Sam, Steve and Kyle travelled up to Inverurie to attend a Whisky Ambassador course and examination. Inverurie is around 3 hours away from Edinburgh, and if you’re going to go that far may as well make the day out of it (as a tourist company should!). On the way to Inverurie we stopped at The Kinclaven Bluebell woods which is just beautiful. If you go at the right time of year the Blue Bells in bloom are mesmerising, like something out of a fairy tale. In the wood there is also a very mystical tree, in this large wood filled of trees slim and high, stands one tree that seems magical. It is if it has been split in two and is larger than the rest with no other trees surrounding it.

We had 2 more stops on our way to Inverurie, Castle Fraser and East Aquhorthies Stone Circle. Very different purposes and places but both spectacular. Castle Fraser is down a long driveway, situated in the middle of a large grass field. It has been designed beautifully, with a grand arch entrance where you can see the whole castle. This is one of the few Castles of Scotland where you are allowed to walk on the roof and see down as if it were still a castle in use. It is actually one of the largest tower houses in Scotland with some parts dating back as early as 1450.

Our next stop was East Aquhorthies Stone Circle. This is one of Scotland’s best preserved recumbent stone circles and still to this day people wonder what its original purpose may have been. Although we don’t know a lot about Scotlands stone circles, this one appears to have been chosen by colours there are different coloured stones at different parts of the circle. Did this have meaning in the past? Is it a coincidence? We may never know.

The next day Sam, Steve and Kyle undertook the whisky course where they learned more than just the basics about whisky. They learned differences in tastes, colours, aromas and how the slightest change can impact the entire flavour. Through the day they gained further knowledge in the history of Scotch whisky, differences in the regional distilleries and even specific processes and timings of different distilled casks. 

Not all whisky is Scotch but all Scotch is whisky. 🥃

With the new found knowledge they all sat the exam and passed. We won’t tell you who got the highest marks, but with three out of three passes Edinburgh Tour Guides now have three accredited Whisky Ambassadors. With the 3 accredited ambassadors this now means that the company - Edinburgh Tour Guides - is now also an accredited Whisky Ambassador. Look out for some Whisky Tours coming soon!

With this midsummer update Edinburgh is now preparing for the Fringe Festival, which is a very busy period in Edinburgh, full of great events, parties and the famous Edinburgh Military Tattoo. We look forward to welcoming visitors to Scotland and Edinburgh, families, friends, Fringe festival go-ers and everyone in between. We are almost fully booked now through the next couple of months and we can't wait to welcome you all to Scotland. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿