Crombie Water and Whisky Hills

About trip

Minimum Time: 3hrs 15mins Ascent: 1,000ft Difficulty Level: 3 - Hard Paths: Waymarked, muddy and indistinct in places, 11 stiles Landscape: Birchwoods, heather, rolling hills Dog Friendliness: Keep on lead except in plantation Parking: Track opposite church at Tombae runs up to quarry car park Public Toilets: None en route or near by. (Note: Grouse shooting in August/September - consult Glenlivet Ranger Service at Tomintoul) Description: Long before the coming of licensed distilleries, whisky was part of the economy of the Highlands. After the hard work of the barley harvest came the quieter occupation of mashing and distilling. The draff (dregs) from the mash-barrel went to feed the cows, while the spirit itself warmed the crofter through the snows of winter. As rents came to be paid in money rather than in kind, whisky was an easily transported product for cash. It was also convenient to tax, but this simply meant that the Highlanders moved their operation into the hills. The barley fields of Strathspey, the clear mountain water of the Cairngorms and the convenient smuggling routes to Aberdeen and Inverness made Glenlivet a famous whisky region. Even as his redcoats were hunting the smugglers through the Ladder Hills, King George IV was demanding the illicit Glenlivet by name. Water, Malt - and Mystery. The old word ‘Scotch’ is only applied to whisky - the people are ‘Scottish’ and the language is ‘Scots’. And whiskey with an ‘e’ comes from Ireland or the United States. Barley is the start-point. The grain is allowed to germinate in the warm, damp environment of the malting floor, which converts some of its starch to sugar. The malt is heated, under the pagoda-like copper roof of the malting kiln, then boiled and fermented into the ‘mash’, a kind of sweet insipid beer. The mash is passed three times through the onionshaped copper stills and stored in barrels for at least eight years. That’s the technical process; the added mystery happens almost by accident. The killing of the malt, traditionally done over a peat fire, adds a smoky aroma, but it’s the second-hand sherry barrels used for storage that add the golden colour, much of the flavour and the bite of the oakwood. Blended whiskies, such as Bells, Teachers and Famous Grouse, are made of cheaper corn spirit with malt whisky mixed in. More serious are the ‘single malts’, each a product of a named distillery. From Glenlivet comes the Glenlivet itself, and also Tomnavoulin, Tomintoul, Cragganmore and Glenfarclas. These are Speyside malts - smooth and subtle. From the islands of the west come wilder whiskies like Lagavoulin and Talisker, with overtones of peat, seaweed and even old fish crates. An educational tasting session could start in the hotels and whisky shops of Tomintoul. While you're there: Glenlivet was the first legal distillery in Scotland. Mechanisation and even computerisation have overtaken the ancient mysteries, but the smell remains the same. Look out for the small dent in one of the copper stills. The result of an unknown accident, it has to be carefully reproduced every time the still gets rebuilt - just in case it may be affecting the whisky. What to look out for: From the summit of The Bochel, you can see two of Glenlivet’s six distilleries. In the north, the Tomnavoulin distillery makes a distinguished Speyside malt. Southwards, the white block of Braeval, currently not operating, used to contribute to blended whiskies. Behind it, faint green lines slanting up the Ladder Hills are the traces of smugglers’ paths, where the illicit spirit was carried over to Donside. Where to eat and drink: At Tomintoul, the highest village in the Highlands, the air is fresh and scented with whisky. Here you’ll find that the Glen Avon Hotel does bar meals in the Square, and the Old Firestation Tearoom serves good food and is open all year round. Directions: At Tombae church, turn left to walk for 330yds (300m) to a stile on the right - signposted as Walk 10. A track leads down into birchwoods. Bear right at a waymarker and follow the main track to reach a bridge and cross over the River Livet. After 60yds (55m), turn right to another bridge, this time over the Crombie Water. Turn half left, up to a stile beside a field gate. The walk now follows the top of the low wooded bank above the Crombie Water to reach a footbridge. 2 Across the footbridge, a small path runs across a meadow into a wood, slanting up to the right to a green track. Turn right and follow this gently up through the wood, then bend left on to heather moorland. Below the abrupt hill of The Bochel the track forks. Keep ahead, with a waymarker. The way becomes a peaty path. At the top of the first rise is a stile with a gate alongside. The path, with a waymarker, leads to a gateway in another fence. Don’t go through, but turn right, with the fence on your left, to a stile with a signpost. 3 For an easier alternative, follow the sign for Walk 10, ahead. Just before a house, turn right at another signpost and follow a track towards Bochel farm. But the main route goes over The Bochel itself. Across the stile, turn uphill on small sheep paths to the summit cairn. Turn left, to descend towards the white Braeval distillery below the Ladder Hills. As the slope steepens, you’ll see Bochel farm below. Head down the left-hand edge of the nearer pine wood to join the rough track leading into the farm. 4 At once a gate on the right leads to a faint path into the plantation. This soon becomes a green track running just above the bottom edge of the wood. It becomes more well-used and then runs out to a road. 5 Turn right, over a bridge to a waymarked gate on the right. A track rises to open fields above the river. At its highest point, a waymarker points down to the right. Go down to a fence, with a waymarked stile on the left, then through heather with a fence on your left. Turn downhill to a stile at the bottom. Cross this and turn left, ignoring another stile on the left, to reach the footbridge, Point 2. Retrace the first part of the walk back to Tombae.