We started the first full day of the excursion with Mackintosh House, a gallery celebrating the work of Glaswegian designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh. This building was part of The Huntarian, which in turn is a subsidiary of the University of Glasgow.
The highly knowledgeable staff at Mackintosh House shared a little info on the designer’s life, and advised us that photos are fine as long as the flash is off. The paintings, furniture and sculptures were sufficiently lit anyway. No bags were allowed; lockers were provided. The main gallery was closed for renovation, but there was still plenty to see.
We then stepped over into the Hunterian main museum, a huge Victorian-era building packed with prehistoric and cultural artefacts from across the globe.
Lunch Finnieston, kinda the ‘Northern Quarter’ of Glasgow – the hipster, multicultural independent trader end. We found Silla. My first time trying Korean. I liked. Shame they didn’t specify ‘mushrooms’ when they said ‘vegetables.’ I accidentally ate one of them but surprisingly was not ill as per.
The weekend was a bit of a museum spree, as you’re beginning to see. Next up: The Kelvingrove Museum, featuring some astonishing ancient Egyptian finds, Maori canoes and taxidermal wildlife from across the world. I particularly liked the early neurology information. And who doesn’t find dinosaur bones fascinating?
The museum explains what the pieces are, who found them and what time periods they were from and when they were found.
The main event of the weekend: The Chocolate and Whisky Tour at The Clydeside Distillery.
Unusually for a ‘still, it’s a city-centre venue right next to a busy main road, an 1877 pump house converted to house huge mash tuns and bottling facilities.
Tour guide David explained that The Clydeside had been distilling since 2017, and bottling since 2021. He shows us around the building, explaining the very complex process of taking grain and turning it into single malt whisky.
We can take photos in most rooms, but not one specific room. I thought it was the mash tuns, where the grain is mixed with the liquid, but I seem to have a picture of that.
After the tour, we’re taken to the long tables where paddleboards are laid out waiting, holding a series of whiskies and chocolates. These are paired to each other, designed to bring out certain notes, flavours, from within the whisky.
David advises us to take a couple of big sniffs from the nosing glass, then a small sip, holding the whisky in the mouth for a few seconds before swallowing. We follow this with a bit from the first chocolate. Once this has savoured on the tongue for a moment and swallowed, we take another sip. Again, we hold this in the mouth. This time, the different notes in the whisky seem highlighted, more defined.
Each whisky is unique, and each one has a slight change to it after a bit of chocolate. The most memorable of the chocolates, provided by local artisan chocolatier Sugar Snap, I’d say was the pineapple infused chocolate, paired with Cask of Orkney.
A really interesting tour, and quite different to the two tours I did in 2012. Of course, I bought a bottle.
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