hooked on a Canadian burlap sack, though it was unclear
140lbs of what?

We walked home (we are 2 houses away from the gallery), lit the coal fire that had been set for us in the living room and had fish and chips for supper.

Note the tall coal scuttle on the left, full of coal for us to use.