Bold statement, I know, but I stand by it. When Iain Burnett, a.k.a. The Highland Chocolatier, candies fruit and dips it into his delicious chocolate, the universe sings. Well, at least part of it must. The whole clementines taste like the very best marmalade, smothered in deep, velvety chocolate. The orange slices are juicy and rich. And my Christmas sweetie sideboard is never without the orangette sticks.
So you absolutely must get some of the choccy fruit, but there are many other yummy things you need to try as well. Three things I never leave the shop without: a packet of the milk chocolate luxury fudge, ditto the fine nougat and a bar of the dark peppermint.
There’s also a little ‘Chocolate Lounge’ if you fancy a snack while you’re there, an exhibition of the history of chocolate and you can book a guided chocolate tasting. I’ve never partaken of any of that myself, mainly because Ledi’s always waiting impatiently in the car for us to get on up the road so he can have a Tayside mooch.
Gnome house staircase in the Chocolate Lounge
If you’re coming from Central Scotland, I’d recommend that you make a day of it and follow the Tourist Route to Pitlochry, which starts a few miles north of Dunblane on the A9. It’s a lovely drive through the Perthshire countryside, taking in Crieff, the Sma’ Glen, Aberfeldy, and Grandtully. Once you’ve loaded up with chocolate goodies, carry on and rejoin the A9, then head north to Blair Atholl / Blair Castle and Bruar. But that’s for another blog…
LOCATION INFO
Getting there: The quickest route from the south is to take the A9 north from Perth and turn off at Logierait. But by far the more picturesque route is to start out at Crieff and head north on the A85 ‘Tourist Route to Pitlochry’.
Sat Nav: PH9 0PL
OS Landranger map: 52 PITLOCHRY & CRIEFF Aberfeldy
Terrain: Tarmac / disabled access
Nearest facilities: On site.
All maps in the blog are from Google Maps