Shopping on the fly
Joe Bates finds himself at Glasgow airport facing early morning drams and security warnings
A trip north of the border to watch the Scottish Open earlier this summer saw me fly from the vast, ultra-modern steel and glass edifice of Heathrow Terminal 5 to the gloomy concrete and confusing layout of Glasgow international— a 1960s dinosaur of an airport currently in the throes of a much-needed,£290m refurbishment programme.
On my return a day later I was unable to browse the main dutyfree whisky store.
Frustratingly, there is no common user lounge at Glasgow for departing passengers and most of the shops are pre-security.As a poor domestic traveller, I had to make do with a small outlying shop near my gate.That all should hopefully change with the opening later this year of a shiny new £31m terminal extension.
To be honest, it was ridiculously early in the morning to be contemplating alcohol of any sort, but World Duty Free (WDF) promoters were still gamely trying to tempt a bleary-eyed middleaged couple to try a dram or two.
Top marks for persistence and the whisky selection itself, although obviously lacking the high-end items you might find in a larger store,wasn’t half bad either.
My eye was caught by a bottle of Glenmorangie Cellar 13 at £32.50, a travel-retail exclusive line, that has now been discontinued and well worth picking up before stocks run out.Other very decent malts that stood out for me included The Macallan Whisky Maker’s Selection at £41.99, Laphroaig Quarter Cask at £30.99, the travel-retail exclusive Highland Park 16 Years Old, a c.....
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By Joe Bates
Section : Travel retail
Page number : 34
