10 fascinating facts about… Speyside

Speyside is a fantastic part of Scotland that is well worth a visit at any time of year.

Think of the area, and you’ll automatically think of the area’s whisky industry.

But there’s far more to it that just that – so we present 10 fascinating facts about Speyside.

The river Spey is 107 miles long, making it the second longest river in Scotland behind the Tay (119 miles).

The River Spey

With a mean flow of 16 miles a second, the Spey is the fastest Scottish river.

Noted for its gardens and lovely main street, Grantown-on-Spey was built by Sir James Grant in the 18th century.

The bike trail on the Glenlivet Estate has 21km of trails, with the red trail offering some of the longest downhill mountainbiking in the UK.

Speyside has the greatest number of distilleries of any whisky-producing area in Scotland.

At 23 feet high, Sueno’s Stone in Forres is the tallest Pictish stone in Scotland.

The Benromach Distillery is one of the Speyside Distilleries

Taking in eight distilleries, the Whisky Trail is the world’s only trail devoted to single malt whisky.

At 1,294 feet above sea level, the ninth tee at Dufftown Golf Club is Scotland’s highest.

The Moray Firth is one of only two places in Britain with a resident population of bottlenose dolphins.

In January the custom of burning the clavier – a bonfire of whisky casks – is observed at Burghead. The charcoal is then put in pieces up the chimneys of homes to ward off spirits and witches.

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