We started the day at the Pink Footed Goose with a little blogging. It has been pretty warm with highs in the mid to upper 80s -- and little to no rain or humidity.
This is not pink footed nor a goose, but it is an adornment at the Pink Footed Goose.
The clouds are low on the mountain but the road is dry and open.
A typical view driving around Skye.
We are on a mission to see another distillery. This time it is the Talisker Distillery which is on our passport list that awards us a free tour. We take it and get our passport stamped for the second time.
A retired copper pot now used as a planter.
Our guide speaks with such a strong Scottish brogue that hardly anyone could understand him. We were the only Americans in the group of 15....Belgium, France, and Germany were also represented. Really felt sorry for them....hard enough to understand English.....but when spoken with such an accent, almost impossible. Did notice that the one teenager in the group caught most of the jokes....
The company which owns the two distilleries we have visited is Diageo. The company owns about 12 single malt whisky distilleries. BUT they also own Johnnie Walker, J&B, Crown Royal, Bushmills, Smirnoff, Ketel One, Baileys, Captain Morgan, Tanqueray, AND Guinness as well as others. They bill themselves as the world's leading premium alcohol drinks business. They have been smart enough to not touch the process of making the single malts.
Dr Johnson was not on the tourist board.
They are a bit proud of their toughness on Skye.
They do not allow pictures in the confines of the distillery building because of the fire hazard of a spark in a potentially explosive mixture of air and alcohol. We took this from outside the doors. You can see parts of two of their five stills. They do a two-stage single-pot distillation that takes the alcohol content to 60+% ABV (alcohol by volume).
The spirits are then put into previously used bourbon casks and aged for a range of from 3 to 30 years. After the tour, we tasted their 10 year old. At Talisker they malt their barley in lots of peat. The whisky, therefore, has a highly smoky flavour. They also cut the whisky with water before bottling to 43.5% ABV -- it has a nice burn also.
This is the flavour map for whiskies. Notice all the Taliskers are strong on smoky.
After tasting a couple of alternatives and buying a bottle of the Talisker 10 year old, we are off to Portree, the largest town on Skye. We are ready for lunch and Kathy's research indicated that The Granary on the town square was good.
A beautiful day calls for a table outside.
The fish n chips are breaded not battered and smaller but delicious with a Skye Ale.
Kathy's is oatmeal crusted Brie, mango salsa and couscous croquettes....delicious. Our food has been fantastic!
One of the new things for us is rectangular toilet seats. OK, we are easily impressed. Kathy says they, the square ones, fit better.
After lunch, we walk to the harbour -- a beautiful place.
The seafood is fresh here. We watched one of the fishing boats come in and go directly into a refrigerated van to go to the stores and restaurants.
This sign caught Kathy's eye as we passed....she had just read about this "house" turned #1 ranked restaurant on Trip Advisor. She walks up to the house, with Tom hanging behind, to ask for dinner reservations. The lovely hostess and owner said both seatings are fully booked. A beautiful woman (I didn't think to get a picture), she is the chef and her two sons are the waiters! Check it out on the web! #1 in Portree, Scotland. The only complaint was the fact that no one could find it!!! But we did!
The have not only good food, but an ideal location right on the water.
Almost looks like Charleston's "Rainbow Row"....along the harbour of Portree
Our bed n breakfast hostess, Jenny, told us about the Cuillin Hills Hotel. She and her girlfriends like to go here for coffee where it is quiet...no tourists....and a nice view of the harbour. We took her suggestion....a bit of a hike from town, but well worth it.
The green expanse of lawn you see above is apparently open for anyone to enjoy. We sighted several people enjoying the view....so we joined them!
After a few hours of delicious sunshine, relaxing and reading, we are hungry. It is about 5:30 pm by now. The restaurant is open and empty.....
We look out where we were as we wait for dinner....what a lovely spot which we would have NEVER found without Jenny's suggestion.
We both had lamb loin....not sure what the stuff in the middle is/was. Kathy is not adventurous like Tom....he ate it, but didn't know what it was either. The lamb was tender, juicy and tasty.
On our walk back to the car, we could hear bagpipes, which is a common occurrence, as you may imagine.
We were delightfully surprised to see this parade, which is a weekly event in Portree. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time. The drum major is probably our age. He is very proud of his heritage, his position and a joy to watch!
The gentleman in the forefront might be 30....the one on the far end about 50.....
all the rest of the band is young!!!!! maybe high school age?
What an inspiration to see all these young people continuing the tradition
The drum is bigger than she is...it says: Isle of Skye Pipe Band. She was "into her music!"
It was a very happy way to end our day...brought a tear to Kathy....the mournful sound of the bagpipe....the old and the young together honouring their heritage.....beautiful.
