Speyside single malt G. Grant and William Grant & Sons and by The Edrington Group (majority owned by a charitable trust). Scotland's Malt Whisky Trail is a tourism initiative featuring eight Speyside distilleries and the Speyside Cooperage. Speyside also hosts an annual whisky festival known as "Spirit of Speyside". Speyside whiskies can generally be classified as light and grassy (e.g. Glenlivet) or rich and sweet (e.g. Macallan). Speyside is a "protected region" for Scotch Whisky distilling under UK Government legislation. In addition to those single malts sold under the distilleries' names, brands associated with Speyside include Allt-á-Bhainne, Casg Annamh, Glen Turner, Lismore, McClelland's
Great North of Scotland Railway obtained on 17 May 1861. The Sprathspey Railway was sponsored by the Keith & Dufftown and Great North of Scotland Railways, who appointed directors to the board, and the Great North undertook to run the services. The line first headed north to meet an extension of the Morayshire Railway at Strathspey Junction (called from 1864), before following the River Spey to Abernethy. The Act also permitted a branch to the proposed Inverness & Perth Junction Railway at Grantown-on-Spey. The gradients were not severe, but the route required the Spey and its tributaries to be crossed many times, with three bridges