Whisky is a fascinating drink. It, like no other liquid, seems able to take on a bigger importance than simply a drink. It has an ability to get under your skin, to remind you of good times, to join you to people and to imbue joy in a way that can only be described as spiritual. This brings us to our final distillery stop on our Speyside weekend, which isn’t in Speyside at all; Glendronach. We are there because one of our gang, Edd, fell in love with an Allardice that was gifted to him by us when he was going through a tough time of ill health and he wanted to return to source in search of new memories to cherish.
Tour Style: We arrived on a crisp sunny Sunday morning for the first tour of theday and were accompanied by our incredibly friendly guide, Vicky, who dealt incredibly well with the juxtaposition of us (seasoned whisky distillery tourists) and the two Korean gentlemen, who made up the rest of the tour and did not really speak enough English to follow long or in-depth commentary. The tour was relaxed, took us through the main parts of the distillery and was relaxed, informal and perfect for our final day. We marvelled at the differences at the distillery and took in the aromas of different washbacks at different points in their fermentation process.
Distillery Feel: Glendronach is situated in Forgue by Huntly, in a remote valley in Aberdeenshire. It feels like one of those distilleries that has almost grown from the ground on a burn in a picturesque valley. It is the perfect place for a distillery, and it is in a beautiful old stone building. They are currently expanding and modernising, so there is a lot of work going on about the site, but you can generally ignore this for now.
Tasting: After our tour, we were led to a lovely, wooden panelled room and presented with three whiskies all paired with a chocolate for added joy. We tried the 12-Year-Old, 15-Year-Old and Port Finish. Drivers’ dram packs were made available for the unlucky few. It was a relaxed tasting, with emphasis on distillery character, the effects of aging, cask types and flavour.
Overall: This was the perfect distillery experience. It was an informal, but information packed tour, where we got to experience all the sights, sounds and intricacies of the distillation process. Our tour guide was knowledgeable, but flexible and it never felt like she was following a script. She put up with our more unusual questions, laughed along with our bad jokes and even made some of her own. The tasting was fantastic and the whisky available at the bar and on hand fill was fantastic. We will try to return and stay more locally next time, because we ran out of time far before we ran out of things to try.
Link: https://www.glendronachdistillery.com/our-distillery/