We’re away up to Scotland next week. We’re stopping near Forres and Elgin.

What distilleries do good tours?

We went to the Glen Moray distillery last year. The tour was excellent, and the guide gave lots of samples at the bar afterwards, even opening some new bottles of rather expensive stuff because someone asked a question about them.

Where else nearby does a good tour/taste? Nowhere too uptight, as we’ll have our 3 and 5-year-olds with us.

They all do! You bringing bikes?

No bikes 🙁

Won’t most distillery vistor centres be closed at this time of year?

I enjoyed the tour at Edradour. Not very long, but free of charge with free samples at the end. And if you have a coffee in the cafe you get to keep the mug

No. They’re open. Whiskytrail
The best way is to decide which ones you like and phone them for a tour. Be aware though that there are 2 feet of snow around Glenlivet etc just now.
The cairngorm brewery is worth a trip in Aviemore too. They do free tours and you’ll leave half cut! It’s right next door to Fat Tread too which is a bonus.

Just found this in my bookmarks too. Handy for planning visits
Speyside whiskies

Don’t forget to visit Gordon & Macphails in Elgin too. If you like malts then the place will blow your mind. They have something like 900 in stock.

What’s the Speyside Cooperage like?

Don’t forget to visit Gordon & Macphails in Elgin too

I missed out on that last time, so it’s on my list for this visit. Assuming we don’t get snowed into Findhorn, we’ll be in Elgin a few times visiting my rellies.

I highly recommend the Arran distillery, but sounds as though you’re going nowhere near it. We turned up at the end of a huge ride, covered in mud etc, and proceeded to get trollied for about £3.
‘yes this is a very very rare edition. I suppose you want to try this one too? Why not hey… (glug glug)’
Brilliant stuff, and damn fine malt too.

Did a 2 day Speyside whisky trail on bikes a few years back. I would say the one we enjoyed the most was the Arbelour Distillary great people who where very informative and they did a fantastic high strength cask whisky, the Glenfiddich distillary is also well worth a visit!
We stayed in a B&B just up the road from the Hotel (can’t remember the name)which stocks over 500 different types ranging from Bells to £100+ a shot whisky’s the most expensive one looks as if it had been made using Tar it was that dark. The hotel is well worth a visit if you can find the name using google search engine.
I am sure I have a photo of the whisky wall there, I will upload it tonight from home if I can find it.

Learn to canoe – then do a source to sea run of the Spey – and make sure you sample some of everyone on the route.

It was a fine, fine few days we had – sun, Scotland and whisky tasting

Glen Grant – Absolutely 1st class visitor centre, tour and free tumbler of the produce at the end.

the Glen Moray Visitor Centre is a 5 min walk from me and it’s where I go from work to get a decent coffee 😀

The Glen Grant Distillery in Rothes would be my recommendation. It has a visitor centre and shop and also has lovely gardens that will look fantastic in the snow, ask the guide about the secret whisky safe up in the gorge. My friend used to be a stillman there and we had a private tour where he took us to the whisky safe that’s set into the rock and gave us a taster that was diluted with water straight from the stream. There’s a pavilion thing in the gardens where the ceiling is decorated with deer antlers and is quite spectacular.

You can also see Ben Aigen across the way and admire where Moray could have had trails to rival Glentress, had the land been used well, but now has a trail famed for it’s unpleasant hard work to fun ratio.

My friend used to be a stillman there and we had a private tour where he took us to the whisky safe that’s set into the rock and gave us a taster that was diluted with water straight from the stream. There’s a pavilion thing in the gardens where the ceiling is decorated with deer antlers and is quite spectacular.

I think my mum’s uncle helped to build that; he’s one of the rellies we’re visiting in Elgin.

the one we enjoyed the most was the Arbelour Distillary …they did a fantastic high strength cask whisky

That will be Aberlour a’Bunadh. Very nice.

Glen moray is my whiskey of choice, because its sold in Aldi and is cheap cheap cheap, but still good quality (in my uncultured eyes)

I went up again last year and cycled around inverness where my friends live, he took us across the river on the fringes of the Speyside area along some fantastic country lanes through small villages and past countless forest’s. It was while we where riding through one of the forest’s that we came across where some of the distillery’s store their whisky in massive warehouses. They must have been the size of an aircraft hanger and there was loads of them in fact around the whole perimiter it must have been 6-8 miles and very well secured. Thats a whole lot of whisky being stored.
Did anyone watch James May (From Top Gear)last week on his quest to find the perect drink in the country? He was up in scotland finding out how they make whisky and one of the facts they came up with is the amount that is lost during the distilling which they call the ‘Angels Share’ it is a stggering 100 million + bottles a year 😕

Speyside Cooperage is what passes as a visitor attraction round these parts! I’ve never been but my wife says it’s worth a visit and the cafe is quite good. That’s if you can get there, there’s a couple of feet of snow and I’ve just driven back from Aviemore in a blizzard. Strangely, it’s not front page news and everyone hasn’t stayed at home! 😛

http://www.trafficscotland.org/lev/

Yes, still looks rather snowy! I doubt that will thaw in the next 70-odd hours 🙂

No chance of a thaw but the roads are fine. We’re getting some fantastic riding conditions in Elgin but even a couple of miles inland and you can forget it, it’s just to deep. Bring skis. I think I’m going awol for the rest of the week to make the most of it.

Glen Moray 12yo is a pleasant quaffing malt and silly cheap – a good choice

Where’s kennyP when you need him….

The hotel with the wast array of whiskies is the craigellachie hotel. Not to put you off but this was a picture fome craigellachie a few days ago

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