GLENGOYNE DISTILLERY, SCOTLAND
For the amateur distiller, making your own whisky has associations with bathtubs, accidental blindness and concerned visits from the local constabulary. Far safer to pay a visit to the tasting laboratory at the Glengoyne Distillery – one of the most beautiful in all Caledonia, set near the foothills of the Highlands and the pebbly coves of Loch Lomond. Here, novices can have a go at blending their own Highland single malt under the supervision of an expert, being schooled in whisky vocabulary and mixing mellow bourbon-cask malts with sweet sherry-cask varieties. Participants get to take their own bottles home, but better to pop one in a backpack and go for a stroll among the surrounding heather-swathed glens and blustery Munros, all looking radiant in autumn hues. The summit of nearby Conic Hill (361m) is the perfect spot for a dram while watching the sun set over the wooded islands of Loch Lomond.
Glengoyne Distillery is set at the foot of Dumgoyne Hill, surrounded by woodland which allegedly provided a hiding place for outlaw Rob Roy McGregor