A bonus of living in the village of Craigellachie is having two excellent hostelries literally on your doorstop.

The Highlander Inn is a gem. Owned by Tatsuya Minagawa, an aficionado of all things whisky. Tatsu is a very gracious host, serves a mean pint and offers some much improved pub grub in the spacious but cozy bar and dining area. When home, this is our local and we will often pop in for beer and a bite and a conversation with Tatsu and his staff.  With a huge and growing whisky collection, I hope to feature more of the Highlander Inn soon.

The other village delight is  The Craigellachie Hotel

The Craig’ was opened in 1893 so its been around a while.  In its current guise, it was bought late in 2013 by Piers Adam, the London Club owner, businessman and best man to Guy Ritchie.  It was extensively refurbished through the early part of 2014 and is a pleasant and comfortable place to visit. A Scottish Highland Hotel might seem an unusual purchase for a London socialite, but there is a familial back story to the purchase and Piers  is the first to admit it wasn’t necessarily a hard headed business buy. The London connection has also resulted in the occasional Celeb gracing the village, Kate Moss, Noel Gallagher and Sadie Frost to namedrop but three.  For the locals, its good to see the place get some much needed cash injection and long may it continue.

The Craigellachie Hotel.

The Hotel overlooks the River Spey and the Telford Bridge, which i am told used to be part of the main road to Elgin. That must have been fun, with a sharp 90 degree bend at the end of it. One of the reasons there is now a modern bypass, I suspect.  The bridge remains an important historical landmark and even has its own society.

To be honest; living around 5 minutes walk away, we have never stayed at the hotel, which boasts some 26 guest rooms, but have been assured they are very well appointed and comfortable.  I did once try to stay during the infamous dry rot episode at home – a story for another day- but it was fully booked. The hotel also has the Quaich whiskey bar with around a thousand bottles of single malt whiskies to tempt its guests. That’s an awful lot of headaches waiting for you.  Its an impressive bar, its not the one we like to go to.  No, when we visit we tend to go to the CopperDog bar and restaurant.

We like the Copper Dog.  It’s quite modern without having lost the country hotel feel. The bar has a rotating selection of mainly local craft beers on hand pull plus a plentiful selection of most other drinks to keep everyone happy.  The bar staff mix a mean cocktail including the signature Copper Dog, a mix of pressed apple juice and their own Copper Dog whisky.  You enter the bar from the car park at the front of the hotel.  I have to say it has changed since the above photo was taken. Check out the hotel website and you will see it has been painted an odd mustard color earlier this year. Not sure why. Personally, I preferred the white facade, but each to their own and the beer tastes just as good regardless, so I guess its a moot point.

Incidentally, the Copper dog is named for a cunning device used by the local distillery workers for purloining spirit whilst at work.  A copper cylinder suspended on a string would be hidden inside the trews of the worthy worker. When an opportune moment came along, the device would be ‘dipped’ into an available whisky barrel to fill,  then swiftly secreted back inside the workers trousers. There it would remain until it was time to sample a sly dram.

A Copper Dipping Dog.
Copper as it’s made of copper, dipping as you Dip it into a barrel and
dog because its mans best friend.

To be honest, the Craigellachie isn’t much of a locals pub. It tends to be more of a tourist establishment. At least that’s our experience, but then we tend to be around in high season, which I guess makes us tourists and visitors more than the real locals we desperately want to be.  The bar is dog friendly and has an open fire which is very welcoming in the winter. Food can be served in the bar, especially when its busy, which is most of the time, but adjoining the bar is the CopperDog restaurant.

Oh dear. This is where it all gets a little tricky.

Now, let me stress, I really like the Copper Dog and am looking forward to our next visit. But, whilst I would love to say the food is fantastic and the best in the area. I can’t.

On occasions it has been.  We have had some superb meals there. As far as possible, the menu is made up with locally sourced ingredients, so maintains a highland theme with a few twists.  I personally like the CopperDog pork and black pudding sausages with Rumblethumps. Not sure what a rumble thump is, but its very tasty. Local game and seafood feature on the menu as the seasons allow and the service is generally of a very high standard.  But………….

But on other occasions the food and service has been on the wrong side of average.  It’s inconsistant.  There are plenty of other places round about serving average but they don’t charge the prices the Craigellachie charges. If I am going to pay premium pricing, I expect premium quality and it isn’t always delivered, which is a shame.  In general the staff are all long term and very good. In high season we do see casual staff brought in to help out and most of the time they are also good. (One of our offspring worked a summer there behind the bar and seemed to do OK, not spilling my drink once. He still pours a pretty good cocktail. )  But I am told there have been issues retaining good chef’s.  There are plenty of covers and the place is always busy. Enough of a challenge for any chef, I would have thought in my uninitiated way.  As mentioned we tend to be around in high season when the place is always heaving. Perhaps its a seasonal issue and the place quietens down at other times. Whatever the reason, it needs to be solved as we have heard a great many complaints about the quality of the restaurant this year and that’s never good for business.

I want the Craig to do well. I want a pub that’s only a short walk away and that serves amazing food and great beer. We have one in the HIghlander but I want to be spoiled for choice with two.

It’s great having the Craigellachie on our doorstep, so to speak and we will carry on utilizing the place for as long as it or we are around the area.  But it isn’t living up entirely to its potential. If you do catch it on a good night, its truly memorable.  The problem at the moment is its something of a lottery.

But don’t take my word for it. Try it for yourself.  Remember to book for dinner or Sunday lunch or you may not get a table.  If you are visiting from further afield, book a room and stay to explore the local area.  Its well worth a visit and means you can also sample a few of the many single malts. Just remember to pack some paracetamol. Slainte!

The Craigellachie Hotel. +44 01340 881204

A Tribute

Now I started out saying that Craigellachie has two excellent hostelries.  It wasn’t that long ago it could boast three.

The Fiddichside Inn

The Fiddichside Inn nestles gently by the river Fiddich just before it merges with the Spey at Craigellachie.  It is a lovely little pub, with the emphasis on the little. Ten customers in the snug bar and it’s full.  The beer selection left a little to be desired. Primarily McEwan’s ales, a few bottled beers and absolutely no food beyond a packet of crisps.  But you didn’t go to the Fiddich for the beer or food.  You went to meet your neighbours and village worthies, but most of all you went to chat with the Landlord, Joe Brandie.

Joe was a real character and local legend.  A former Gillie and farm worker, he had been pulling pints for over half a century and yet was an almost puritanical tea totaller. Joe took over sole responsibility for the pub in 2009 after the death of his wife Dorothy, who’s family have owned the pub and its land for almost a 100 years.

Joe believed the pub should be a place to meet and chat, so there were no distractions such as slot machines or juke boxes and Joe discouraged mobile phones.  In fact it was a little like stepping back in time, to a slower, more sociable era.

Joe always had a welcoming smile and friendly word as he wrote down your drinks order on a little note pad.  I used to enjoy my conversations with him, discussing the fishing, local gossip and his life in the village. More like dropping into a close neighbours house for a beer and a blether than going to the pub.

As you have probably gathered, Joe sadly passed away on 24th September 2017 at the ripe old age of 88. With his passing, so too did the Fiddichside Inn. It’s been closed ever since. Probably just as well, as Joe would be an impossible act to follow.  I didn’t know him for long,  but I miss the easy nights listening to his tales. The village is a little poorer for not having Joe around anymore, but he has left behind some wonderful memories.

Rest easy Joe.

Joe Brandie the landlord and the legend. 1929-2017