My Whisky Road Trip in Scotland

More than 70 countries later and I finally found the place where I can definitely say, “This is the place I love the most.” 

That place: Scotland. 

I’d come to Scotland on assignment—a whisky-tasting road trip. I know…rough assignment. And somewhere between a bout of morning rain and a burst of afternoon sunshine, I fell in love with the place.  

I won’t even waste your time trying to describe the beauty of the lower Highlands, in and around Speyside, to the south and east of Inverness. Maybe it’s as much a state of mind as it is a definitive place. Whatever it is…I want to be there every day now just because it is so comfortingly beautiful to observe. 

Scotland also rekindled my love of collecting. 

I mean, I haven’t abandoned collecting. But I did stop collecting wine after losing my job several years ago, while also going through a divorce that saw me and my ex-wife auction off a 600-plus-bottle collection of high-end California Cabernet and French Bordeaux (at a very nice profit).  

After those experiences, I really had no physical place—and no finances—to begin rebuilding a cellar. 

But then I came to Scotland to write about touring distilleries and investing in acclaimed single-malt whiskies… 

And just like that, my collector gene turned on again. 

I’ve known for many a year that the right Irish, Scottish, and Japanese whiskies can fetch a pretty penny at auction. But I never was much of a whisky drinker until several years ago, when a friend in Uruguay introduced me to Macallan 18-year-old Scottish whisky. I realized then what a really good dram could be.  

In recent years, I’ve been visiting Ireland regularly. There, friends and colleagues have introduced me to superb Irish whiskey (by the way, Ireland spells whiskey with an “e,” Scotland does not). 

When you’re sampling the really good stuff, you quickly grasp why bottles of great whisky are as coveted as bottles of fine wine. And why whisky auctions regularly see older bottles that originally cost $200 or less sell for thousands of dollars or more. 

After touring one distillery, GlenDronach, I sat down for a tasting of three of their whiskies. All were among the best I’d tasted on the trip. The oldest was 18 years of age. Stunning. And it made we want to taste an even older bottle…the 21-year-old. 

Big mistake. 

It was liquid gold. 

Which is why my Visa card now has a $210 charge on it. 

In truth, there should be another charge for more than $300—for a 2000 vintage from another distillery. I really—really—wanted that bottle, but such desire does not pair well with the soft-sided backpack I tend to travel with on short trips.

I had one bottle—the 21-year-old—already packed inside high-top hiking books and surrounded by a sweater and jeans. That was enough of a risk. I couldn’t cotton the thought of more than $500 worth of whisky either breaking open in transit…or being pilfered in some airport baggage area. 

Still, my whisky collecting adventure is officially underway. I hope to return to Scotland soon, with my wife Yulia this time. I might just drive from Prague and hop a ferry in Holland or maybe shoot through the Channel Tunnel between France and England.  

I will load up on several bottles from distilleries I really like, and I will go in search of others from distilleries I still want to visit. 

And as a not-so-insignificant, ancillary benefit I will get to spend more time in a country that now sits at #1 on my list of the world’s most beautiful places.