In Aberdeen, after a hectic day which began with a strange train to Keith. It pulled out of Aberdeen station at 08.22, full, and then after Dyce I was the only person on board. Train I ride, goes to God knows where….I don’t know and I don’t care...or perhaps it was a Mystery Train…anyway. It stopped at Keith, where old acquaintance Jason Rose was waiting for me. Jason is now handling press for Scottish Water, and in my whisky writing capacity we were bound for the water treatment works at Badentinan, which supplies various distilleries. There I was photographed drinking (or pretending to drink) whisky.

The works at Badentinan is currently being massively upgraded to meet new regulations on the microporous filtration of water to prevent any cryptospiridium reaching your dram. This is costing millions, and is being done despite the fact that the water supplying Badentinan, which comes from 36 bore holes beside the Spey, is among the purest in the world. I had a chance to sample this ‘raw’ water and can vouch for that.

Anyway. Back to Aberdeen, and lunch on the way at Morgan McVeigh’s, a cafe evidently owing more than a little to the excellent Brodie Countryfare near Nairn. There I spied the whisky aeroplane. Fifty quid? No, I don’t think so.