#glenisla

Forter Castle, Glenisla, Perthshire, Scotland,

The homeowners wanted a new house on a bayside site with views across Port Phillip Bay to the city. The building is contained to one edge of the site in order to maintain a strong connection with the existing landscape. Aside from that, the owners also want the house to take advantage of the long-distance views.

The materials used in the house are simple, clean and robust. It is designed to engage with the landscape as it grows and defines the property.

The entryway is tucked behind a timber-clad wall with vertical slot windows. These windows frame the views of the garden and add appeal to it.

A sophisticated weekender, the first floor living reflects the client’s love of food, wine and entertaining. The lower floor is internalized – the muted color palette punctuated by a punch of green identifying the cellar which forms the core of the house.

This is the dining area of the house with white kitchen cabinets and a wooden dining table. It has a floor-to-ceiling window that provide views of the area around it. Read Also: JC House: A Modern Trapezoidal Home in Portugal

The kitchen has a large white island, while dark cabinetry compliments the other dark elements like the dining chairs, counter stools and shelving.

Inside, polished-concrete screed floors and charcoal colored ceilings create a contemporary appearance, while a lime green rendered cellar adds a pop of color. Light wood stairs lead up to the second floor of the home.

This color is echoed in the first floor carpet as part of a lighter, airier assembly of materials and colors.

Just off the kitchen and almost hidden within the shelving and kitchen cabinetry is the door to the master bedroom. Green flooring has been used again as a color element in the mostly white interior.

The bathroom is also white with simple modern fixtures in it. It has a long rectangular mirror on the wall which makes it visually larger.

In the en-suite bathroom, a corner window adds natural light and provides a view of the trees, while dark flooring and a dark vanity contrast the white bathtub and white floor-to-ceiling tiles.

In another bedroom, a sliding glass door can be opened to have direct access to the backyard.

In this bathroom, a round mirror hangs on the wall, while white tiles in a chevron pattern cover the wall.

Upstairs is an open floor plan with an outdoor living room. It is located off the indoor living area which has large sliding glass doors that open the space up to the balcony.

Glenisla er om mulig enda mer obskurt enn Strathisla-produserte Craigduff. I likhet med Craigduff er også Glenisla et resultat av Chivas sine eksperimenter med røyket whisky på 70-tallet, men denne gang stammer whiskyen fra Glen Keith, Strathislas nabodestilleri. Der Craigduff brukte svært røyket malt i produksjonen, og lot det være med det, var Glenisla-tapningene på Glen Keith enda mer innfløkte: Man brukte lett røyket malt og i tillegg svært røyket vann (!) som først ble kjørt igjennom destillasjonsapparatet for å konsentrere røykpreget, i meskingen av ølet, som senere ble gjæret og destillert på vanlig måte. Resultatet av dette var whisky som var ment for blendmarkedet, antagelig en slags nødløsning siden Chivas ikke eide noe destilleri som var kjent for sin røykede whisky, f.eks. et Islay-destilleri. Det finnes ikke mange single malt-tapninger av Glenisla, men Signatory har kommet ut med noen få. Dette er en slik, og en svært symmetrisk Signatory-tapning er det: destillert den 7.7.1977 og selvsagt tappet den 11.11.2011. Den har ligget på et hogshead som ga 274 flasker.

På nesen fikk jeg pære, vanilje, litt gummi, gjær, smør, vingummi og bivoks. Smaken var preget av stikkelsbær, røyk, malt, pære, litt anis og en god dose røkt cheddarost (!). Søt og fyldig. Avslutningen var lang, med urter, eiketre, røyk, malt, toffee og røkt ost. Halvtørr. Med litt vann kom det litt sitrus på nesen, sammen med vanilje og marsipan. Smaken fikk mer malt og røyk, og det kom til litt myrvann. Avslutningen ble lengre og tørrere, med mer vanilje. Noe mer dempet ostepreg nå.

En interessant whisky å prøve og få krysset av på «sjeldne-whiskyer-jeg-har-lyst-til-å-prøve»-lista, men det er jo enkelte eksperimenter og forsøk man kanskje forstår at ikke ble videreført i sin tid … Ingen direkte fæl whisky, men særlig smaken var temmelig underlig, på grensen til kvalmende, med et pussig preg av røkt ost. Det er for så vidt greit med røkt ost, men kanskje ikke i en whisky, er nå mine beskjedne to cent, som det heter.

Karakter: 79/100

What a line up for our impromptu tasting!! ! Almost all silent stills, and a very fun night. I was able to meet new friend, Val, and Armand, Brad, Freddie, and Doc joined our evenings entertainment. I really am fortunate to have excellent friends.

This weekend I was back in Glenisla training a group from GWC their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze expedition. This time it was a group of boys. Once again I collected them from Peffermill on Saturday morning and headed North towards Angus.

I dropped the lads at the side of the road at Holm of Needs and saw them safely onto the track leading around Craiglea Hill to the (now derelict) Fornethy Residential School. Someone had mentioned to me that there may be a few fallen trees in the school grounds that might block the tracks so I drove round and headed in to check it out. Sure enough, the trees were lying there like matchsticks across the track but could be safely negotiated by a short detour around the other side of the school.

After guiding the boys safely to the B954, I shadowed them as they headed East along the path into Torrax Wood. The boys found it tricky to find a way through so I helped them negotiate the large number of gorse bushes that were blocking the way, before heading around to meet them at the bridge over Melgam Water at Loch of Lintrathen.

I then drove down the road and left them to follow me over the hill to Hilton from Purgavie Cottages - and follow me they did... very very slowly! Eventually they met me at the bealach between Strone Hill and The Carrach. The sun was now beating down on us and we made good progress along the track through Gairlaw. I thought it best to walk with them and try to push them on bit, as they were way behind schedule. As we passed a couple of ruined farm buildings at Gairlaw, I looked up to the side of Mile Hill and saw that a white horse was galloping straight for us... and I also saw that there was no wall or gate between us! There wasn't time to think about what to do but even if there was, I'm not quite sure what action I would have taken! To my relief, the horse skidded to an abrupt halt right next to us and started nodding it's head and swishing it's tail in a very friendly manner; clearly the horse just wanted some friendly attention from us. It followed us along the track until we closed the gate behind us, much to our amusement.

I shadowed the boys East through Garlow Wood and I helped them cross the Quharity Burn to Auldallan before jogging back over the hill to the minibus. The lads eventually made it to their campsite at the bridge over the Quharity Burn just to the South of Westerton and Balintore. The boys had done ok but were extremely slow considering the fine weather. Tomorrow's forecast wasn't looking too inviting so they were going to have to pick up the pace to make the coach back to Edinburgh.

Today was a real dog of a day and the lads set off later than planned. I saw them onto the track heading North past Westerton and on into Glen Quharity; giving them clear instructions to take the path to the left just after the trees through Craig of Balloch.

I headed round to Backwater Reservoir where I parked up at the side of the road and headed up to the top of Little Ley to watch for them coming over. I waited and waited but there was no sign of them and the clouds were getting lower and the rain heavier. I knew they had most probably missed the left turn and continued on into Glen Quharity but with visibility so poor, there was no point in wandering off into the mist looking for them. I wasn't too concerned, but another hour passed and there was still no sign of them.

I drove up and down the road to Glenhead at the side of the reservoir. I then decided to head up through Harran Plantation and try to gain some higher ground. I headed through a break in the forest that was clearly used frequently by the deer. I made swift progress and was soon on the summit of Corwharn but I could still only see 50 metres in any direction. Giving up, I jogged back down towards Drumshade Plantation and then onto the track heading back down to Glenhead Farm.