Sixty distilleries, hundreds of miles, one day – and a whole hoard of whisky.
“And they called us mad,” said Willie Wallace, pulling in to the Aberfeldy distillery. Even Willie, who has been running whisky tours in Scotland for 20 years, is letting on a sense of relief, knowing that things might not have worked out as well as they did. We’d been on the road for 17 hours, and in that time we’d visited 59 distilleries. Aberfeldy is the sixtieth and final.
Charting several hundred miles of Scotland’s Highlands and Speyside from sunrise over the Moray Firth to sundown in rural Perthshire, The Great Whisky Distillery Challenge Team set a new record for the most distilleries visited in one day.
And that’s not all: en route we amassed a unique (and frankly massive) collection of 55 bottles of whisky, which was raffled in aid of international water development Just a Drop (see below for the full bottle list). As whisky enthusiasts we know the importance of water to ‘the water of life’, but to many people around the world water really does mean life – and so we knew that this was a charity deserving of our full support.
Almost £11,000 was raised – enough to support an entire community in Zambia with access to clean, safe water and sanitation. Thanks to all who followed on social media on the day, and to all involved in supporting the event! And congratulations, of course, to Mike Jackson, the lucky winner of The Collection!
Keep an eye out on the new competition section on our website for more whisky to be won over the coming months.
The Great Whisky Distillery Challenge Collection
Balblair 2005
Glenmorangie Bacalta Private Edition
Whyte & Mackay Triple Matured
Dalmore 18 Year Old
Teaninich 10 Year Old
The Singleton of Glen Ord 15 Year Old
Royal Brackla 16 Year Old
Benromach 10 Year Old
Ballantine’s Finest
Triumph
Glen Moray 15 Year Old
Miltonduff Cask Strength 16 Year Old
Mannochmore 12 Year Old
Glenlossie 10 Year Old
Glen Elgin 12 Year Old
Longmorn 16 Year Old
The BenRiach Heart of Speyside
Inchgower 14 Year Old
Aultmore 12 Year Old
Strathisla 12 Year Old
Glen Keith Cask Strength 17 Year Old
Strathmill 12 Year Old
Ballantine’s 17 Year Old
Auchroisk 10 Year Old
Speyburn 10 Year Old
Glen Grant 10 Year Old
The Glenrothes Vintage Reserve
Glen Spey 12 Year Old
Craigellachie 17 Year Old
Balvennie Doublewood 12 Year Old
Glenfiddich 12 Year Old
Mortlach Rare Old
The Singleton of Dufftown 12 Year Old
100 Pipers
Tamnavulin Double Cask
Clan Campbell
Tomintoul Speyside Glenlivet 16 Year Old
The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve
Chivas Regal 12 Year Old
Tamdhu 10 Year Old
Knockando 12 Year Old
Cardhu 12 Year Old
The Macallan Amber
Aberlour 10 Year Old
Glenallachie Cask Strength 14 Year Old
Benrinnes 15 Year Old
Glenfarclas Heritage
Cragganmore 12 Year Old
Tormore 16 Year Old
Tomatin 12 Year Old
Spey Tenné
Dalwhinnie 15 Year Old
Blair Athol 12 Year Old
Edradour Distillery Edition 10 Year Old
Aberfeldy Single Cask (hand filled by Blair Bowman)
