Scotland Travel

Well that would depend on where in Scotland you plan to be, what your favorite whisky is and weather your interested in the history the process or the free dram..

I've been to 9 and the ones that were good for one reason were not necessarily good for another. For example the Caol Ila tour was fascinating to me... it was all about the difficulties of modernizing the production process..

It all depends where about you going in Scotland

Around Edinburgh I can really recommend Glenkinchie. Not my favourite malt, but a really nice tour. They have an exhibition of old stuff (tools and like) and a minaiture model of a distillery

In most distilleries the manager or the stillman or the washman won't be your guide. They'll probably be too busy working. Or don't wanna be guides. or not suited for it. Anyway - most distilleries have so many visitors these days that they have to open a visitor centre just to cope with the problem.

Often the guides don't know that much about whisky (often they don't drink the stuff themselves) Young girls in for student or year-off job

On Islay/Jura I can recommend all the distilleries but it's not on everybodys route

On the mainland you have to be lucky - so I would go for the whisky I like - or the nearest distillery. Do a couple or three if you get the chance. there's always some differences

Steffen

(mailed it by mistake to you Barrie, was supposed to be for everybody)

I took the Scotch Whisky Heritage Center tour in Edinburgh a few months ago. It's not a working distillery so much as a PR center, and the docent was a Chinese immigrant (one of the few people in town whose English I could understand) but it was worth it for the lovely Glencairn glasses we came away with. Anyone know a reasonable US source for those?

Anyway, if you're doing the tourist thing in Edinburgh it's impossible to miss--right on the Royal Mile at the Castle end. See at

.

Howard

If you are going North, up the A9, then you'll pass Dalwhinnie, with excellent tour, clean loos (an important consideration on a long drive!) but no food/coffee - small distillery, just two stills, and first rate whisky. Then 3/4 hr later (unless you stop in Aviemore) you'll come to Tomatin. Biggest distillery in the country, bloody rows of stills, and

100% japanese owned. A valuable contrast. Excellent whisky, too! North of Inverness, Glen Ord has a genuine old illicit still, slightly battered.

If heading West, Ben Nevis at Fort William does a good tour, (no objections to photography, which is not that common) excellent gift shoppe, and does do good simple food at fair prices. Whisky OK, I suppose.

Richard

If you manage to visit the Mull of Kintyre, go to Springbank, Campbeltown, one of my favourites, B.T.W. Been there two years ago, will be there in september this year; visit by prior arrangement only. Tour was guided by the manager, because the 'original' guide was on holiday; took 2 hours and was very exhaustive. Photography allowed everywhere!

:-) Andreas

If already in Cambeltown, I would also recommend a tour of Glen Scotia. You are almost guaranteed to be guided around by one of the employees. Not that easy to get in contact with btw, but the folks at Springbank will be happy to give you their phone-number.

Ivar Oslo, Norway

"Andreas Tschoeke" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net...

If going up A9, don't forget to stop at Pitlochry, and go to Edradour the smallest distillery in Scotland. Nice tour - and one of the few places you get the dram before the tour. I think photgraphy is allowed, at least I videotaped the whole your, but that could have been accepted because they were at stillstand. But it doesn't hurt to ask. There is also Blair Athol in Pitlochry. And just before Pitlochry you could go west to visit Aberfeldy, they have a nice visitor center. And to the south in Crieff there is the Glenturret the oldest distillery with the Famous Grous Experience.

Then of course there is the Speyside area with a lot of distilleries: Aberlour, Glenfiddich, Macallen, Glenfarclas, Strathisla to name but a few. And the Speyside Cooperage is worth a visit too.