"Dufftown? What is that???" a Dufftown Travel Page by AC1

"Rome was built on seven hills, Dufftown was built on seven stills"

This cosy little town is situated at the banks of the rivers Fiddich and Dullan, at the foot of the Conval hills. In simple term, North West of Aberdeen, in the Highland area. Whisky-making is the life blood of the town, involving everyone from farmers growing the barleys in the surrounding countryside to the Customs and Excise officers who ensure there are no irregularities with the amount of duty due on the town's spirits. In fact, it is said that Dufftown raises more capital for the Government per head of population than any other place in UK.

This town is unique in a way that most of the economy comes from one family run company, The Willian Grant & Sons Ltd, which produces the famous Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whisky.

Some interesting facts and figures about Glenfiddich:

1. Glenfiddich is the only Highland Single Malt that is distilled, matured and bottled at its own distillery.

2. Glenfiddich has 120 millions casts of whicky in the warehouses waiting for maturation!!

3. Grant family is the seven richest family in the UK.

4. Glenfiddich is one of the only 5 left whisky company that still run and preserved as a family business after more than a century.

5. Most expensive whisky ever costs 10,000 pounds per bottle, only 61 bottles were made and 60% were sold to Japanese market.

To find out more, go join the Whisky tour which is free-of-charge anyway. One thing that impresses me over the visits was the strong emphasis on High Quality in whatever they are doing over more than a hundred years. By simply experiencing the way they conduct the tour, you will understand what I mean. They have their own tour guides in six different languages to meet visitors from all over the world.

Ok, enough of Glenfiddich. Even though I am not a whisky drinker, it was a true eye-opening experience.

The drive from Aberdeen to Dufftown has always been one of the more enjoyable ones for me. The reason been you have to pass by the Highland and you will get to see some unbelievable sightings. Sometimes it makes me wonder why am I stressing myself out in the middle of the city.