Getting into the spirit of a summer staycation up north

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Trumpy, Molly Bruce and Alfie do not fit the typical profile of a tour guide walking us around the stills of the Knockdhu distillery.For the majority of our trip, they loaf around on the cool metal floor, occasionally getting up to sniff passing guests and yawning loudly in the cool afternoon sun.The pups are the star attraction at the Moray-based whisky maker, but it is very much a case of come for the dog, stay for the dram.Knockdhu was one of two distilleries we visited to get into the spirit of a summer staycation, avoiding the airport chaos and embracing the best that Scotland has to offer.Opened in 1894, the traditional pagoda producing its AnCnoc whisky spouts from the centre of a cluster of stone buildings.The warm, hoppy smell that greets us is a stirring welcome following a two-hour drive from Inverness and we are greeted by distillery manager Gordon to show us the process of creating the popular dram.The most noticeable aspect early on is just how quiet it is.

Whisky tours are usually bustling affairs that motor on to the finish, but Gordon explains, unlike their more popular Speyside cousins, tours here are limited to offer guests a more intimate experience.All the water that is extracted from the nearby Knock Spring is now used at least seven times to reduce waste.The pups led the way up a narrow staircase to a viewing platform that looked down to the huge copper stills, we even got a look inside one that was filled with a yeasty mixture bubbling away before being led out to the vast warehouse where hundreds of barrels are left in darkness to age.When we came out of the warehouse several barrels were being filled with a huge orange tube, in a usual distillery I would expect to be told to stand back but here