A Great Scottish Night Out!

Scotland Tonight

presented by the

Sons of Scotland Pipe Band

An Evening of Celtic Excellence
Saturday, November 15, 2008
The Bronson Centre, 211 Bronson Avenue

Tickets $20.00
Available at TicketWeb www.ticketweb.ca
or by phone at 1 888 222 6608

featuring
The Sons of Scotland Pipe Band
Mac an Alba
MacCulloch School of Dance
Katharine Robinson School of Dance
Caithream Celtic Dance Fusion
Singer Carol Anderson

Vendors, door prize, and something for everyone
at the 7th Annual Scotland Tonight!

More information at The Sons of Scotland Website

Longs Peak Scottish Irish Highland Festival

The Longs Peak Scottish-Irish Highland Festival is one of the biggest Celtic festivals in the US. Held at Estes Park, Colorado from September 4 to 7, 2008, the 32nd annual festival was a magnificent affair, showcasing traditional Highland Games, Irish dancing, pipe bands galore, caber tossing, over 90 clans, gallons of Guinness and Glenfiddich, the opportunity to buy every conceivable piece of Scottish merchandise imaginable, a massive parade, a magnificent Tattoo, jousting, featuring knights in full armour, some of Scotland's top Celtic and Gaelic entertainers, more Scotch pies than the average constitution could handle.................. I could go on.
Highlights of the Tattoo, stage shows and closing banquet were the magnificent performances of the US Marine Corps Band from 29 Palms, California. Whether performing with razor sharp precision and impeccable choreography or wowing the crowds with their unbelievable jazz routines, the band members were the darlings of the festival.
I had the huge pleasure of singing at the evening Tattoos and at the Opening ceremonies, accompanied by the Marine Band and two magnificent Pipe Bands, including Ottawa's own Highland Mist Pipe Band. How a Scottish Canadian found herself singing God Bless America with this amazing backup band is still a bit of a mystery. Great life experience though. The decidedly chilly evenings and the thin air at 7,500 feet added an interesting challenge.

The blood stirring band of the tent performances was Albannach - a mighty group of Scotsmen and one woman, whose ear splitting Celtic rock performances had crowds, spanning four generations, dancing wildly to their compulsive sound. I bought one of their live CD's, which definitely loses something in the translation, but will be great to keep in the car for boring long journeys.

Almost the highlight of the entire week was the impromptu ceilidh held late one night in someone's room back at the Y hostel, where all the noisy pipe and brass bands were kept out of the way. It's impossible to manufacture times like that. With an age span of 13 to mid 70's, great camaraderie, no TVs, possibly a couple of Scotches, and an endless stream of songs and pipe tunes to sing and hum, it was a timeless gathering.

Photos of Denis Watson and Carol Anderson courtesy of Longs Peak Scottish Irish Highland Festival

Read more about the festival.

Ottawa Due West/Due East Magazine Fall 2008

Click on the article to read.

Independent Distilleries

Two of Scotland's few remaining independent distilleries are well worth a visit - Lochranza Distillery on the Isle of Arran and Edradour, near Aberfeldy. My August travels took me to Scotland and I popped in to visit both places.
The Island of Arran is spectacular - beautiful scenery, rolling hills, great mountains, fabulous coastline. As long as we don't talk about the midgies, it's one of my favourite places on earth. In addition to checking out distilleries, I panted my way up Goatfell with a few other hardy family members. Goatfell is just short of a Munro in height, but challenging enough after a late evening, lots of singing and more than a few fine Scotches.
Lochranza distillery is located in the north of the Island. It opened in 1995 and in 2007 was voted Scotland's best distillery by its peers. The visitor centre is terrific, the staff friendly, enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and the Arran Malt 10 year old is a nice dram. Aged mainly in ex-bourbon casks, unchill-filtered, 46% ABV, with no caramel added and no peat used in the barley malting process, this is a fairly smooth whisky, with indisputable vanilla and cinnamon on the nose. Their first 12 year old, finished in sherry casks, will be out in November. The distillery also produces some cask strength offerings and experiments with interesting cask finishes like Sassicaia, Madeira, Moscatel and Tokaji. My group tasted quite a few! In time for the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns next January, there will be a special edition of their Robert Burns Single Malt. James McTaggart, previously of Bowmore Distillery on Islay, is the stillman and maltmaster at Arran. From time to time, the LCBO carries varies products from Lochranza Distillery.
Arran is an hour from the mainland. Catch the ferry from Ardrossan on the west coast of Scotland to Brodick on Arran. The Auchrannie Spa and Resort in Brodick is a terrific place to stay. The lodges are well laid out and comfortable, there are three restaurants, lots of indoor sports and activities and it's a great base for cycling, hiking, visiting Lochranza and, if you're up for it, climbing Goatfell. There's also a tiny brewery on the island, Brodick Castle, a wonderful cheese factory and the famous Arran Aromatics.

Lochranza Distillery photos courtesy of matt.edwards@arranwhisky.com

Back on the mainland and hidden away near Pitlochry in the beautiful Perthshire countryside, Edradour was established in 1825 and is the smallest distillery in Scotland.The still dates back to 1888 and the Morton's refrigerator is claimed to be the oldest in the world. It is now privately owned by Andrew Symington, shown in the photo, and is a delightful and quite beautiful place to visit. Everything is tiny. A mere 15 casks a week are filled, all of it going towards Single Malt, non for blended whisky. The Edradour 10 year old Single Malt has a rich colour, a heather honey nose with a creamy, smooth palate with a smoky sweetness and a slightly minty aftertaste. I also tasted a 10 year old unchill-filtered single cask bottling - a wonderful smooth, rich, well-balanced whisky that is very tasty with a nice slice of homemade dark fruitcake and, coming soon in Ottawa, a roaring log fire. Additionally, the distillery produces a 13 year old cask strength whisky, a favourite of most of the distillery staff. Some of the cask strength bottlings are hand filled into smaller bottles - a rare activity these days. They also have a range of Scotches finished in an odd range of experimental finishes - ex Sauternes, ex Super Tuscan, ex Chateau d'Yquem, and the like. Apparently the casks for these finishes are hand selected. I sampled a few and couldn't find one I liked. I'll probably have to go back and try again.
As a complete contrast to the unpeated Edradour Single Malt, the Ballechin range of single malts is, they claim, the most peated in Scotland. Peat is measured in parts per million (ppm) of phenols in the mix and the Ballechin range has 62ppm. Laphroaig, by comparison has 35 to 40ppm. Whew!
The distillery tour is great. Ask for Frank. He knows his whisky.



Lochranza Distillery

Edradour Distillery

Single Malt Tasting at DiVino Wine Studio

Mark your calendar for Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 and join us for a unique Single Malt Scotch tasting at the terrific, new DiVino Wine Studio at 225 Preston Street, Ottawa. Italian appetizers, cheeses and other delights will share the table with an excellent range of Single Malt Scotches at this unique tasting. Beautiful location, great food, excellent Scotches, a little learning - what a fine way to spend an evening!
7pm to 9pm $85 plus tax

Add a pre-seminar dinner special (5:30pm to 7pm) for $29. Includes an appetizer, pasta and two 3oz wine samples.
For information and reservations, call 613 221 9760 or email bookings@divinowinestudio.com

Scotch Whisky Tasting

On June 17th, 2008, on another rainy Ottawa evening, an enthusiastic group of some 30 Scotch lovers gathered together to taste a range of quite different Scotches, and nibble on an odd assortment of munchies, in a quest to see what, if anything, paired well. Actually, the Scotch knowledge in the group ranged from "intimate experience with almost the complete range of offerings from particular distilleries" to "don't think I like Scotch". After a focussed nosing and an opportunity to sample some very tasty whiskies, the latter category seemed to disappear.

The range of favourites was as diverse as the group, a not uncommon occurrence at these events. On the nosing menu was a Connoisseurs' Blend, as it is named -Te Bheag (pronounced Chey Veck) from the Island of Skye. Claiming a high percentage of Malt Whisky from all over Scotland in the blend, this one was deemed to be great value and a nice sipper. With a little toffee, some spice and a touch of smoky peat on the nose, and nothing overwhelming on the palate, this had decent balance for the price.

The 18 year old Highland Park was a big star of the evening, and a major contributor to the demise of the home made fruitcake, which seemed to be crying out for a partnership with this absolutely brilliant and luscious whisky. Other contenders were a 21 year old Glenfiddich, finished in Cuban rum casks and the 16 year old Lagavulin, always in great demand beyond its availability. An absolutely brilliant match for Roquefort, it was tempting to open a bottle of Sauternes, also a brilliant match for Roquefort, to compare and contrast - and really confuse the tastebuds!

"Your Scotch Tasting presentation was WONDERFUL!! I learnt a lot about Scotches, the way they are distilled and the various regions in Scotland. It was like being there again!" Armand L

"Thanks for the most enjoyable scotch tasting evening. We found your presentation to be interesting, informative and entertaining. The selection of scotches was well chosen to illustrate some of the wide ranging differences in the product, as was the selection of accompanying nibbles. The prepared notes were particularly useful in helping us to compare and contrast the samples." Doug S

"Carol, your knowledgeable presentation was excellent and I felt that all of us were enlightened. I enjoyed mixing with other guests and discussing and tasting your choice of Scotch whiskies. Thank you for a great evening." Al N

"The scotch tasting event was really enjoyable. I found it very informative and it was fun to have the breaks between each bottle to chat and try various foods with the scotches." Steve A

"Many thanks for a great educational and social event. Your talk on the many types and tastes of Scotch was a revelation, and at least two of the brands you had us sample are now on my whisky shopping list." Doug M

"Thanks so much for the whisky nosing last evening. We enjoyed it immensely. As somewhat experienced whisky drinkers we appreciated the fact that your selections were some of the best available at the LCBO. It was a great opportunity for us to try some whiskies that we perhaps would not have purchased. The food that you had available to match with the whiskies was also appreciated and it definitely enhanced the experience" Ann and Doug

"I wanted to thank you for a wonderful evening. It was great...I loved the presentation, I loved the whisky, I loved the format...it was perfect." MF G

"The only affordable way to do side by side tastings of high end Scotches" MD

Ottawa Due West/Due East Magazine, Spring 2008

Click on the article to read.