Free/Inexpensive Distillery Tours

[dondford]

I will touring Scotland this May, was in the process of signing up for the Balvenie when I noticed the cost of the basic tour is 40 GBP (50USD). I'm not inclined to pay that for a tour.
Can forum members suggest free tours or more inexpensive distillery tours?
Thanking you in advance for any help.

Don

[Mark]

It was £25 the last time I did the Balvenie tour but it is one of the best distillery tours you will find, even at £40 it is not too over priced as it is a excellent tour which lasts around 3 hours.

I suggest you register at Diageos malts.com which gives you free tours of their 12 distilleries with visitor centres - Blair Athol, Caol Ila, Cardhu, Clynelish, Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Glenkinchie, Glen Ord, Lagavulin, Oban, Royal Lochnagar and Talisker.

Glenfiddich used to be free but I have heard they charge a token amount now.

I think most other basic distillery tours are still under £10

[dondford]

Thanks, I have attempted to sign up on the Diageos site several times and it won't go through; not sure if the site is down or what the problem is. There is no "Contact Us" link on the page that I can find.

Oh well,
D

[Acksboy]

I'd recommend Glenfiddich as well, for the £10 standard tour you get four drams and a very in-depth experience. The Macallan distillery is nearby and have their six pillars tour for £15 - a bit more expensive but still good value given its quality and the prestige that Macallan holds in the whisky world!
Although not a distillery, the Speyside Cooperage is just a couple miles down the road from Glenffidich and gives you a rarely glimpsed viewpoint in to the casks used for maturing whisky. To see the coppers working at full steam is really quite a site! There's no free whisky but at £3.50 each you can't go wrong!
Enjoy your trip!

[TheWM]

Knockdhu (ancnoc) is free if you buy some bottles at trade price (free worth doing).