Double win for Scotland at Rough Guide Travel Awards

Scotland picked up two awards at the Rough Guide Travel Awards 2017. After weeks of voting, the results were compiled after receiving hundreds of entries, to bring celebrate the people, places and experiences that have shaped their voters’ year in travel. Scotland took top prizes in being the Most Welcoming Country and the Favourite Destination…

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Scone Palace all set to feature on Mary Berry’s latest TV show

TV’s favourite baker comes to Scotland for her new show this week. Mary Berry’s Country House Secrets comes to Scone Palace in the second episode of the series, and is due to be broadcast tomorrow (Wednesday) night. Mary, a former judge on the Great British Bake Off, will take viewers on a behind-the-scenes peek of…

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Second expression released from Tullibardine’s Marquess Collection

Tullibardine distillery has released the much anticipated second expression in the brand’s treasured Marquess Collection, The Murray (2005). Bottled at cask strength this year, the single malt whisky has been non-chill filtered and features a profile shaped by the mineral-rich water from Perthshire’s Ochil Hills. Following maturation in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, the expression boasts notes of…

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Baking queen Mary Berry visits Scone Palace for new TV show

Britain’s queen of baking is to feature a historic Scots building in her new TV show. Scone Palace will offer the public a behind-the-scenes peek at stately home life when it features in a new four-part cooking series, Mary Berry’s Country House Secrets. The historic Perthshire visitor attraction is known worldwide for being the crowning…

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Scotland is a true gin-spiration for spirit drinkers

Gin is the ‘in thing’ across the UK – and Scotland is playing a crucial role in the supple of the popular tipple. The love affair with Mother’s Ruin is showing no signs of slowing down, so VisitScotland is quenching the thirst of gin fans with the creation of its very first interactive gin map.…

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Kids are guising with a difference in Speyside’s remote glens

Gamekeeping families scattered across remote Speyside glens have created a novel plan so their kids can go ‘guising’ together for the first time. Whilst kids in some Scottish towns can walk from door to door to do a song or joke for a reward, participating in the Halloween tradition of guising in the glens means…

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Mains of Taymouth golf course celebrates Silver Anniversary

The golf course at the Mains of Taymouth Country Estate at Kenmore – known locally as ‘Perthshire’s finest nine holes’ – has celebrated its 25th anniversary.  Estate owner Robin Menzies, who designed and built the course in 1991-2, was joined by his Head Greenkeeper, Stuart MacGregor, for a photocall at the first tee, during which…

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Blair Castle in TV spotlight as location features in ‘Victoria’

Blair Castle has released exciting details of what went on during filming of the second series of the acclaimed “Victoria” TV drama, which saw episode seven filmed in and around the Castle and estate. Starring Jenna Coleman, the series focuses on the early years of Victoria’s reign, during which time she visited Highland Perthshire, and…

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Celebrating the work of ‘Our Fathers’

What finer tribute could there be to your dad than creating a bottle of wine in his honour? Peter Ranscombe finds out what inspired Giles Cooke to produce Our Fathers. It’s not often that I’ll write about a single bottle of wine in isolation. Then again, there aren’t many bottles with the rich backstory that lies behind…

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Rhone Part 1: Syrah’s spiritual home

The Crozes-Hermitage area of the Northern Rhone produces only a single red grape variety, but Peter Ranscombe finds out just how varied its Syrah can be. “Syrah loves a view” – or so French winemaker Jean-Louis Chave once said. In the Crozes-Hermitage region in France’s Rhone valley, those grapes are spoiled for choice when it…

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