A Castle Entirely Our Own
For seven unforgettable days, Rothes Glen becomes our private home in the Scottish Highlands. With only fourteen guests, this is not a hotel stay or a traditional tour — it is the rare privilege of settling into a magnificent country house and experiencing Scotland from the inside.
Mornings begin slowly. Evenings unfold beside the fire. And rather than racing from one landmark to another, we will welcome remarkable Scots into our home — storytellers, musicians, whisky authorities, culinary artisans and keepers of traditions passed down through generations.
Rothes Glen is more than the setting for this journey. It is where the Highlands come alive around us.
Some encounters will be revealed in advance. Others will remain a surprise. All will be personal, unhurried and created exclusively for the fourteen guests gathered here.
The Rhythm of the Residency
Highland Pursuits
A private day of Highland traditions, friendly competition and laughter—designed for participation, whether you are an experienced sportsman or trying something entirely new.
Whisky and Conversation
In the heart of Speyside, whisky becomes more than a tasting. It becomes an intimate conversation with the people whose knowledge, stories and passion have shaped Scotland’s most celebrated spirit.
Music and Living Tradition
The voices, songs and customs of the Highlands will enter the castle through deeply personal encounters with those preserving Scotland’s cultural heritage.
Seven Days at Rothes Glen
Not an itinerary. A week that unfolds.
Day One | The Castle Becomes Ours
Monday, June 21
There is a moment when every journey truly begins. In Scotland, ours comes as the road winds through Speyside and Rothes Glen first appears in the distance.
For the next six nights, this magnificent country house is ours — not simply a place to stay, but the heart of everything that follows. Settle into your room, wander the grounds, find your favorite chair by the fire. There is nowhere else we need to be.
As evening falls, we gather for the first time. A glass is poured, introductions become conversations, and Chef Alan Robertson welcomes us to his table with a dinner inspired by the land and waters of Scotland.
There will be time for extraordinary experiences in the days ahead.
Tonight is simply about arriving — and realizing that, for one remarkable week, we are home.
Day Two | The Castle, the River & the Dram
Tuesday, June 22
The first morning at Rothes Glen begins exactly as it should — slowly.
Over breakfast, the castle feels different in daylight. Today, there is no departure time and no van waiting at the door. Instead, we begin by discovering the place we have come to call home.
A private historian joins us for a walk through the grounds, bringing to life the stories of Rothes Glen, the families who shaped it and the Speyside landscape surrounding us. History here isn't confined to museums. It is beneath our feet, in the stone walls and in the river that has defined this part of Scotland for centuries.
Then we turn to one of the Highlands' great traditions.
With local ghillies to guide us, we'll try our hand at fishing — experienced anglers alongside those holding a rod for the first time. There is time to learn, time to laugh and, most importantly, time simply to be outside in this extraordinary landscape.
The afternoon remains deliberately unhurried. Lunch, perhaps afternoon tea, a walk, a nap or a quiet corner of the castle with nowhere else you are expected to be.
And then, as evening approaches, Charlie MacLean arrives at Rothes Glen.
One of the world's most respected authorities on Scotch whisky joins us not for a lecture, but for an evening of stories, conversation and exceptional drams — the history of Scotland told through what is in our glasses.
Charlie stays for dinner, and the conversation continues around our table as Chef Alan Robertson brings Scotland to the plate.
No rushing. No sightseeing checklist.
Just a castle, a river, a remarkable Scotsman — and our first full day of living in Scotland.
Day Three | Stones, Stories & the Spirit of Scotland
Wednesday, June 23
Today, we leave Rothes Glen and travel deeper into Scotland’s story — across centuries, legends and a landscape where the past never feels very far away.
At Culloden, we walk the windswept moor where the final Jacobite Rising came to its devastating conclusion. With our private guide, the history moves beyond dates and battle lines to the people who stood here, the families forever changed by what happened, and the profound effect Culloden would have on Highland life and culture.
Then we travel much further back in time.
At Clava Cairns, prehistoric passage graves, stone circles and standing stones have occupied this landscape for some 4,000 years. There is something wonderfully mysterious about being among them — particularly for those of us who have ever watched Outlander and wondered what might happen if we reached out and touched a stone ourselves.
We may even try it. What happens next is entirely between us and Scotland.
Afterward, we gather for a leisurely lunch. No rushing toward another attraction and no race against an itinerary. We linger over the table before making our way back through the Highlands to Rothes Glen.
The castle welcomes us home with time to retreat upstairs, wander the grounds or settle into a favorite chair before evening begins.
Tonight is intentionally easy.
Champagne is poured. Perhaps a little caviar. Chef Alan prepares dinner, and later, those who wish can follow the glow of the fire outside, where whisky, cigars and conversation bring the day quietly to a close.
Four thousand years of history. One legendary battlefield. And, if the stones cooperate, we may even make it back in time for dinner.
Day Four | Scotland Comes to the Castle
Thursday, June 24
By now, Rothes Glen feels less like somewhere we are staying and more like somewhere we belong.
And today, there is absolutely nowhere else we need to be.
After breakfast, the grounds become ours to explore through some of Scotland's great country traditions. Try your hand at clay shooting or archery, spend another morning fishing, or experience the remarkable relationship between falconer and bird as one of Scotland's magnificent birds of prey takes flight above the estate.
There is no need for everyone to do the same thing.
Choose what calls to you. Try something you've never done before. Return to something you discovered you loved. Or simply watch from the sidelines with a cup of coffee and offer unsolicited advice.
Inside the castle, another kind of experience is taking shape.
Artist Mike Geno opens his paints and invites us to slow down, look more closely and capture a little piece of Scotland on canvas. No artistic experience is required — only curiosity, a willingness to play and perhaps a glass of something nearby.
Lunch finds its place naturally in the day. There is time for afternoon tea, a walk, a nap or simply doing absolutely nothing for a while.
And then, later in the afternoon, we hear voices.
Women have gathered around a long table, their hands moving rhythmically across the cloth as Gaelic songs fill the room.
This is waulking the cloth, a centuries-old Scottish tradition in which women worked newly woven wool together, passing the fabric from hand to hand while singing songs that carried stories, humor, love, loss and the rhythms of everyday life.
We won't be standing at the back of the room watching.
We'll pull up a chair.
Hands find the rhythm. Voices join when they dare. And for a little while, an old Scottish tradition isn't something we're being shown.
It's something we're part of.
As evening settles over Rothes Glen, the castle grows quiet again. There is time to change, pour a drink and gather around Chef Alan's table for dinner, with the stories of the day inevitably following us there.
We never left Rothes Glen today.
We didn't need to. Scotland came to us.
Day Five | Let the Games Begin
Friday, June 25
After several days of having Scotland come to us, this morning we slip away for a little while.
Following a leisurely breakfast, we make the short journey to Aberlour, a lovely Speyside village on the River Spey. There is no grand agenda here — just time to wander, browse the shops, find a coffee, pick up something Scottish to take home or simply enjoy being part of village life for a morning.
And then we head home.
Because something is happening at Rothes Glen.
By the time we return, the grounds are being prepared for a very different kind of afternoon.
The Highland Games have come to our castle.
Kilts, competition, traditional events and a healthy amount of Scottish pride take over the lawn — and watching from a safe distance will only get you so far.
We're expected to play.
There will be opportunities to try some of the traditional events ourselves, with considerably more enthusiasm than expertise required.
And then we meet two men who operate on an entirely different level.
Tom and Luke Stoltman — Scotland's celebrated strongman brothers — join our gathering, bringing the strength, humor and larger-than-life personalities that have made them known far beyond the Highlands.
They'll show us how it's actually done.
We will almost certainly demonstrate why they are the professionals.
As the competition winds down, nobody disappears inside to dress for dinner. Instead, the afternoon simply rolls into evening.
The fires are lit and a generous Scottish barbecue begins — good food, something cold in the glass, music in the air and stories of athletic accomplishments that will undoubtedly become more impressive with each retelling.
There is no formal ending to this day.
The Games become a feast. The feast becomes a party. And eventually, another Highland evening settles over the castle we've come to call home.
Tomorrow will be our finale.
Today, we play.
Day Six | One Last Night at Rothes Glen
Saturday, June 26
By Saturday morning, something has changed.
We know which staircase creaks. We have favorite chairs. Someone knows where the good whisky is kept. Breakfast conversations have become conversations among friends.
And no one is quite ready to talk about leaving.
So we don't.
Our final day begins slowly, with nowhere to rush and nothing to collect. Sleep a little later. Take one more walk across the grounds. Find your way back to the river. Curl up with a book. Sit over coffee far longer than necessary.
And sometime along the way, artist Mike Geno pulls out the paints.
Gather around the table, pour a glass of something good and let Mike guide you in creating your own piece inspired by Scotland. No experience required. This isn't about becoming an artist. It's about slowing down, having some fun and taking home something no one else can buy — because you made it here.
This is our last full day at Rothes Glen, and we intend to enjoy simply being here.
As afternoon gives way to evening, the castle begins to change.
Tonight, we dress for dinner.
This is our last full day at Rothes Glen, and we intend to enjoy simply being here.
As afternoon gives way to evening, the castle begins to change.
Tonight, we dress for dinner.
The doors of the Great Hall open, glasses are poured and some of the people behind the remarkable whiskies of Speyside join us at Rothes Glen.
Chef Alan prepares our final dinner — a celebration of Scotland from his kitchen, accompanied by exceptional whisky and the people whose lives and families are part of its story.
There is nowhere else to go tonight. No reservation waiting. No van at the door.
So we linger.
Dinner stretches into conversation. Stories from the week resurface. Glasses are replenished. Someone laughs about the Highland Games. Someone else is still defending a questionable fishing story.
And eventually, as the evening grows late, we make our way outside.
A fire is waiting beneath the Scottish sky.
We gather around it with our glasses, surrounded by the people with whom we've shared this remarkable place.
No agenda.
No reason to hurry inside.
Just one last night together at Rothes Glen.
Some endings don't need to be planned.
They simply need to be felt.
Day Seven | Until We Meet Again
Sunday, June 27
One last morning at Rothes Glen.
We gather around the breakfast table a little more slowly today. There are bags waiting upstairs and journeys home ahead of us, but for another hour or two, the castle is still ours.
Coffee is poured. Breakfast arrives. Someone inevitably tells one more story from the week.
And then, one by one, we begin to say goodbye.
Not only to Rothes Glen, but to the people who welcomed us, cooked for us, taught us, laughed with us and shared a little of their Scotland with us.
We arrived six nights ago as guests.
We leave knowing the sound of the castle in the morning, the smell of a fire at night, the taste of Speyside in a glass and what it feels like when Scotland isn't simply somewhere you've visited.
It's somewhere you've lived — if only for a little while.
There will be photographs. Paintings. Perhaps a bottle or two tucked carefully into a suitcase.
But the best things we take home won't require any room in our luggage.
The people.
The stories.
And the memory of one extraordinary week when a castle in the Scottish Highlands was ours.
Gus an coinnich sinn a-rithist.
Until we meet again.
FOURTEEN GUESTS. SIX NIGHTS. ONE CASTLE.
June 21–27, 2027 · Rothes Glen · Speyside, Scotland
For one extraordinary week, the castle is ours.
Your place at the table is waiting.