Whisky Tasting in Scotland

February 12, 2010January 10, 2010 PerryGolf Staff

Scotland, as well as being the Home of Golf, is also the home of the single malt whisky, and no trip here is complete without sampling a selection of these or visiting a distillery. Combining a golf trip with a visit to a distillery can be tricky though, as most distilleries are located in the Highlands; hidden away in glens where the taxmen could not find them in the past. The links courses are located by definition in coastal areas. Trips to golf in the Highlands and play courses like Royal Dornoch, Nairn and Castle Stuart, offer the opportunity to stop by the famous Glenmorangie Distillery…but visiting distilleries from St. Andrews is less convenient. Instead, an option to consider is a whisky tasting session in your hotel. Various hotels can arrange this for you and the experience allows you to sample a range of different blends from all over Scotland. Alternatively you may have more fun experimenting yourselves!

Like wine, Malt Whisky is shaped by the environment it is made in and typically Scotland’s whisky regions would be the Lowlands, Highlands, Speyside and Islands. Malts from the lowlands are usually light and delicate in character; good examples are Glenkinchie and Auchentoshan. The Highland whiskies are more full-bodied and sweeter with a touch of smokiness. And those from Speyside are again usually sweeter with a fruity character which comes from the sherry barrels the spirit is matured inside. Great Highland malts are Dalmore, Glenmorangie, Edradour and Dalwhinnie.

Speyside is the area in Scotland with the largest concentration of distilleries and is the home to Glenfiddich and Glen Livet – not to mention other excellent malts from that area such as Balvenie (the 12 year old is a personal favourite), Strathisla and of course, Macallan. The island malts vary in style but typically they are much smokier and peatier then the mainland malts, especially those from the island of Islay where the malts pack a real punch. Amongst the best would be Highland Park, Ardbeg and Laphroaig. Of course this is personal opinion but the fun is in tasting them and finding your own favourite (this may take years of careful sampling though) – enjoy!

By Alastair Niven. Alastair has been with PerryGolf for over 9 years and is one of our Golf Travel Specialists.

Machrihanish Dunes Awards

February 10, 2010February 10, 2010 PerryGolf Staff

Southworth Development, LLC have recently announced that Machrihanish Dunes, the new McLay Kidd layout beside the famous Machrihanish, has received top honours from Links Magazine as one of the “Top New International Courses” and has also been given 21^st place in Golfweek’s “Best New Modern Courses of Great Britain and Ireland”. You can see more details on each of these awards at the links below but this certainly makes the rugged Mull of Kintyre a very attractive destination for those who like their golf away from the crowds and played the way golf used to be played!

Links Magazine article – Click Here

Golfweek article – Click Here

By Alastair Niven. Alastair has been with PerryGolf for over 10 years and is one of our Golf Travel Specialists.

Palace at Versailles, France

February 9, 2010December 28, 2020 PerryGolf Staff

The day did not start well…Bill just made the train and I just didn’t! Left behind on a Paris station almost threw me and as he didn’t bring his cell phone I had no choice other than to try and find him at the other end, and in any case, I had the tickets! Unfortunately the next train took me to the City of Versailles; not the Palace, but luckily a well-marked tourist route took me on a pleasant fifteen minute walk through the outskirts of the city to the area around the Palace and the train station. It was a beautifully sunny September day and we were soon laughing over a coffee and some delicious pain au chocolates.

The palace, originally a hunting lodge for Louis XIII, was completely transformed by his son, Louis XIV. It is a huge building; two mirror-images linked by a corridor…the famous Hall of Mirrors. The state rooms are full of beautiful paintings, gilded furniture, exotic china, sumptuous materials and rugs – and walking through the private rooms and bedrooms, it was not hard to imagine The Sun King and his courtiers enjoying their privileged lifestyle.

The sunshine eventually tempted us back outside to eat and wander around the grounds, admiring the formal gardens, taking a ride on one of the horse-drawn coaches and visiting Queen Marie Antoinette’s own retreat, the Petit Trianon, with its little farm where she ‘played’ at country life. Eventually we settled down with an ice-cream to watch the ‘Water & Light’ Show as the sun was setting. The terraces of fountains, lit by theatrical-style hidden lights and accompanied by classical music of the period, were breathtaking and were alone worth the journey.

In fact, writing this has made me want to go back…

By Yvonne Shaw. Yvonne has been with PerryGolf for over 10 years and is a member of our Administration team.

China – Sightseeing Suggestion

February 5, 2010January 5, 2010 PerryGolf Staff

I recently travelled to China for a trip which was truly breathtaking. Included in the trip was some of the most spectacular sightseeing I’ve ever experienced; including the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square, plus golf on the highest and longest course in the world – Jade Dragon – and the two best courses in Asia (the Lake and Mountain courses at Spring City).

One of my most memorable experiences however, was the evening meal and Minority Show in the Kunming area. We were lucky enough to be staying at the Spring City Resort, where the two best golf courses (mentioned before) in the whole of Asia are located, so we were already enjoying a couple of extra special days during the ten day trip…however the night we went to the Minority Show was nothing short of spectacular!

An array of colourful dancers performed on stage throughout the evening, each in their own ethnic minority’s traditional outfits. I’m not normally the most cultured of people when it comes to the performing arts, but this was an absolute treat! We also enjoyed a fantastic meal while the show was going on, and at one point the dancers came over to our table for a bit of interaction. If you’re in China and staying at the Spring City Resort, make sure you find time to go to a Minority Show, because it will turn out to be an evening you’ll thoroughly enjoy and will never forget.

By Keith Baird. Keith has worked with PerryGolf for over 10 years and is one of our Golf Travel Specialists who manages programs to China.

Irish Golf Course Ratings…by the Irish

February 2, 2010 PerryGolf Staff

I read with interest the recently published Irish course ratings in ‘Backspin’, an Irish golf magazine. The ratings were awarded by Irish pros, amateurs and the media…and the resulting list makes for some fascinating reading. The biggest surprise to me was Ballybunion being rated 7^thin the Links Courses category – I have played there in the past and thought the course was fantastic. I was also interested to see how well the courses in the Dublin area and Northern Ireland fared, especially the links courses which our clients usually prefer to play. Click here to see details of the full list.

Making use of this list, you could have a fantastic trip based in Dublin then head up to Newcastle and finish on the north coast of Northern Ireland. In Dublin you could play Portmarnock, The European Club, The Island and Royal Dublin (or the Links at Portmarnock Hotel). You could then head north (it’s just over an hour to Baltray) and play Co Louth before continuing up to Newcastle. Here you would play Royal County Down and then continue to the north coast where you might be based at Bushmills and would be perfectly positioned to play Royal Portrush, Portstewart and Ballyliffin. This would make for a great trip and would allow you to play 9 of the top 18 courses mentioned, including all of the top 5! And that is only including the links courses; if you want to mix in a couple of parkland courses, there is also the K Club and Druid’s Glen, both just outside Dublin. What are you waiting for?!

By Alastair Niven. Alastair has been with PerryGolf for over 9 years and is one of our Golf Travel Specialists.

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