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It’s official, the Grampian has enjoyed the royal seal of approval for 151 years, ever since Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone of the new Balmoral castle by the river Dee. Bulging out into the sea from the Moray Firth to the Aberdeen coast, hemmed in by the natural barrier of the Grampian Highlands, this corner of Scotland has always been a land apart, a treasure trove of scenic trails and fairytale castles, wild windswept shores, hills and glens and crystal springs which feed the greatest treasure of all.

"Barley, yeast and pure spring water, that’s all we need for single malt whisky," explains Dennis, the jovial guide in Glenlivet. We peer down into Josie’s well which yields 3500 gallons of water an hour then follow our nose to the distillery with its pine vats and copper stills and oak casks where the spirit matures for 12 years or more, four times the minimum requirement, to produce the ‘aristocrat of all Scotch Whisky’.

I am no connoisseur but the ‘Water of Life’ works its magic and I end the tasting session in suitably high spirits. My favourite was dark and full-bodied, sensuous to perfection, and I can’t help wondering what the 1962 vintage would be like, at £1000 a bottle.

Outside, the glen is bleak and beautiful, lush rolling meadows framed by purple hills, sheep bleating here and there, lapwings and collared doves and a lonely heron landing by the bucolic moss-covered bridge where the Livet babbles on its way through Speyside.

With its large number of distilleries, Speyside is truly the ‘Golden Triangle’ where you could spend your entire holiday just following the whisky trail. There’s Strathisla, home to the famous Chivas Royal, celebrating over two centuries of excellence, Glenfiddich, still in the hands of the original family, Glen Grant with its Victorian woodland garden and heather-thatched dram pavilion, Benromach, the smallest, reopened by the Prince of Wales in 1998, Dallas Dhu, a 19th century time capsule highlighting the distillers’skill. Then pop into the Speyside Cooperage Centre to watch the craftsmen repairing 100 000 casks a year or top up your energy in Tomintoul, the highest village in the Highlands where you may sample a few of the 300 or so malt whiskies on offer.

It wasn’t always so easy and Speyside echoes with tales of bloody encounters between distillers and excisemen, while casks of whisky lay buried under the heather. But today the hills are quiet, a haven for nature lovers who enjoy the vast open spaces of the Cairngorm National Park, its rushing waters and forests and four of the five highest mountains in Britain. Here winters are for skiing, downhill or cross-country, summers for rambling and cycling, canoeing or just savouring the peace. You might head for the Pools of Dee at the source of the river, spot salmon leaping below the spectacular gorge of the Linn of Dee or take a walk through scented pines to the Devil’s Punch Bowl.

Meanwhile the Moray coast unfolds in everchanging ways, shingle, sand, cliffs, rocky coves and quaint fishing villages mirrored in tiny harbours. Bottle-nose dolphins frolic in the firths, seals ride the waves in Spey Bay. It’s a great area for birdwatching and you can see more of the marine life at the MacDuff Aquarium or the Moray Firth Wildlife Centre, housed in an old salmon fishing station.

Sooner or later you come across the myriad castles, sprinkled jewel-like, all over the Grampian. Most have lived through turbulent times, Anglo-Scottish wars or Jacobite Risings, but here they stand, rooted in Scottish history, romantic medieval ruins etched into a stormy sky, disneyesque tower-houses bristling with gables and turrets, or elegant lairds’ mansions set among woodlands, rose gardens and clipped lawns. Each has a story to tell, be it of great Scottish families of the past or their illustrious guests, from Robert the Bruce to Mary Queen of Scots. Among them is Fyvie castle where five towers span five centuries, each named after one of the five families who owned it.

On a crisp sunny morning, we made our way to Crathes, near Banchory, a typical tower-house built by the Burnett family in the 16th century. Nestling in the lee of the hills, it’s a jumble of candy pink turrets and conical roofs, decorated eaves and rainwater spouts which work hard to keep the walls dry. There’s a majestic drive and behind the walled enclosure, the famous ‘eight gardens in one’ fragrant with roses and yew, bursting with colour.

We marvelled at the six foot thick granite walls, the barred windows, once just six inches across, the low doors and trip steps to deter attackers. You could almost hear the gentlemen of yore promenading on the top floor, discussing important matters, while the ghost of the Green Lady searched for her lost lover and newborn baby. We gazed at finely painted ceilings and the children soon discovered, with much excitement, the Jacobean cot and the toddler’s commode which doubled up as a rocking chair.

North of the Dee, the ‘Castle Trail’ wanders through the Grampian heartlands, from Duff House, a Baroque mansion and outpost of the Scottish National Galleries, to the star-shaped ramparts of Corgaff , a lonely place where English Redcoats were stationed to stamp out whisky smuggling. Whatever period or setting, every castle oozes tradition and as you find your way up a dark spiral staircase or into a cavernous hall, you dream of bagpipes and tartan kilts and the glow of whisky by a roaring fire.

At the Braemar Gathering, the dream may well come true when the ‘little town over the hills’ stages its annual festival, as it has done since the reign of King Malcolm Canmore, 900 years ago. The present Gathering has moved with the times but it’s a joyful affair, piping and Highland dancing mingling with Tossing the Caber or Throwing the Hammer.

There’s no better place to sample Scottish fare, perhaps smoked salmon, Angus beef or Clootie dumplings, the traditional fruit pudding, eaten hot or cold. Add a bowl of hearty fish soup and you are ready to explore a little more of the area from the ruins of Elgin cathedral to the stone circle of Loanhead of Daviot. Or you could take the family on the Heritage Railway which runs through farmland and woods from Dufftown to Keith. Look out for deer, wildfowl and birds of prey, take in a distillery or two, the placid waters of Loch Park and Drummuir Castle then spend a little time in Dufftown, the ‘town built on seven stills’, with two whisky festivals and a kiltmaking shop. Ann Higgins knows all about kilts, she has made over 10 000 by hand, in the past 36 years.

Kilts will surely be in evidence on December 31st when young and old gather to celebrate Hogmanay and whisky glows a plenty, toasting the New Year and the Queen. After all, Scotland is proud of its royal links and Balmoral remains among the royal family’s favourite places. It’s open to the public at certain times but don’t expect to see the private apartments, visitors are confined to stables and ballroom. Arrive country-style in a tractor’s trailor, enjoy a stroll through the park, see Jon Brown’s grave and Crathies’ church then head for the lovely little town of Ballater where Queen Victoria used to alight from the train. The track has gone but the station is still there and every other shop seems to sport ‘By royal appointment’. There’s even a royal distillery nearby, named after the peak of Lochnagar.

In these parts, everyone knows that when Queen Victoria fell in love with Deeside, her ‘dear paradise’, Scottish whisky was set for fame. Brandy was scarce, thanks to a plague in French vineyards, but royal guests had to be entertained, and so did the gentry who followed the latest fashion and flocked to the Highlands. What could distillers do but step in to satisfy their needs?

In the mighty castles or in the bars of Aberdeen, no one complains about that - and certainly not on Hogmanay night. Here’s to the Water of Life!

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