June 24, 2018

June 24, 2018

This morning we walked into town and took the guided tour of the Oban Distillery. Even though we aren’t whisky fans, you can’t come to Scotland without checking out the Scotch Whisky. Oban has probably the oldest and smallest distillery in Scotland. Oban makes only Single Malt Whiskeys from Barley. Having taking many brewery and Bourbon tours, we could probably have given the tour. Interestingly, the aging casks are re-used Kentucky Bourbon barrels shipped here IKEA-style, i.e. re-assembly required. A fellow Swedish tourist and I were joking with each other that the padlocks on the whisky valves got bigger as the alcohol concentration increased! As with all tours we got our taste samples at the end after listening to why their process is the best.

After the tour, we walked uphill to the local soccer field where the Oban Highland Games were being held. It was a little like a county fair combined with a high school track meet, albeit with a Scottish twist. There were a few kilts and bagpipes, some Gaelic dancing, and my favorite, caber (telephone pole) tossing. Unfortunately most of the events weren’t too fan-friendly. The heavy events like hammer throwing, were far away in the middle of the field behind netting. Probably in the past, a wild hammer thrower got the lawyers involved and safety became paramount. I am glad we did the Whisky tasting and the Highland Games but we could easily have skipped both.