Whisky Country

Whisky tourism has become big business. But if you're looking for the ultimate in exclusive and personal whisky experiences you should talk to Chris Gordon. Dominic Roskrow reports.

Often the best ideas are the simplest ones. The ones which make you wonder why you, or indeed anyone else, didn't think of them before.

So it was with Chris Gordon and his new luxury travel concept Whisky Country, which has been bucking the recessionary trends by flourishing in recent months, and this year is set to get even bigger.

Gordon is the driving force behind Scotland Calling, a one man travel operation with a luxury vehicle which has more in common with the inside of a private plane than a high end people carrier. For several years, he has been offering unique bespoke holidays, planning individual itineraries for his clients and driving them in style to the finest hotels Scotland has to offer and to some of its very best experiences.

But it was a chance meeting with a small party of people from Boston that resulted in him setting up a second wing to his business, one based around Scotland's most famous product.

“When I set up, I thought I'd get different people every year because I didn't think this sort of holiday was the sort that I would do again and again,” he says. “But I have been very surprised. I have formed a base of clients who have become friends and who come back year after year and that's been great. Many of them are couples who perhaps came to Scotland for their honeymoon and drove themselves about, and now, on their 25th or 30th anniversary, they have some money and want to come back and be driven about in luxury. A high proportion of my busi...

• By : Dominic Roskrow
• In : Destinations
• Issue : 50
• Page : 22
• Words : 1,146