The Balvenie Distillery — Attraction in Great Britain

Went on the 2pm tour with Kevin and it was fantastic! Incredibly comprehensive and personal due to the length (2.5 hours) and size (only 8 people!) of each tour. Fantastic from starting with some storytelling in the lounge, a comprehensive tour of the malting floor and distilling facilities, a driving tour of the cooperage facilities, a pit stop at balvenie castle, a warehouse visit, filling our own bottles straight from the cask (for an addtl. £35 each), and tasting.

The malting floor wasn’t in production due to some repair issues, but Kevin still made it an experience for us by filling the lower level with grain and giving demonstrations of how malting turn over, etc. worked. Fantastic way to manage the issue of stalled production at a distillery that prides itself on its malting.

Listening to Kevin speak as he drove through the cooperage was an absolute highlight. His passion and love for the wood types, cooperage management of casks, and cask sources truly shined through.

I also got a drivers pack which was small bottles you filled yourself as the tasting happened. This was AMAZING, I loved being able to fully participate, have a whiff and little tongue tasting (barely a drop), and then fill my bottle while others had their drams and gushed about them! I got a bit short poured in my tasting glasses (more 10 than 20ml) and Kevin even added a bit more to my takeaway bottles when I mentioned it. (For clarity - I was NOT driving, I just cannot drink multiple drams in one go!)

Although an incredibly long and expensive tour compared to other basic tours in the area, I think it is worth it (even the 200ml £35 add on!). However, do not expect a visitor-centered experience. This is less polished than glenfiddich and other “destination” distilleries in the area — and this is what we loved about it. Highly recommend doing an early glenfiddich tour for the “polished visitor experience” and then join the afternoon tour at balvenie (a short walk away) for a more “real”...

We were in Scotland for our honeymoon and I managed to book a tour and tasting at Balvenie a few months in advance. Very glad I did. We toured the distillery for about 2 hours and got an in-depth look at how the distillery works, what makes Balvenie a Balvenie, and had a great host the entire time. It is a bit pricey at £50 per person, but the tasting at the end included some fairly pricey bottles which I normally wouldn't have been able to sample. It's definitely priced as a premium product and I think the quality is there, especially in their more unique expressions (loved the heather in Edge of Burnhead Wood and how things were all sources and done locally). Only unfortunate part is a lack of product for sale on site. I had my eye on a certain bottle or two and had no luck with either (although there was one or two of each in the tasting room - 21 year Portwood and Second Red Rose).

Overall, it looks as a great experience and I'd recommend to anyone looking for something more...

Contrary to Mitch, you would do well to visit Glenfiddich Distillery when visiting Dufftown who offer an excellent 90 minute tour with similar content provided. Alas, The Balvenie definitely has a unique (perhaps pretentious) vibe with a few extra special touches which maybe make it worth the £50 fee. From the malting floor to the kiln, the tun room to the spirit safe, The Balvenie distillery definitely reveals its inner workings without trying to hide anything. At some stage during the tour, you will be offered a £20 (additional cost) bottle of whisky which can be bottled yourself using a copper dog. Novel, yet surely this could be included in the admittance fee… Tasting includes 5 x samples and a final visit to the shop. Fairly confident I saw all these whiskies at the Glenfiddich shop also, so don’t be concerned about being unable to visit without a booking. Overall, a memorable experience with a passionate guide but be sure to book...