The Beauty : Highland Park

Yes, it has been a while, and no, there are no valid excuses. However, listening to some inspirational music ( http://soundcloud.com/broke-for-free ) and my whisky dinner this evening all set up and ready, I thought I would upload some photos from Highland Park Bootcamp Two.

Now, without sounding like a whisky snob, "normal" people don't get to attend Bootcamp, its for the Global Ambassadors to get more in-depth knowledge into the beauty, that is: Highland Park. The 5 day trip involved more work than drinking ( I know , it did sound like it was a drinking bootcamp.... sorry to dissapoint)

A visit to The Scotch Whisky Research Institute  ( http://www.swri.co.uk/) was what kicked things off, now for whisky nerds this was truly amazing, as we got real info straight from Scientists regarding issues like Caramel Colouring, chill-filtration etc.... Geeky, but fun. Then we were off to Simpsons Maltings ( http://www.simpsonsmalt.co.uk/), where we got to see malting: mass scale, brilliant to see, as its tough to picture, without a visit to the impressive site!

Then off to our favourite destination... Highland Park distillery! A short flight, and we landed safely, lots of business chat, but we did some interesting tasting with the new Distillery Manager with some new make spirit samples.... Our gorgeous night out in Orkney was to Balfour Castle.... (http://www.balfourcastle.co.uk/da/102406)  A truly beautiful private castle that we make use of when we can, Scallops to rival the best in the world, and a setting utterly perfect for Highland Park 18, which was flowing very merrily.....The next morning we all had a Highland Park photo shoot too, in and around the distillery, us girls were not going to push any barrels, so we decided a little seat, better than a tough push ....

The trip ended off back in the mystical Edinburgh, where we painted the town a very bright, bright shade of red at Monteiths ( http://www.monteithsrestaurant.co.uk/index.php ) cocktails like never before and then the old favourite Whiski Bar ( http://www.whiskibar.co.uk/) where a Scottish folk band kept six brand ambassadors very entertained and well, the whisky flowed and so did the craft beer.... Enough said

A whirlwind of a trip, but a beautiful one....