|
Jon Baker of Lochranza has just done a whistle-stop tour of distilleries on the west coast of Scotland and had his passport stamped in each one.
In a little under two weeks he has visited all 16 distilleries on the Whisky Coast trail from Lochranza in the south to Talisker on Skye in the north.
Nicky Murphy is project manager for the Whisky Coast and on Thursday she presented Jon with a certificate and special bottle of whisky at Lochranza distillery.
She said: ‘This whisky is a blend of spirits from all 16 distilleries and is not for sale anywhere. The Whisky Coast was formed last year to raise the profile of the west coast of Scotland. It comprises 16 distilleries, 18 hotels, three tour companies and numerous restaurants and golf courses.
‘We launched a passport scheme in April and Jon is only the second person to have his whisky passport stamped in all 16 distilleries. There are 50,000 passports in circulation and they are available from all the distilleries and 43 tourist information centres, including Princess Street, Edinburgh and Glasgow Airport.’
Jon said: ‘I like whisky so I thought, why not try to call at all 16 distilleries on my holiday. I started out here at Lochranza and then went to Springbank in Campbeltown and worked my way north. The tour virtually plans itself.
‘Each distillery stamped my passport and I tried a dram in most of them but only if I wasn’t driving afterwards.’
Jon stayed in bed and breakfasts and at a few campsites and said that his biggest expenditure was on ferry fares which came to around £200.
‘Perhaps CalMac could think about doing a special Whisky Coast ticket to encourage more people to do the tour,’ said Jon.
Lochranza distillery visitor centre manager Robin Bell said: ‘Being a new boy to the industry the co-operation of the Whisky Coast distilleries has helped me enormously. The whisky industry on the west coast of Scotland is one big happy family.’
As if to underline the family nature of the business Robin announced that Jon was joining the company on Monday and would soon know the Lochranza distillery inside and out.
