Torrance to Drymen

I woke up bright and early this morning, too early after a restless sleep, but after finishing my current book just decided to get going. My decision to rise was helped along by sheep unexpectedly trotting past my tent. This meant I reached Milngavie at 8am, plenty of time to have a leisurely coffee and top up my supplies before officially starting the West Highland Way.
This first part is similar to much of the other walking I've been doing, on gravel tracks, but the land has started to rise, and at the foot of one hill I stopped by a whisky distillery to learn a thing or two.
Glengoyne makes single malt whiskies, in relatively small quantities, their youngest whisky is aged 12 years in the barrel. They are also the only whisky producer to distill in the Highlands, and mature in the Lowlands, as their facility straddles the border of these regions.
Some quick facts:
- Whisky is made from only 3 ingredients. Malted barley wheat, water, and yeast.
- To be called "whisky" a product must be made in Scotland, matured in oak barrels, and aged at least 3 years
- The malted barley is brought in and separated from any foreign contaminants (sticks, stones etc) by a Porteus mill. This brand of mill is so well built that the company went bust. Glengoyne bought theirs second hand in 1908 and it's still functioning perfectly.
- Sugars are extracted from the ground up barley "grist" by soaking in hot water. First at 60degC and then a second wort at 70degC. A final steeping is done at 90degC but so little sugars result from this that it is reused for the first wash of the next batch.
- The fermentation takes places in huge vats built of Oregon Pine. This wood is chosen as it produces long planks with no knots in, minimising fluid loss
- The fermented product is about 8% and is distilled twice to reach casking strength, water actually has to be added after the second slow distillation to adjust the alcohol content.
- All the colour and almost all the flavour comes from the barrel aging process. Glengoyne uses primarily European Oak barrels that have previously held Spanish sherry. This helps define their specific flavours.