Ballindalloch Distillery — Local services in Great Britain

An excellent newer distillery, owned by the family that also owns the Balindalloch estate. Although the distillery has only been in operation since 2014, the quality of the admittedly young whisky is surprisingly excellent.

The tour itself was also excellent. Most distilleries in the region are massive affairs with giant rooms dedicated to each stop in the whisky distilling process. At Ballindalloch you get to see essentially artisanal whisky production, with the whole process taking place within one heritage-listed structure.

Other fun tidbits: You get to see the casks that the King and Queen reserved when they opened the distillery in 2014. King Charles' cask was bottled and sold to support a charity. Queen Camilla's is still aging. The local Lord and Lady who own the distillery often pop in to greet visitors. We were lucky enough to meet them and they were incredibly lovely people. She's an award winning author of cookbooks, and you can buy some there. There is a murder novel inspired by their castle (The Castle by John Sutherland) and an associated whisky by Ballindalloch, also called The Castle. You can purchase...

What a wonderful place to visit. Our guide told us that since the foundation hundreds of years ago, the family used to invite « enemies » to diner at the castle to make good connection. This sense of hospitality is still there today. If you want a real, small, authentic family owned distillery with a lot of history, it is the place. Our guide Steve, a real connoisseur, was absolutely fantastic. He knows everything. What a wonderful gentlemen and a good teacher. We are from Canada and knew very few things about whiskey. He made sure to answer all our questions, even the most basic ones. Finally and not the least, their whiskey is fantastic. I ended up with a bottle of their sherry whiskey. Quite unique. Thanks Steve and all the family, you made our whiskey tour memorable and you showed us real Scottish...

Absolute 5-star experience. Best distillery I’ve visited in Scotland. It’s brand-new, totally independent, and run by a small group of whisky-geeks with a true passion for what they do. They’re committed to an entirely old-school distilling process, so if you want to see how whisky was made in the 1800s, book a tour here, where Brian (a spectacular guide), will tailor the tour to your level of interest/knowledge.

Note - because it’s so new, they don’t have any Ballindalloch whisky for you to try (it’s still aging). But don’t be turned off by that... Brian has a surprise tasting waiting for you at the end, and trust me, it more than makes up for it.

Their passion and commitment is a treat to see, and I’m itching to come back in a few years to try the...