Tuši's blog: 16527

Scotland: Day 14 - A Last Toast to Scotland at Annandale Distillery

Our journey through Scotland drew to a meaningful close with a series of unforgettable stops. We watched the ruins of Crawford Castle and visited the peaceful Tundergarth Church, then made our way to Lockerbie, where we paused at the Garden of Remembrance - a place of quiet reflection. From there, we ended the day with a dram at the Annandale Distillery, raising a last toast to Scotland. Finally, crossing the border into England, we traced the ancient stones of Hadrian's Wall, marking both the edge of an empire and the end of our Scottish adventure.

Previous days of our trip to Scotland: Day 13 - 16526, Day 12 - 16525, Day 11 - 16524, Day 10 - 16523, Day 9 - 16522, Day 8 - 16521, Day 7 - 16520, Day 6 - 16519, Day 5 - 16518, Day 4 - 16517, Day 3 - 16516, Day 2 - 16515, Day 1 - 16514.

We got lost in the morning, but we found the ruins of Crawford Castle.

On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was destroyed by a bomb while flying over the Scottish town of Lockerbie. The aircraft broke apart in the sky, and wreckage scattered across the countryside. All 259 people on board were killed, along with 11 residents on the ground.

In the town of Lockerbie, a memorial in the Town Hall commemorates the victims of Pan Am Flight 103. A stained-glass installation, known as "These Three Windows," depicts the flags of all the nations that lost citizens on the night of 21st December 1988.

The Lockerbie Garden of Remembrance, located within Dryfesdale Cemetery, serves as the primary UK memorial for the victims of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing on December 21, 1988. This serene and dignified site commemorates the 270 lives lost.

At Annandale Distillery, both humans and their furry friends are welcome - while visitors savor fine whisky from the aging barrels, pups can enjoy treats from the dog-friendly menu.

The first written record of Scotch whisky is from 1494, in the Scottish Exchequer Rolls, where it states: "Eight bolls of malt to Friar John Cor wherewith to make aqua vitae."

Nada and Bronco reading them menu.

Annandale Distillery, established between 1830 and 1836 by George Donald, was among Scotland's earliest legal whisky producers. Situated in Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, it was ideally located with abundant water and local peat for whisky production.

After George Donald's death in 1883, the distillery was modernized under the ownership of John Sykes Gardner. In 1893, it was acquired by Johnnie Walker & Sons, who utilized Annandale's peated whisky in their blends and added iconic features like the Charles Doig pagoda roof.

Production ceased in 1924, and the site fell into disrepair. In 2007, Professor David Thomson and Teresa Church purchased and restored the distillery, reopening it in 2014. The first cask of whisky was filled in November 2014, marking the return of whisky production to the region.

While I enjoyed a beer, I admired the rows of barrels quietly maturing Annandale's peated and unpeated whiskies, each one a story waiting to be savored.

From malting and mashing, through fermentation and distillation in copper stills, to years of maturation in oak barrels, Annandale whisky is carefully crafted before finally being bottled for your enjoyment.

After the tour, we all had a snack in the restaurant.

Goodbye Scotland. We had a lot of fun here.

Hadrian's Wall is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian.

Running from Wallsend on the River Tyne in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west of what is now northern England, it was a stone wall with large ditches in front and behind, stretching across the whole width of the island. Soldiers were garrisoned along the line of the wall in large forts, smaller milecastles, and intervening turrets.