A total of 350 guests prepared to set sail on a voyage to discover Speyside’s 'water of life’ at the opening dinner held at Balvenie Maltings, Glenfiddich Distillery, Dufftown, on Friday evening.

Wm Grant & Sons really pushed the boat out, when its upper floor maltings, where hundreds of tons of barley are normally stored, were transformed into an atmospheric setting for drinking, dining and dancing.

First Minister Alex Salmond proposed a toast to the ongoing success of the whisky festival, saying that its growth over the past 10 years had been “truly astounding”.

“Whisky is one of the five themes of Homecoming, and I believe Robert Burns would have smiled upon that, given that he was known to partake in the occasional dram himself.

“Whisky is a global player, an ambassador for Scotland, and exports of Scotch whisky would stretch six times the distance from Edinburgh to New York.

“It represents the image and tradition and the best of Scotland. These are tough times but it is staying ahead of the game and the Scottish Government is a strong advocate for this industry.

“It is a pleasure and a privilege to launch this festival. I envy those who are partaking in the full 10 days and 400 events. Stamina is something very important in life and it will require a feat of endurance to attend every event, but attending any event will be of substantial interest.”

With the festival doubling in length from its original five days, and boasting more than 400 events in this year’s programme, visitors could expect to have every sense in their body stirred, said festival chairman Jim Royan.

“This festival is about a unique product and place that captures all the characteristics that Scotland is known for, and it is all about its communities.

“First Minister, if you wanted to bottle Scotland, you could start and finish on Speyside.

“We want everyone to see, smell, hear, touch and taste the best of Speyside, we want visitors to talk about it and return for more.

“Tonight is an overtone for that programme; tasting the best of Scotland, celebrating success and enjoying fellowship in unique surroundings.

“The 10th anniversary over the next 10 days will be worth coming home for.”

Among the gala dinner guests was Gordon Dron, Wm Grant & Sons managing director for Europe, who said it was significant that Glenfiddich was hosting the 10th anniversary event, given it had its own milestone to record.

Mr Dron said: “It is very important as it is 40 years since we opened the first visitor centre here. We are proud to have been granted the opportunity to host this evening and in fantastic surroundings, one of only two active malting floors in the mainland.

“It is a great night and I hope that the festival will continue to flourish and go on to bigger and better things.

“This is not just for us, but for all Speyside distilleries, for our mutual success as part of Scotland’s greatest export.”

Gavin Hewitt, chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association said: “This is one of those moments when you get the whisky family coming together and celebrating not just their drink, but celebrating what we represent which is tremendous Scottish quality, integrity – and fun.”

Ron Taylor, president of the Moray Chamber of Commerce, was pleased that the festival brings the drink back to its roots.

“I am delighted to see the festival go from strength to strength. It has a very good committee, events are very well organised and it promotes Moray and brings much-needed tourism to the area. My only disappointment is the major corporates are not as involved as they could be.”

Additional Scottish Government support, with the festival one of the Homecoming’s Signature events, has been a boost, and David Urquhart, joint managing director of Gordon & MacPhail, hopes that more financial assistance will be given in the future.

“It is great that so many people come to the area who have a love of whisky,” said Mr Urqhuart. “We can see that tonight by the number of overseas people we have at the dinner.”

The whisky festival has set itself a standard against other international events, said David Dunsmuir, manager of the Royal Highland Show, who praised Mr Royan and his strong team for organising an event with plenty of “wow factor”.

Speyside councillor Pearl Paul was glad to see the festival staging its biggest and best programme to date, adding: “It is a great advert for our area.”

The festival has seen a 30% rise in bookings and is expected to be worth £750,000 to the local economy.

Featuring in its line-up has been whisky tourist and tastings, dinners, bracing walks, cooperage tours and distillery visits. There have also been a number of non-whisky events, including train rides, ceilidhs, painting exhibitions and cookery demonstrations and Landrover tours.

It culminates tomorrow (Saturday) with the Spirit of Speyside outdoor musical celebration on the banks of the River Spey at Aberlour.

Celtic rock band Capercaillie are headlining and there will be pipe band and fiddlers, before a lone piper plays a floodlit solo on the church tower to herald a stunning fireworks display over the River Spey.

In the finals of the malt whisky awards, the winner of the up to 12 years category was Glenfiddich; 13-20 years was won by Glenlivet Nadurra while the 21 and over category was won by the Linkwood Portwood 26-year-old.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

Bookmark this

---