Introduction. Hot off the press, "Visiting Distilleries" is confidently predicted to be Scotch Whisky's Book of the Year! Husband and wife team, Duncan and Wendy Graham, spent last summer visiting more than 40 distilleries in Scotland and Northern Ireland and this gem of a book is the result of their indefatigable researches. Opening times, getting there, tour times and prices, multi-lingual facilities, disabled access, catering, the dram itself and the overall "tour experience": it's all here! Finally, each distillery is awarded a "Still Rating" (a maximum of 7 Stills for the best). With the bonus of a clearly set out and illustrated section on how malt whisky is made, "Visiting Distilleries" is packed with all the essential information you need, whether dreaming of or planning your trip. And at just 12.5 x 21.5 cms this neat hardback is also, of course, your perfect travel companion - just don't forget to pack it!

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Extract. It all started with Queen Victoria. On the 12th September, 1848, she dropped in on Lochnagar Distillery on Deeside with her consort, Prince Albert, and unwittingly started the business of visiting distilleries. Well, perhaps not, but we should give credit where credit is due. After that visit Lochnagar became 'Royal' and the cellars at Buckingham Palace began to take in large stocks of that distillery's product. (She was also keen on a dram in her afternoon cuppa!) But the floodgates didn't exactly open after her visit. Even after Alfred Barnard's historic tour of the whisky distilleries of the United Kingdom in 1886, in which he detailed his travels to 129 distilleries in Scotland, 28 in Ireland and four in England, visiting distilleries was literally unheard of. Any distillery at that time would have been a strictly functional affair with no provision for visitors, and it wasn't until the 1960s that the industry began to exploit its malt whisky distilleries by marketing them as visitor attractions. Not only was the popularity of single bottled malt Scotch on the increase by then, but also the realisation that many distilleries were ideal visitor attractions because they served as places of pilgrimage for the faithful and initiation for those new to the growing cult. Most of them also happened to be situated in some of Scotland's most glorious scenery Our personal inspiration for this book came from the many visits we have made to whisky distilleries over a number of years. We are only two of the million or so people who undertake this increasingly popular past-time every year. More here...   (follow this link for further 1,000 words). Pages   <  1   |   2   >   Gallery Click here to order a copy of 'Visiting Distilleries'

Click pictures for more detail. Floor Maltings Still House Kiln & Malting Room