Highland Secrets (English Edition) by Elena MacKenzie

attention to you.”
    I raised my eyebrows morosely. “That’s how it should be. I am only here to complete my work on the paintings and nothing more. Professor MacLeod w as wrong. I am not interested and I will not let myself be paired up.”
    Molly smiled in amazement. “You are aware of your responsibilities, I like that. But please take a break this afternoon. There are guided tours of the distillery. Alfred can take you. You shouldn’t spend the whole day at home.”

Chapter 7
     
    As Molly had made an interesting proposal, I decided to take a look at something that Adam felt very strongly about. Maybe then the image I had of Adam wouldn’t be as tarnished.
    The distillery was situated halfway between the MacLeod’s estate and Dunvegan. It was a long, low stone house. There was a white sign in front of the entrance with “Glenoak Distillery” in dark brown lettering. A group of about fifteen people were already waiting for the beginning of the guided tour. I entered the small shop which sold all sorts of souvenirs, but also had different colors and types of whisky on offer and bought myself a ticket for the next guided tour.
    I didn’t have to wait long before Adam appeared in front of the tourists. His shoulders were tight and with a serious expression on his face he took a look around him, he gave me a fleeting glance and then he greeted all those taking part in the tour. He was wearing a black suit jacket, a blue shirt underneath the jacket which accentuated his unusual eye color and a kilt in the MacLeod colors. He looked very good in this get-up.  The suit jacket made him look even bigger.
    “ Dear visitors, my name is Adam MacLeod. Today, I will be taking you on a guided tour of our distillery and will reveal to you what makes the Scottish whiskey so special. At the end of our guided tour, we will meet up again and will try what I am about to show you.” He looked at me directly, his eyes narrowing a little, and then turned away. “Please follow me.”
    He opened a double door made of light wood and the group followed him. Murmuring could be heard as we went down the first few steps into a long room in which enormous wooden barrels could be found that were fastened firmly into the ground. Adam turned towards the group and waited for the  murmuring to stop.
    “The Glenoak Distillery was formed in 1774. Back then distilleries were experiencing a rollercoaster ride. The government attempted to limit the amount of whiskey that was distilled here in Scotland and granted exemption of taxes and levies without any real success. Even when it was banned to import Scottish whiskey to England, people still found ways of getting the water of life, as whiskey was known here, to England.
    The whiskey gets its smoky taste from the peat which is distilled during the malting process. In the past, distilleries used to do the malting themselves, but now only five distilleries still do it independently. When Glenoak was reopened back in 1894, it was decided not to carry out the malting process here. It simply costs too much money and that’s why the malting is done externally for us as it is for most other distilleries.” Adam moved towards one of the huge barrels and leaned his hand against it. “The malted barley is then mixed in here with water and yeast. We usually have beer in these containers, very strong beer.”
    A few of the visitors laughed at Adam’s comment and I asked myself how often had he experienced the people listening to him laughing unbelievably at this point. He must have known this reaction, as he paused after the word beer and took the opportunity to give me a crooked grin that gave me a feeling of warmth throughout my body. I turned away embarrassed and looked at one of the six wooden barrels with interest.
    Adam led us into the next room where there were numerous huge copper vats. He explained to us that the whiskey was distilled here twice. Then a liquid would come out at the end which would