Background

Back from a recent trip to Scotland so I figured I'd break down our distillery tour experiences in a bit of a series. Earlier this year I had the opportunity to tour around some Kentucky distilleries, and wrote it up in three parts. I'm going to take the same approach here. In each post, I'll break down the distilleries toured, as well as other notable stops (distilleries or otherwise) we made along the way:
 

• Part 1: GlenAllachie tour and a quick stop by Glenfarclas

• Part 2: BenRiach and Glendronach tours

• Part 3: Glen Moray tour and stops at Glenfiddich and Aberlour
   

We drove up from Edinburgh, successfully conquering the wrong side of the road, and had about a half day to fit in a tour. We booked at GlenAllachie for a few reasons, first and foremost is that I was pretty impressed with their offerings after a tasting earlier this year. It's also a pretty convenient stop, essentially right on the way up from Edinburgh to other distilleries in the area. It is off-season as well, and we were up on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday when tour options were a bit limited (Glenfiddich and Glenlivet were closed Mon/Tues for instance). We start then, with GlenAllachie…

GlenAllachie: Premium Tour

Price/Length: £35 + taxes, tour runs approximately an hour.

Details: We walk into the distillery and are greeted by the exceptional Keli-Marie, who led us through the tour. A key, and much-appreciated, aspect is that we started with a pour of GlenAllachie 15 before heading in to see production. I love getting the palate started before a tour. Anyways, Billy Walker took over at GlenAllachie in 2017 after selling GlenDronach, Glenglassaugh and BenRiach to Brown-Forman, prior to that they were owned by Chivas/Pernod Ricard and were producing whisky for blends. Since Billy took over, production has ramped down significantly as they remodel themselves into a single malt whisky brand. We head through the facilities, taking note that GlenAllachie does four washes through their mash tun, rather than a more customary three, to create a more sugar rich wort. One of the benefits of GlenAllachie's slower production is that they are able to significantly elongate their fermentation process, up to 160 hours. This means their distiller's beer comes out with an ABV closer to 9%-10% before going into the still.

Once we completed a tour of production, we returned to the tasting room where Keli-Marie walked us through a quick video detailing GlenAllachie's cask selection process… that, I'll be candid, I forgot most of the details since staring me down are three additional pours of whisky. First up are the two hand fill casks available at the distillery, a twelve year aged in Koval Bourbon casks and a seventeen year matured exclusively in a sherry butt. While I wont be formally reviewing either here, the bourbon cask finish was delicious but slightly forgettable, with notes of toasted orange peel, creme brulee and lemonhead candies. The sherry butt, however, was as rich as you can probably imagine. Berry compote, leather, and dark chocolate anchor a typically Billy Walker-esque sherry forward offering. Last but not least we taste through an offering from a brand Billy resurrected, MacNair's, called Lum Reek, which is a 21 year old peated blend. Notes of charred berries, burnt leather, and toasted oak.

Overall Thoughts: I'll be honest, I wish I had spent some time in the bar to get a better feel for everything they have to offer. I say this in part because the whisky we tasted was the highlight of the whole tour. The GlenAllachie 15 remains delicious, and they are churning out some intriguing single casks, particularly the 17 year Sherry Butt selection. The staff was incredible as we walked through the place, but this tour felt a bit like a run of the mill production tour. It's definitely a place I recommend stopping by, but you may be better off with a bar stop and controlling your own destiny by picking single casks to taste.

Notable Gift Shop Offerings: 12 Year Cask Strength Hand-fill (Koval Bourbon matured), 17 Year Cask Strength Hand-fill (Sherry Butt matured), a selection of other single casks too numerous to list, GlenAllachie 21 and 30.

Glenfarclas Visitor Center Stop

Details: Not a ton to cover here, as we missed tour options and instead just popped in to check things out. The distillery staff were kind enough to pour us a little taster of 10 and 12 year. It's a beautiful facility, with a tasting room dubbed the “The Ship's Room.” It's furnished with wood paneling and furniture from the RMS Empress of Australia, a ship that transported some of the last British troops from India.

Notable Gift Shop Offerings: There were a few Glenfarclas Family Cask offerings available, but all of them were older and wildly expensive. I do appreciate that they sold iterations in smaller bottles… but again the more recent ones were all picked over.

Next up, tours at BenRiach and GlenDronach!