"Rome was built on seven hills, Dufftown stands on seven stills." The old rhyme is close to the truth. This small town in the glen of the River Fiddich produces more malt whisky than any other town in Scotland, and it calls itself the Malt Whisky Capital of the World with a straight face. Six distilleries are working in and around it today: Glenfiddich, Balvenie, Kininvie, Mortlach, Glendullan and Dufftown.
The town itself is a neat planned grid, laid out in 1817 by James Duff, 4th Earl Fife, to house soldiers coming home from the Napoleonic Wars. Four streets meet at a square with a stubby granite clock tower of 1839, which has served as jail, council chambers and tourist office. The ground is much older than the town. St Moluag is said to have founded a church at Mortlach around 566, and on the northern edge stands Balvenie Castle, a big ruin dating back to the 1200s.
For most visitors, though, the main draw is Glenfiddich. It's the town's biggest employer and the distillery that effectively invented the single malt as an export product. The others are more reserved, and several don't take visitors at all. The Keith and Dufftown Railway, "the Whisky Line", runs heritage trains to Keith in summer. Five miles away at Craigellachie, the Speyside Cooperage shows how the casks are made. The Speyside Way and the Isla Way pass through, and Ben Rinnes rises to the southwest.
Dufftown is in the middle of the Moray whisky country and is busiest during the Spirit of Speyside festival in spring, and at the Highland games at the end of July. You need a car or the occasional bus, as the nearest mainline station is at Keith. Elgin, Fochabers and the coast are all within an hour.