*Whisky and more

I read from Fodor's Exploring Scotland that Whisky is one of Scotland's top exports. Interestingly, I managed to find a Malt Whisky Trail website which writes about Scotland's Malt Whisky Trail. The URL is: http://www.maltwhiskytrail.com.

Taken from the Malt Whisky Trail's website:

Initially whisky, the name of which evolved from uisge beatha (the Gaelic for "water of life"), was lauded for its medicinal qualities, being prescribed for the preservation of health, the prolongation of life, and for the relief of colic, palsy and even smallpox. It became an intrinsic part of Scottish life - a reviver and stimulant during the long, cold winters, and a feature of
social life, a welcome to be offered to guests upon arrival at their destinations.

There are two main distinctions of whisky: malt whisky and grain whisky. Malt whisky uses only malted barley. Wheras grain whisky may use malted barley and other cereals, for example corn.

Malt whiskies are broadly classified by the experts into Highland, Lowland, Islay and Campbeltown types. For more details, you can refer to Fodor's Exploring Scotland or other travel guides.

It sounds like no trip to Scotland would be complete without tasting a sip of whisky and understanding the process of whisky-making. I read that the process of producing whisky is closely monitored by the British government. The production of whisky is strictly commercially licensed and takes place only in Scotland's distilleries.

Here's a link to the Malk Whisky trails if you are interested:
http://www.maltwhiskytrail.com/trail.html

Fodor's Exploring Scotland has even stated that no tour of Speyside would be complete without taking a trip to at least one of the whisky distilleries.

The Speyside Cooperage and the Glenliver Distillery caught my eye. The former specialises in making casks, if I understood correctly. The latter produces single malt whisky.

The Strathisla Distillery also seem interesting to visit. I read that to get there, I can take a train or bus to Keith. The railway station is about 600m from the distiller and the bus stop is about 500m from distillery.

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Dolphins

I should figure out where the Moray Firth is located. I saw from the map that it is located within the Northeast region of Scotland. According to Fodor's Exploring Scotland, the Moray Firth contains the largest inshore colony of bottle-nosed dolphins in London. Bottle-nosed dolphins otherwise tends to favour offshore waters.

Leaping dolphins can be seen anywhere at any time in the Firth... The bottle-nosed dolphin can be recognised by its uniform gray with a paler under-belly and a tall dorsal fin.

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Stonehaven

This place seems to pop up whenever I read about Aberdeen. Stonehaven is a coastal town in the North East of Scotland, about 15 miles south of Aberdeen. Fodor's Exploring Scotland notes that Stonehaven was originally a fishing settlement.

I read from this website (Stonehaven Folk Festival) that the picturesque town of Stonehaven offers many tourist attractions, such as Dunnottar Castle.

Dunnottar Castle looks nice. It was a stronghold of the Earls Marischal of Scotland. Unfortunately, I read and found out that the castle is only opened to the public from November to February. Since I will be in Aberdeen in August, I would been missing the chance to visit the castle. The best I could do is take pictures of its exteriors.

By the way, I chanced upon this site: The Stonehaven Guide

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That is for now.
By the way, I decided to mark the posts that give information on Scotland, Aberdeen and London a "*", simply for easier identification.