PR invite // All thoughts and opinions are, of course, my own.
Straloch Estate is located in the Perthshire countryside and they have just started offering Whisky Weekends for those looking to escape on a little whisky adventure. They are also offering Wild Picnics (which can be booked independently of the overnight stays and Whisky Weekend) in their wee bothy up on the hills and we got to sample these experiences during our overnight stay. They will be offering a variety of packages and can also put together bespoke offerings so don’t hesitate to contact them to find out more.
We had such a great time and I’m certain this would be an amazing experience for many!
The Estate and The Rooms
Straloch Estate has two cottages on the estate which can be rented through their website, but for the Whisky Weekend smaller groups are welcome to stay in the main estate house. It’s a gorgeous building and you can tell the hosts are interested in a variety of art. I stayed in the yellow room which had such a beautiful wallpaper and a dreamy bathroom as well. Equipped with a comfortable bed, vanity, shower and freestanding bathtub – the rooms have everything you’d need for a luxurious stay. There’s also both body wash, shampoo and conditioner available. On the grounds you might spot both dogs, llamas and plenty of sheep and there’s a walled garden behind the house where the estate can do smaller weddings or events in the warmer months of the year.
Will and Lucy took good care of us and offered teas and coffees as well as scones in between our different happening throughout the day. The resident chef Penny was also a real star, but more on that later.
The Wild Picnic
First up on the itinerary was bumpy journey up the hill to the Straloch Estate bothy where a cosy wild picnic waited. I’m glad I decided on going by Landrover, rather than take the one hour walk up as it was seriously muddy and even the road was even flooded at parts. When you arrive at the bothy you are surrounded by hills and untouched nature which makes the experience even more charming.
Along with the Wild Picnic the Whisky Weekend can also include more whisky tastings and distillery visits but as I previously mentioned they are also open for bespoke experiences so the best thing is to contact them and find out what’s possible and what can suit you the best.
At the bothy we met Sandy and Ewan from Spirit of Perthshire who was hosting not one, but two whisky tasting for us that day. They’re both very knowledgable and Ewan really knows how to explain whisky to all kinds of people no matter of their previous knowledge. They had also managed to pick some lovely whiskies, where I’d actually only tried one of them before. My favourite of the tasting was actually the Linkwood which I’ve tried before when I visited Young Spirits a while back. It has such a lovely sherried character without being too punchy or vague. Just delicious. The remainder of the line up was also fascinating as they all were so different to each other.
The line up consisted of:
Lindores Abbey Oloroso Cask
Ferg & Harris 12 Year Old Linkwood
Lochlea Ploughing Edition
Ardnamuchan Cask Strength
We also enjoyed a marvellous array of picnic foods alongside the tasting – and it was all SO TASTY!
There were savoury shortbreads, soup, sausage rolls, a gruyere and leek quiche, scotch eggs, potato salad and caprese. I’m usually quite picky with food compliments as there’s usually something that’s not quite to my taste, but this was incredible and I’d happily come back for the food alone.
The Dinner & Whisky Tasting
After our Wild Picnic we headed back to the estate for some downtime and tea & scones before dinner waited that evening. Penny had put together a lovely 3 course meal consisting of scallops, lamb and Cranachan Pannacotta followed by a lovely cheese board. We also had the pleasure of enjoying a second four dram whisky tasting hosted by Ewan. Once again he had put together a tasty line up and I was particularly thrilled to try the Edradour Ibis again – a cask strength sherry bomb – which I used to drink a lot of when I worked at The Scotch Whisky Experience. However it was the 28 year old Speyside from Golden Cask that was my favourite from the evening. Just such a lovely rounded burst of fruits and golden deliciousness. When whisky is like this you can really see how age can do wonders for maturations.
The whisky line up consisted of:
Tomatin Distillery Exclusive PX
Edradour Ibisco Oloroso
Golden Cask Speyside 28 Year Old
North Star 8 Year Old Caol Ila
The Breakfast
The day before we got to place our breakfast orders from a menu of items like sourdough toast with avocado, porridge and full Scottish. I opted for the avocado toast which was lovely. There was also granola with blueberries, toast and juice available on a little buffet table.
I had such a lovely time at Straloch Estate and would highly recommend an experience here, be it a Whisky Weekend, a Wild Picnic or a tasting with Ewan from Spirit of Perthshire or in his shop at Robertsons of Pitlochry.
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