My Husband and I had a wonderful trip around Scotland that had been planned by Liz and Marcus. It was a personal tour with Marcus as our driver/guide that took us over 600 miles. The tour was customized to our interests, starting in Edinburgh and including stops that highlighted the rich history of Scotland, the rugged countryside, the beautiful Inner Hebrides, and the culture of the country itself.

The high point of the trip, for me especially, was our visit to Duart Castle. With the maiden name of MacLean, this had been a lifelong dream.

Liz found out Sir Lachlan was in residence and arranged for us to meet him in the beautiful Sea Room. We all had a nice chat and started moving on to the Great Hall. To our surprise Sir Lachlan continued on with us and gave us a private tour of his home! Needless to say, this was the thrill of a lifetime, a special memory that will stay with me forever.

From the time Marcus met us at the airport, to the times he opened his wicker basket to let us sample a variety of fine whiskeys, it felt as if we were traveling, not only with a knowledgeable guide but also a new friend.

What made it even more special was when Liz joined us while we explored the Isle of Mull (one of her favorite places). We left feeling as if we had two new friends and many fond memories of a very special vacation. We would not hesitate to recommend Liz and Marcus to anyone planning a trip to Scotland.

Some will say that we’ve known Liz, Paul, Marcus and Mark from the previous life, but I will simply say from before the pandemic. We’ve been looking for a private tour covering history of Scotland and whisky and Liz was the first one to respond to our request. Professional attitude was demonstrated, correct questions were asked, competitive price was given. And we did not simply find professional guides, we found some dear friends in Scotland.

So, we did our first tour with Paul back in 2019 visiting thirty six distilleries and bringing more than 60 bottles of the “water of life” back home. We did a tour with Mark covering Speyside and Ireland. I got an impression that there are more distilleries in Speyside than there are settlements there. And we followed that up with another purely Scottish tour in 2024 with Marcus. Liz was coordinating from the base in Carnoustie through all of our visits.

It is thanks to Marcus and Liz that our daughter- who has graduated from Glasgow Uni  – has discovered Scotland in its irresistible best, and developed a taste for whisky too! The young generation is not without hope!

But coming back to the McLean’s tours we have of course learned a lot about the history of the clan, visited Duart Castle and shook hands with the present Clan Chief there. Tobermory distillery on the Isle of Mull was the friendliest of them all and generally awesome – try the 18 year old Ledaig if you can.

However, in the wake of the latest Clan Maclean Gathering we have been able to get our hands on a unique bottle dedicated to the event. Liz, maybe we can add to the collection in 2027?