Highland Whisky Tour

This tour will begin with a trip to the Glenturret Distillery near Crieff. It is reputedly the oldest distillery in Scotland – well legal one anyway – producing whisky since 1775. It is from here that the base for the Famous Grouse is produced. It sits almost hidden in the depths of Glen Turret, where it uses the pure waters of the Turret burn to produce the amber nectar. The production tour takes about an hour and involves a number of drams. If time permits we will take a quick trip up the Glen to Turret dam where the water is stored and the views are amazing.

From here we will head through the beautiful Sma’ Glen on route to the next distillery – Aberfeldy.

It sits on the banks of the River Tay and is the home to one of the world’s favourite whiskies – Dewar’s. John Dewar was born just three miles from here and started the distillery in 1898. It has been the base of the blend of Dewar’s whisky ever since. It also produces a few fine malt whiskies in its own right.

We will then follow the Tay for a while before heading North towards the Victorian spa town of Pitlochry. The Victorians came here to ‘take the waters’ and enjoy the fresh mountain air.

It is no surprise then that distilleries sprung up here. Pitlochry has two distilleries and we’re going to visit Edradour. Some may say we’ve saved the best for last. Edradour – established in 1825 – is one of the smallest distilleries in the land but its products punch above their weight. To quote Ian Banks from his book ‘Raw Spirit – The search for the Perfect Dram’:

“Edradour is a little gem of a place, a sort of distillery in miniature you want to wrap up and put under the Christmas tree”

It sits hidden away in a dell above Pitlochry. Of all the distilleries visited this one feels the most traditional. It has an intimate homely feel to it, where you get very close to the whisky making process. The whisky produced here does not go into any blended whisky but is sold purely as single malts.

Having completed the distillery tours we will head back towards Perth and subsequently further south. You will have enjoyed a variety of fine drams and witnessed some amazing Highland scenery along the way.