It’s both subject to interpretation and trivia, but some say the easternmost and westernmost points in the United States, territories included, are neighboring islands in the Aleutian archipelago:  Semisopochnoi  and Amatignak.

The easternmost point in Scotland is Keith Inch in the town of Peterhead (both names should have been included in September 2nd’s “R Rated Great Britain”).   West is Corrachadh Mòr, Gaelic for “great tapering field”, near the Ardnamurchan Point Lighthouse.  Neither are promoted as tourist attractions.   Corrachadh Mòr is especially remote and weather-challenged. Scotland’s southernmost point is Mull of Galloway and its northernmost is Dunnet Head.   Both attract busloads of tourists.

Mull of Galloway, about 17 miles south of the town of Stranraer (pronounced Strun rah), is a particularly worthwhile spot since it has become a major nature reserve.  Seabirds–black guillemots, kittiwakes, etc.–live and breed on its soaring cliffs.  The two women running the visitor centre were a bit disappointed that we didn’t share their detail-oriented enthusiasm for local birds.  They reminded me of the lady the evening before who was crushed when I didn’t want to hear the history of every person buried in the Stoneykirk cemetery.  The Galloway ladies kept track of sightings, paying special attention to puffins.  By mid-July they had already recorded 16 species.   Trails, some rather challenging, took us to viewpoints and places where strictly local butterflies, graylings, and plants, purple milk-vetch, abounded.   Sunning seals and frolicking porpoises are common sights, but not that day.  Mull of Galloway’s 1830 lighthouse, scene of a Hollywood-worthy plane crash in World War II, is only opened daily in July and August.  The summer weather here is fine, for Scotland.

The summer weather is not so fine at Dunnet Head where, like at Galloway, orange-legged puffins are beloved.   The area has so many avian visitors that it has been dubbed Seabird City.   Dunnet Head is not only Scotland’s most northerly mainland point, it’s also Great Britain’s.  Robert Stevenson, grandfather of Treasure Island’s Robert Louis, built its 1831 lighthouse.  During World War II Dunnet Head was a U-boat station.

Near the village of John o’Groats where travelers get a boat to the Orkney Islands is a vigorous hike past some dramatic sea cliffs dotted with nesting fulmars and sure-footed sheep to the Duncansby Stacks seen above.

More trivia.  The most southerly point of US controlled territory is Rose Atoll in American Samoa.  The most northerly is Point Barrow, Alaska.  The Mull of Galloway and Dunnet Head, truthfully, are a lot easier to get to.

Hank

“After a great deal of diligent research“, the writers of Lonely Planet Highlands and Islands listed the top 10 single malt whiskys in Scotland.  One was in Campbelltown on the Kintyre Peninsula, another on the Isle of Skye.   Two were on Arran.  Three were on Islay in The Hebrides.  Three were in Speyside.   John, Trish, Ruth, and I were on our way to Speyside!

I’m somewhat educated about wine regions of the world but know virtually nothing about single malt whisky even though we had  visited the Dalwhinnie distillery. The family expert on them would be my sister Julie. The first thing I learned, thanks again to Lonely Planet, was not to ask for Scotch in Scotland.  Duh.

Then I learned about the Malt Whisky Trail in Speyside, the area between Inverness and Aberdeen.   All that a whisky maker needs is here–barley, peat, water, high lands–so there are about 50 Speyside distilleries.  Each follows the same basic process but with variations.   Not all of them are open to the public.   My whisky trail map listed 8 that were including the Glen Moray Distillery in Elgin since 1897.   We were near Elgin.  It was still morning.

It was recommended that we take a distillery tour before sampling Glen Moray’s single malt whiskies.  The tour promised “unforgettable insight into how water and barley are transformed into ‘the water of life’.”   Why not?   Much later in the tasting room we took our jobs seriously.  First, the 4 of us sipped a 12-year-old described as a typical Speyside whisky–clean, no peat.   Then a 16-year-old splashed into our glasses and we were told to look for dried fruit flavors, like raisins.  I carefully wrote in my travel book “peat and chocolate”, as if I knew.  The next was a 10-year-old described as an elegant, floral whisky liked by wine drinkers.  Our unanimous favorite was the 16-year-old.

On to Glenfiddich, one of the world’s 2 best-selling whiskies.  The other is Glenlivet, also in Speyside.  I quickly learned that I was mispronouncing Glenfiddich’s name, which means valley of the deer.  It’s Glen fid’ ik. Glenfiddich is the Apple of the whisky world.  We had to wait for a crowded tour.  Joel, our college-age guide, knew his subject, but he was a bit bored and discouraged any personalizing while spewing information–the 5th generation now runs Glenfiddich, tons of barley are ground into flour and soaked in water to get sugar out of the grits in a 3 day process, blades spin, alcohol happens, the grits become cattle feed, etc. etc.

Glenfiddich offers 3 tours, the most expensive was £75 per person.  Tour over, we sampled 15, 12, and 18-year-olds.  15 was finished in new casks that affected the taste, making it spicier.  12 was the world’s best-selling single malt, and we were told to look for pear and oak.  18 was compared to apple pie and recommended for drinking during cold, Scottish winters.

While the ladies browsed the huge gift shop, I had someone call the nearby Ballvenie Distillery, also in Dufftown, to see if we could stop in.  Owned by William Grant and Sons, it had a fine reputation and wasn’t on the Malt Whisky trail.  I was told there was nothing to see unless I took a tour and the last one that day was unavailable.   The Gaelic toast equal to to your health, I learned at some point, is pronounced slan gaa vaa.

By the time we got to Aberlour, it was too late in the day to do anything. Owned by Pernod Ricard, Aberlour offered 2 daily tours then “Tutored tasting of six Aberlour expressions” for £12.

The next day no one suggested visiting a distillery.

Hank