In a certain pocket of countryside on the outskirts of Edinburgh, the usual dawn chorus was broken by a less than usual sound. A mere murmur at first, as the first couple of elderly engines spluttered into life, gasping in the cold air and detonating enrichened mixtures to beat the chill. The murmur soon became a clamour though, as the 58 cars of the 17th Scottish Malts Regularity Rally queued excitedly to pass underneath the starters flag and make off into the unknown wilds of Scotland and begin this hotly anticipated event.