Scottish Tour Guide's Blog

Stills at Glenfiddich, Scotland

Today was Day 2 of our private tour. this entailed visits to two distilleries plus an extensive drive through stunning Highland scenery.

We departed our lodgings at Garth Hotel, Grantown-on-Spey at 9.o0 am and then headed north to Glenfiddich, Scotland’s largest Distillery ranked by production volume.

As we were about 30 mins early for the tour we decided to embark on a mini tour of the locality taking in Balvenie Castle, a photo session of some local Highland Cattle and a brief trip to Balvenie Distillery which is part of the Glenfiddich Group. continue reading…

Distillery Tour at Aberlour, Speyside

This morning, I collected my guests from their hotel in Leith and then drove north,through Perthshire with first stop at Pitlochry for coffee. Then on further north to our destination of Charlestown of Aberlour on Speyside. Here we had a light lunch at the Pantry Restaurant followed by a short walk around town and then on to Aberlour Distillery to join the 2.00pm tour. continue reading…

An Cala Guest House, Grantown on Spey

 Today, was the final day of our three day whisky tour. The final two nights had been spent at the above very comfortable 5 star rated  An Cala Guest in Grantown-on-Spey  where we well looked after by hosts Val and Keith assisted by two delightful shitszu dogs. An Cala is Gaelic for refuge or harbour.

Our first distillery of the day was Aberlour which ranks a medium-large whisky producer in Scotland with a particularly strong presence in the French market assisted by the fact that ownership rests with Pernod-Ricard.

We joined a small group tour of just four persons under guidance of expert guide, Julian. Unfortunately, photography is restricted at Aberlour. We were, of course, entreated to the usual tour of the mashing, fermentation, distillation and maturation processes incorporating samples. The tasting at the end featured an unusual dimension in the form of specially made chocolates to complement each expression.

Image below shows some of the distillery buildings. Despite its considerable size, the distilling operation at Aberlour is operated by just a handful of employees. continue reading…