Streams of whisky: a stay at Speyside’s Craigellachie hotel
The best whisky bar in the Highlands? Pull up a stool at the Quaich
Both homely and luxurious, and housing the whisky bar of your dreams – Gordon Thomson checked in to the Craigellachie to sample Highland hospitality as its finest
You don’t have to love whisky to love the Craigellachie hotel, but it certainly helps. Outdoor types have been flocking to this quietly enchanting corner of Speyside to walk, fish, swim and shoot for 150 years or more. Dram lovers, however, come from across continents to pay homage at the altar of the amber god – the Craigellachie’s world-famous Quaich bar – a stylishly renovated Victorian drawing room with one vast wall entirely given over to glowing shelves of whisky, 700-odd bottles of the glorious stuff.
This isn’t so much a whisky collection as an invitation.
Accept it and you could spend a lifetime here trying to sample them all, and no doubt some hardy souls have fallen over trying (we’ll come back to that). The whisky menu is as thick as a phone directory and will make your eyes weep with lust. Have a rummage by all means, but it’s less stressful I reckon to put yourself in the hands of the experts. Over a two-night stay in May I settled for some elevated Speyside sipping courtesy of the affable and knowledgeable bar staff, who’ll happily point you in the direction of something familiar or unusual or else a whisky that’s close in character to one you know you already like (are there any finer words than ‘Try this’ in the English language?).
‘The whisky menu is as thick as a phone directory and will make your eyes weep with lust. Have a rummage, but it’s less stressful to put yourself in the hands of the experts’
As Nina Simone crackled on the vinyl record player at the bar, and the near endless early summer light streamed in through the windows, I nosed and swirled and chewed a few local expressions that were new to me, getting an education from the barman as he juggled orders and plucked bottles from behind him. A Craigellachie 2007 Single Malt (Mossburn No 38) had pleasing sweet notes of sultanas and apricots that spoke of a happy maturation in a Marsala cask. There were hints of tobaccos leaves and a medley of toasted nuts on the finish. From Diageo’s Flora & Fauna range, I tried a Glenlossie 10 Year Old, a well-balanced dram with a decent hit of sweetness and subtle spice.
Nan Shepherd, the great Scottish nature writer and poet, wrote of her beloved Cairngorms, an hour’s drive from here: ‘‘It is a journey into Being; for as I penetrate more deeply into a mountain's life, I penetrate also into my own. For an hour I am beyond desire.”
The gorgeous drawing room with its deer antler chandelier
I sat for my own blissed out hour in a whisky reverie while Quaich patrons came and went. Jolly groups of Canadian and Japanese tourists (the latter a family with intentions – and wallets – far deeper than mine), as well as thirsty couples, sauntered in and sat expectantly on bar stools, eyeing the shimmering prize, or else at one of the tables, lit by vintage lamps emanating a reddish, orangey – as in Glenmorangie? – glow. With its red-leather chairs, green-velvet sofas and dais, ornate Indian rugs and heavy-drape curtains, The Quaich feels like the members’ club of your dreams. The best thing about staying here? You’re already signed in.
‘I liked the playful touches throughout – the loos with their signs for ‘Loons’ and ‘Quines’ (northeast Scots slang for boys and girls), the weathered cabinets containing ancient fishing flies’
The Craigellachie was designed by Charles Doig and first opened its doors in 1893 as a luxurious retreat for London-based Victorians looking to enjoy outdoors pursuits. Not much has changed, bar an extensive but sensitive renovation in 2014. It was homely then, and it remains that way today, popular with locals and visitors alike, a place of quiet romantic splendour with infinite historic charm.
I liked the playful touches throughout – the loos with their signs for ‘Loons’ and ‘Quines’ (northeast Scots slang for boys and girls), the weathered cabinets containing ancient fishing flies, thick and plume-like; the sepia photographs of pre-war distillery workers enjoying a post-shift dram in front of the main entrance. A droll wit extends to the Spey Inn bar, too: the guest ale on my visit was a frothy session IPA from Spey Valley punningly named Sunshine on Keith (a basic knowledge of The Proclaimers and Morayshire places names is required for the full comedy effect).
Elegantly weathered: the cosy and charming Spey Inn dining room
The whole place is decorated beautifully, courtesy of that £3m revamp. The 26 bedrooms are coloured in greens and greys, with soft furnishings in delicate plaids and tweeds, and elegant period pieces, which all tap into the location and heritage. The textiles and furniture is straight from Johnstons of Elgin’s interiors collection. Four-poster beds, with Egyptian cotton linen, invite good-quality sleep. Krups coffee and Robert’s digital radios are on hand for sipping and soothing sounds. The crisp-white bathrooms feature white marble tiles, slate floors and good showers with toiletries from The White Company. It’s a bit like Speyside’s answer to Hotel California, but without the phantom menace: check in here, and you’ll never want to leave.
‘Soft furnishings in delicate plaids and tweeds, and elegant period pieces all tap into the location and heritage’
Dinner is served in the Spey Inn, an informal, spacious and cosily-attired dining area comprising a series of open and partially tucked-away rooms a mere skip from the main bar. Small bare wooden tables are set simply yet invitingly, and larger groups can be accommodated on leather banquettes, nattily upholstered corner benches and one giant oval oak dining table.
The Craigellachie is nestled in the very heart of Speyside whisky country
It’s the kind of place you’d be overjoyed to find seeking shelter from a storm. Decor is Highland chic, all muted tones, taffeta rugs, stubby candles, chunky distressed tables. exposed brick walls, a mounted stags’ head or two, and boisterous chandeliers fashioned from deer antlers (found throughout the hotel). The food is excellent. A new chef, Pawel Sowa, is at the helm, running an appetising menu full of great local produce.
‘On the walls hang a series of modern ink drawings of dogs by the British artist and illustrator Hugo Guinness, known for his collaborations with Hollywood filmmaker, Wes Anderson’
On my visit, that included plenty of classics (North Sea haddock in beer batter with mushy peas, chips & tartar sauce; Haggis croquette with Copper Dog whisky sauce), and dishes with a subtle nouveau flair (venison tartare, green elderberry capers & wood sorrel). The standout on the dessert menu was a decadent Basque cheesecake with a decidedly Scottish flourish: “chippie” double-fried chocolate and caramel bar, served with butterscotch and curry sauce, and Irn-Bru ice cream.
On the rustic stone walls hang a series of modern ink drawings of dogs by the British artist and illustrator Hugo Guinness, known for his collaborations with Hollywood filmmaker, Wes Anderson, though the director’s whimsical aesthetic doesn’t really extend much further at the Craigellachie. Dogs, however, are very much welcome here.
Rooms are perfectly attired in elevated Highland chic
Whether you’re with a pooch or sans puppy, walking is a joy in these parts. On the second night, I found myself back in the Quaich talking to two old friends from Pittsburg, who’d planned a trip here for years and finally made it. They were walking the length of the picturesque Speyside Way in three days, from Spey Bay on the Moray coast to Aviemore, 85 miles in total. They sat at the bar enjoying a flight of whiskies, letting their weary feet recover from the 17-mile stretch they’d just ticked off.
Walking for the sake of it not your thing? A round of golf at Lossiemouth’s Old course is a serious links test, accompanied by the occasional roar of a Typhoon FGR4 fighter jet from the nearby RAF base. Or else take a daunder round the cashmere aisles of Johnstons of Elgin, Speyside’s unofficial capital – a surefire way to unburden yourself from any spare cash. Staff at the hotel will happily arrange fly-fishing, off-road driving and shooting.
‘A round of golf at Lossiemouth’s Old course is a serious links test, accompanied by the occasional roar of a Typhoon FGR4 fighter jet from the nearby RAF base’
Mostly, however, you’ll probably just want to potter around the pretty hotel grounds, where on summer days, the Spey Shack is open, serving lobster rolls, smash burgers and pizza al fresco.
This, of course, is the centre of the whisky universe, and so it would be inhospitable not to drop in on a distillery or two. Macallan and Aberlour are two miles away, Glenfiddich is four miles’ distance. Cragganmore, Glenfarclas, Cardhu and Glen Grant all within easy reach. The looming barrel pyramids of Speyside Cooperage (a 15-minute walk) is a fascinating trip into the fading art of cask repairing.
Telford’s miraculous single arch steel bridge
Don’t miss getting up and close to the grand and imposing Telford Bridge, the oldest surviving cast iron arch bridge in Scotland, located just a short stroll from the hotel on a dramatic bend in the river Spey. Designed and built by the Scottish engineer Thomas Telford in 1814, and spanning 150 ft across the river, it was a Victorian masterpiece, and remains an object of curiosity today. The only traffic that crosses it now is intrigued tourists and local walkers and mountain-bikers. But what a glorious sight it remains, with its four crenellated stone towers resembling rooks on a chess board, and one magnificent single arch made from cast iron, rising high above the river to allow raging floods to pass safely.
‘The Telford bridge, spanning 150 ft across the river Spey is a Victorian masterpiece and remains an object of curiosity today’
The morning after the night before in the Quaich, I heard that the Canadians had finally supped their last dram around 4am. Good for them. The bar stay opens for guests as long as they want it to. That’s proper Highland hospitality for you. And breakfast? Well, I’m sure they emerged at some point to scoff a reviving full Scottish (haggis and black pudding de rigeur) in the serene breakfast room, an oasis of calming pale-blue hues (with more of those quirky Guinness dogs looking down on guests).
The futuristic distillery buildings at Macallan are a few minutes’ drive away
Staff are delightful, many of them locals who’ll chat away merrily. Conversation during my stay invariably returned to the weather, and not for the usual reasons: it had been unseasonably hot for over a month, with no rain at all, and local industries were suffering. The Spey hadn’t been in spate for a long time, and salmon couldn’t get upstream. Many were dying in the dangerously low water. Two distilleries had to temporarily cease production. A timely reminder that this place is at the mercy of the Highland’s capricious climate.
Best, then, to head for the Quaich. And the unchanging charms of the Craigellachie.
Doubles from £165 in low season; and from from £245 in high. Breakfast included. Visit the website for more details
