My First Trip to Scotland Collection
Just back from my first trip to Scotland and managed to get a few bottles back home with me. Spent about a week hiking the West Highland Way with my wife before a quick visit to Ardnamurchan and then a few days in Campbeltown.
Lindores Abbey × Thompson Bros — 1/299 Finished 18 Months in STR Ex-Oloroso Hogshead
I wanted to find a cat bottle from Thompson Bros and found this lovely one from Lindores Abbey at Good Spirits Co. in Glasgow.
Springbank 10 Years Old
Bought at the distillery, one of ten on offer that morning. I had a lot of other Springbank drams between various spots and at the Ardshiel Hotel and Washback Bar, but wanted to bring the 10 home as my first personal bottle.
Ardnamurchan Distillery Heritage Malt 2025
One of my favourite distilleries, with an amazing tour and location on the remote Ardnamurchan Peninsula down single-track roads. I work in the beer industry, so getting something barley focused was a goal.
Ardnamurchan Distillery Port Cask Finish — Black Bottle Shop Exclusive
This port cask had just been emptied and was ready for refilling when we took the tour, so we got a good smell of the empty barrel. Figured it'd be a nice way to recall that day in future drams.
Longrow 100 Proof, Batch 2
I really fell in love with Longrow in Campbeltown. Of all the drams, that Highland peat and Campbeltown funk just kept calling me back. They are focusing on the 100 Proof series for Longrow, so I grabbed the new batch.
Ben Nevis 11 Years Old — Cadenhead's
We hiked the West Highland Way from Glasgow to Fort William, the home of Ben Nevis. Oddly hard to find a dram of it outside of the distillery, which we popped into quickly. Since we later did the Cadenhead’s warehouse cask tasting, I split the difference and got a fairly clean Ben Nevis 11 from the shop in Campbeltown.
Ardbeg Smoketrails Version 3 — Cabernet Sauvignon Cask Finish
Glasgow Airport duty free, a classic travel exclusive. They had Batch 2, the Côte du Rhône, too, but I opted for the newer Cabernet Sauvignon cask finish.