Tak' The Low Road

O ye'll tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road,

And I'll be in Scotland afore ye,

But me and my true love will never meet again,

On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.

So goes the chorus of the classic Scottish song, "The Bonnie Banks 'o Loch Lomond". The Cabinet met last week to take a version of the low road. But before I get into that, a bit of trivia for you: the low road referred to in the song is death, the road the spirits take. The singer has been killed in the Jacobite wars and is returning to Scotland via that lowest of roads. That's why he and his true love will never meet again. A bit dark. But marvelous.

We did not take that low road. Obviously. Rather we took the Lowland road, and sampled the output of two distilleries near Glasgow. And the reason for that was that our first meeting of the year is always held as close as possible to Robbie Burns Day. Those of us who have kilts wear them. Burns lived in Dumfries, as low as you can get in the Lowlands, so these whisky choices seemed a fitting way to mark the occasion.

The Lowlands have very few distilleries, and even less are available here, so we had to satisfy ourselves with two Auchentoshans, the 12 year old and the Three Wood, and the new(ish) King's Inch from the Courageous Spirits distillery. These were all fine, but none were spectacular. The King's Inch, with it's green apple nose, and fruity flavours was the most interesting, and the Three Wood was enjoyable, with its dominant rich caramel. The 12 year old, however, was thin and dull. None had much of a finish. The Lowlands indeed. 

We wrapped up the evening with a detour to our favoured isle and the Ardbeg An Oa. Even though it didn't exist 230 years ago, Burns would have approved. Actually, probably not. He probably would have hated it. But he took the low road long ago, so we can safely put words in his mouth. 

"Ye're brilliant gentlemen, enjoy yer peaty Islay dram!" - Robbie Burns posthumous quote, January 26, 2024.

Slainte Robbie!