OK, enough talking - let's plan my tour

[TheWM]

So, now the ankle is getting better and I've got loads of holiday to take off, my pal and I are going to spend a few days in the motorhome and visit a few distilleries for my birthday (first week of December).

What I'm after are suggestions of good tours of distilleries, together with must buy bottles so that I can start planning (or distillery only offerings perhaps?)

We'll only be heading for Speyside this time round, although will consider distilleries en route, or on the way back down. If you know of distilleries that are close to each other, that would be ideal, given that we don't want to be drinking and driving and will be relying on taxis to get us around (i.e. Edradour and Blair Athol are close to each other in Pitlochry...)

I'm already a bit gutted as Glenfarclas don't seem to offer any tastings during this week, but I do want to visit. If you know of any pubs/places that allow motorhomes to stay over, then that would be awesome (having contacted a few, it appears that they do not allow nigh stopovers)

So, I open the floor to your suggestions and I promise to report back with some photos and brief write ups

On my list so far:

Balvenie (already signed up!)
Glenfiddich (as it is next door)
Macallan (not 100% so would welcome views)
Strathearn (I want to visit my cask and do a gin day)

[Diademo]

For your base camp in Speyside, Craigellachie Hotel is probably the best one. If is too pricy, you can stay at Highlander Inn across the street and still use their famous bar (700 bottles). It's perfect, central location in Speyside and you have opportunity to visit Elgin and Dufftown distilleries.

How many days are you planning to spend there?
If you are entering in Speyside area through Aviemore, you should visit few great distilleries on the way as well.

[Diademo]

Forgot that you are going with your motorhome - still Craigellachie is the most central place for exploring Speyside distilleries.

[TheWM]

The plan is to get to speyside on Sun (we will leave Thursday pm) take in Annandale and Blair Athol before we get there. So we plan to do Monday - Thursday, so 4 days? Nothing is set in stone.

[Diademo]

If you are visiting Blair Athol, you should stop by nearby Edradour distillery (don't forget to plan some extra time for their well-stocked bar) and if you have spare time for 20 min. ride, visit Aberfeldy distillery as well.

In Pitlochry the best pub with good single malt selection is McKays Pub and you can stop at Robertsons Whisky Shop (they have some shop exclusive bottles).

[TheWM]

Thanks - I wanted to go so much to Edradour but it's shut

Aberfeldy is an option too, just depends how long it takes us to get there (and one of us will need to be sober!)

[Diademo]

You can park motorhome in Pitlochry and take a taxi (20 min) to Aberfeldy distillery. Try to arrange your taxi ride in advance as there are only two companies in the town.

[TheWM]

Cool - cheers

[sorren]

When we visited Glenfiddich there were a couple of motor homes in the car park .. Glad you got in at balvenie.. Glenfiddich was a good tour, aberlour too, might be worth a trip to glen moray and glendronach.. Whatever you decide.. Enjoy it 😊👍

[Diademo]

Probably the others will pitch in with the latest distillery info but there are also some very interesting shops and pubs worth visiting:
Dufftown: Whisky Shop Dufftown
Aberlour: Mash Tun pub
Elgin: Gordon & MacPhail Shop
Craigellachie: Quaich Bar at Craigellachie Hotel and bar at Highlander Inn
Tomintoul (West Speyside): Whisky Castle Shop
Huntly (East part - if you are visiting Glendronach distillery): Bar at the Grouse Inn and Duncan Taylor IB company.

Few other places of interest in Speyside beside distilleries:
- Forsyths (Rothes) http://www.forsyths.com/
- Speyside Cooperage (Craigellachie) http://www.speysidecooperage.co.uk/
- Walkers factory (Aberlour) http://www.walkersshortbread.com/uk/

[IndianaBlues]

Depending on which way up you come to Scotland, Glenkinchie is a 10 minute detour from the A1 south of Edinburgh and opens in December, as does Dalwhinnie which you can see from the A9 about 10-15 minutes north of Blair Athol.

I know you've mentioned taxis, which is a good thing. The new alcohol limits in Scotland that came into effect last year, whilst no doubt a good thing, also mean you have to be very, very careful even on the morning after.

[sorren]

When we visited Glenfiddich there were a couple of motor homes in the car park .. Glad you got in at balvenie.. Glenfiddich was a good tour, aberlour too, might be worth a trip to glen moray and glendronach.. Whatever you decide.. Enjoy it 😊👍

[Quaich1]

Sounds like there's much to do, see and enjoy. I wish Scotland wasn't so far from my location here in Canada, 5,368 km and that I could "drive over" to so many fine distilleries.

_________________
"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)

[Mr C]

Glenfarclas ?

I would love to try this one - http://www.glenfarclas.co.uk/en/pages/122,Five-Decades-Tour-Tasting.html

[TheWM]

Mr C - I'd love to tour Glenfarclas, but (my ignorance plays a big part in this) I had no idea that many distilleries would be closed out of season.

So far my itinerary looks like this:

Day 1 - Annandale
Day 2 - Aberfeldy (Dewars) / Blair Athol (ideally Dewars if we cannot do both)
Day 3 - weather permitting Dalwhinnie
Day 4 - Glendronach & ancnoc
Day 5 - Glenfiddich (solera tour) & Cardhu
Day 6 - Balvenie
Day 7 - Macallan & Aberlour (Casks from the Past Tasting)

This has been knocked up by availability rather than design given the availability of tours when we plan to visit. Plus I've always wanted to 'camp' on my birthday, but my missus has never been keen, so I get to go out in the motorhome in a Scottish winter. I'm guessing snow and all kinds of weather that you'd not want to drive through.

No distilleries will let me officially stay in the car park (whilst if I rocked up and had a drink, there is no way they could send me away), but even most campsites in Scotland are closed past October. So my initial plan has fallen through.

That said, I've managed to convince some landlords and hoteliers to let me stay in their car parks for free (the Highlander included Diademo ) on the basis that we'll have a meal with them etc...

Now, I'm opening this up to all you guys. I want these tours to be as enjoyable as possible, but I also want them to be informative and I am happy to put questions on behalf of any of you that may have any for these specific distilleries, whether it be rumours of bottlings that may cease to exit to what is contained within NAS bottlings.

Even if you don't have any distillery specific questions but you would like me to ask the same questions to each, that's fine to see how different distilleries operate (i.e. what influences cask choice/consistency vs quality/is age important). You know what you'd like to ask, but as of yet have not been able to.

No question is out of bounds especially if it provokes a debate - which I like

So questions on a postcard....