Eines der bekanntesten Whisky-Hotels der Welt feiert in diesen Tagen den 125. Geburtstag: Das Craigellachie Hotel, so ziemlich im Zentrum der Speyside, kann nicht nur auf eine lange Tradition zurückblicken, man hat sich für die Zukunft auch einiges vorgenommen. So wird zum Beispiel ab dem nächsten Jahr „The Quaich“ umgestaltet, und mit Jospeh Fischer wird man einen neuen Executive Chief in der Küche begrüßen können.
Der eigene Whisky namens Copper Dog, der von Diageo hergestellt und vertrieben wird, ist bereits in 64 Ländern der Welt erhältlich – wer allerdings die 850 anderen Whiskys, die das Hotel bietet, verkosten will, tut dies am Besten vor Ort, schreibt man in der nachfolgenden Pressemitteillung, die wir mit einigen Bildern vom Craigellachie Hotel „gewürzt“ haben:
TOP WORLD WHISKY HOTEL CELEBRATES 125TH ANNIVERSARY
The Craigellachie Hotel was designed by Charles Doig and built by Sir Alexander Edward in the 1890’s, who recognised that Craigellachie and Speyside was becoming a tourist attraction. Mr Edward went on to build several distilleries including the Craigellachie Distillery in 1893. Situated where the iconic river Spey meets the Fiddich, the hotel sits at the heart of Speyside and the Malt Whisky Trail, with some of the world’s top distilleries only a stone’s throw away. In 2016 it also launched its own whisky: Copper Dog, which is now one of Scotland’s most popular blended malts and distributed to 64 countries around the world.
Home to the lively Copper Dog bar and the world famous Quaich Bar, which boasts over 850 single malt whiskies, the 26 room hotel has played a pivotal role in the region’s tourism bounce, bringing much needed premium quality accomodation and food offer to the area whilst being a popular meeting place for the local community. Figures released by Moray Speyside Tourism have revealed that 806,000 people visited the region during 2017 – an increase of about 56,000 on the year before.
Managing Director, Kevin Smith who joined the hotel in 2010 from 5 star Mar Hall near Glasgow said:
“I’ve always said that we wanted to create a hotel that makes you feel at home when you arrive, and when you leave we want you feel like you can’t wait to return. Whether it’s the local community, Guy Ritchie, CHVRCHES, Frightened Rabbit, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon or the world’s distilling elite, we are proud to have created a world-class hospitality experience rooted in our home in Speyside, the largest whisky producing region in the world.
“Our 125th anniversary marks an important part in the hotel’s journey, it’s been a record year for tourism, the number of guests visiting the hotel, for our very own whisky which is now enjoyed in over 64 countries across the world and for our restaurant Copper Dog which features in the Michelin Guide for the third year.
“In 2019 we are marking our anniversary with a state-of-the-art cocktail menu, we welcome a brand new Executive Chef – Joseph Fisher – and a new look for ‘The Quaich’ which will offer dining for the first time. Whether for weddings, weekend breaks, indulging in Speyside cuisine or enjoying one of our 850 plus whiskies on offer, we look forward to the next generation of The Craigellachie and thank everyone for their continued support.”
