because it is so near to their distillery, hendrick’s took us to the superposh turnberry hotel for their version of the high tea: including the traditional cucumber sandwiches and scones, and the slightly less ordinary gin cocktails served with rasberries and rose petals. the view on ailsa craig, the granite island traditional curling stones hail from, was simply amazing. even if you’re not middle-aged and looking to enjoy your holidays on the golf court, i would surely recommend coming here for tea and scones.

in true hendrick’s spirit, we were then surprised by an ice cream cart on the way back to glasgow – right at the electric brae. though i couldn’t perceive the famous optical illusion myself, i did enjoy the gin and tonic sorbet and rose and cucumber ice cream we were treated to. and here i was thinking i’m pretty inventive with my cocktail recipe books. this trip sure showed me i need to step up my game!

photos by stephanie duval

last week i was invited by hendrick’s gin to visit their distillery near glasgow. i had never been to a distillery before, and hendrick’s happens to be a favorite of mine, so i was pretty excited about the trip. and i wasn’t disappointed, because i quickly figured out hendrick’s is not just quirky for the sake of their (fabulous) marketing, it’s just truly who they are. i had a wonderful time, and even won a teeny tiny curling trophy (it looks bigger, but it’s actually the size of a tealight).

i also loved my room at the blythswood square hotel, which used to house the royal scottish automobile club. some details in the rooms pay hommage to the hotel’s history, but the main thing that caught my eye was how every room is covered in iconic harris tweed. the hotel is as luxurious as it sounds, the restaurant serves amazing breakfast and lunch (didn’t try dinner) and the spa has no fewer than five different sauna and steam rooms – pure bliss.

photos by stephanie duval