A road trip through Scotland: dram-filled days and fairytale castles

Just the thing to put hairs on your chest in the morning," says whisky aficionado Iona Barrio, as she pours a (16-year-old) single malt into our wee glasses. The fact that these glasses are attached to neck lanyards - and that it's not yet 10am - almost makes me feel like I'm on a bucks' night. But no, this is a proper, educational whisky tour, just one with a difference. A step up from your regular distillery experiences - you know, learn how they make the stuff, then have a few samples - the Glen Garioch distillery also offers scenic drives through its surrounding, gently rolling Aberdeenshire countryside, stopping for sips, snacks and stories at places of local significance.

Led by Iona, a genial native of this north-eastern slice of Scotland, we pause by the fields where they source their barley for malting and stand above the spring where water was first tapped in 1797 by the founding brothers of this distillery, whose name, explains our guide, comes from two Scottish words: glen (valley) and garioch (pronounced "geary"), which derives from the ancient Gaelic "gairbheach", meaning "place of roughness". The whiskies, in contrast, are incredibly smooth and honeyed, pairing nicely with the local delicacies Iona fetches from her hamper: pork pies, sausage rolls and "baby butteries", a sort of squashed croissant fusing lard, butter and sugar. Later, munching on oatcakes layered with tangy cheeses and whisky-infused marmalade, the pretty, sheep-speckled landscapes appear to be getting blurrier. Neolithic ruins, Bronze Age roundhouses, granite-built hamlets and medieval castles apparently lurk somewhere over there.

OK, I'm slightly tipsy, but I'm honestly really chuffed to be savouring a piece of Scotland that's still relatively unsung. That's despite Aberdeenshire boasting the UK's largest national park - the rugged, occasionally snow-drenched Cairngorms - and Balmoral, the royals' cherished summer retreat (where Queen Elizabeth II died in 2022). We'll get there on this road trip, but first, there's a bit more whisky to imbibe, including a 1979 vintage - which normally costs about $3000 for a 70cl bottle - at the distillery's oaky-aired warehouse. Our "Legends of the Garioch" tour ends with lunch, including Aberdeenshire pulled pork and marmalade sponge drizzled with whisky sauce, at Meldrum House Country Hotel, a 13th-century baronial manor where Iona had earlier collected us.

Located in Oldmeldrum, a village between Banff and Aberdeen, the hotel is a handy base for our Aberdeenshire adventures. Its 51 rooms include contemporary-styled ones like mine set in the restored turrets, while below, there's a medieval-chic stone-walled bar with more than 120 whiskies and a restaurant tumbling out into a garden dotted with heated dining domes. Elsewhere on this 97-hectare estate, Highland cows graze on grassy pastures and golfers play rounds on an 18-hole course.

Another day, we swing over to Balmoral, a 75-minute drive west. We wander its idyllic grounds by the gushing River Dee and climb an aromatic pine forest to the hilltop pyramid that Queen Victoria commissioned to honour her husband, Prince Albert, after his death in 1861. From April to August, Balmoral stages exhibitions in the castle ballroom, but to nose around other areas of this neo-Gothic pile, try booking one of the special limited tours. It's also worth checking out the formal gardens, gift shop and field-to-fork cafe-restaurant - all recently enhanced by King Charles III.

We lunch in Ballater, the sleepy village next door, where Charles, when Prince of Wales, launched a pop-up eatery that's now a permanent fixture in the gorgeously refurbished former royal train station. Expect flavoursome soups, sandwiches, cakes and flat whites, plus bygone rail features, from vintage signs and posters to a regal waiting lounge and a replica of Queen Victoria's carriage.

Travelling back to Meldrum House, the pink-painted facade and towers of Craigievar Castle, glowing amid bucolic fields and woodland, capture our attention. Claimed to have inspired Walt Disney, this Cinderella-esque charmer is now managed by the National Trust for Scotland. Guided tours take you up the spiral stairs and into the eclectically furnished rooms. You may hear a few ghost stories.

Another must-see castle - or what's left of it, at least - is Dunnottar, whose eerie remains crown a dramatic, wave-battered outcrop south of Aberdeen city. Scottish icons like William Wallace and Mary, Queen of Scots, once called by the castle, which was a filming location in the 1990 screen version of Hamlet starring Mel Gibson.

The writer was a guest of Visit Britain and Visit Scotland