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Going to UK – Distilleries or Other Shops?


GaryT
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My wife and I are planning on going to England/Scotland next year, doing a tour that takes care of everything – although I want to fly in a day or two earlier (or stay later). This was picked as our next big tour before I caught Whiskeria Nervosa (and was her choice, as she wants to see the castles and landscapes of Scotland). So it isn’t a whisky themed vacation . . . although I have every intention of carving out some hours here/there :)

I had initially hoped to get to Laphroaig, since that was the first scotch I fell in love with – but getting there would be pretty challenging (our tour will have us in Glasgow for a day or two, but looks like a "day trip" is likely out of the question based on the ferry schedules; or even if possible - it would be one very long day!). Thinking about our distilleries here in the US, I’m more interested in tasting samples or having the opportunity to purchase bottles I can't get back home (not that it isn’t interesting to see the process). Even here, some distilleries don’t offer “specialty†bottles (Buffalo Trace, Wild Turkey, Maker’s Mark), so I’d love to hear from folks who have been to the UK and visited some of the distilleries, as well as some of the shops.

I’m thinking my best bet may be to come up with a list of shops in the cities we’ll be visiting (London, Edinburgh, Glasgow), and if there are any distilleries (which offer tours, or are open to the public) I can squeeze in along the way – great. The trip is going to start/end in London, so expect that is where I’ll have the most time (we’re still narrowing down which tour we’re going to take).

Any recommendations? Shops that are “must hitsâ€, or distilleries that aren’t to be missed? Tips for buying/shipping?

Right now I've got the following on my list:

The Whisky Exchange (Vinopolis, London)

Gerrys (Soho, London)

Royal Mile Whiskies (London & Edinburgh)

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I spent two weeks in Scotland on a whisky vacation three years ago. I started in Glasgow, visiting Auchentoshan and Glengoyne on the way to Oban, spent one night there and toured the distillery before heading out to Mull for two nights, with a tour of Tobermory. Then it was down to Islay for four nights and I managed to visit seven of the eight distilleries on the island (didn't make it to Bowmore), followed by six nights in Campbeltown while going to Springbank's whisky school.

If you're in Glasgow, you might as well hit Auchentoshan, I think they had some good options for tours with extensive tastings but I had a long drive ahead of me so I didn't look into them. Glengoyne is a 30 minute drive from Glasgow and definitely worth checking out. The "distillery only" Teapot Dram bottling is one of my personal favorites, and they had a lot of options for tours with different tastings.

My next choices after that would be Oban and Edradour. Oban is a 2 hour drive from Glasgow, but there are a couple of castles there to keep the wife happy. We did get to taste a cask sample at the end of the tour, and there was a "distillery only" cask strength bottling. I haven't been to Edradour, which is about 1.5 hours from Glasgow, but it's at the top of the list when I go back. It's one of the smallest distilleries in Scotland and still uses a lot of Victorian era equipment, including a Morton's Refrigerator to chill the wort (the last one still operating in Scotland). They also make a heavily peated version called Ballechin that is pretty hard to come by.

You could also hit the Loch Fyne Whisky shop on the way to Oban, it's half way there and taking that route only adds 5 minute to the trip. Again, haven't been there but I've heard great things. You could probably make a Loch Fyne / Oban / Glengoyne loop in one day for the most variety of scenery; that looks like 5 hours of driving on google maps.

If you're going to be in London and you're into Laphroaig, try to stop by the Highgrove Shop. They have an exclusive 12 year, non-chill filtered, 46%, single cask Laphroaig bottling.

http://www.highgroveshop.com/shop-locations/

http://www.highgroveshop.com/food-drink/spirits-liqueurs-amp-cider/laphroaig-12-year-old-single-malt-whisky.html

If you search around on my blog you can find posts about most of the tours that I took while I was there.

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I just returned from Scotland in May. Definitely add Cadenhead to your list of shops in Edinburgh. Your best bang for the buck is to rent a car and drive north to the speyside region. The majority of distilleries are in that region. Go to malts.com and join and you will get a distillery pass that gives you free entry and/or a free dram at any of the distilleries the Diego owns. After tours in KY I was not impressed with the distillery tours. Most are given by people not involved with the process and a very scripted.

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My wife and I are planning on going to England/Scotland next year, doing a tour that takes care of everything – although I want to fly in a day or two earlier (or stay later). This was picked as our next big tour before I caught Whiskeria Nervosa (and was her choice, as she wants to see the castles and landscapes of Scotland). So it isn’t a whisky themed vacation . . . although I have every intention of carving out some hours here/there :)

I had initially hoped to get to Laphroaig, since that was the first scotch I fell in love with – but getting there would be pretty challenging (our tour will have us in Glasgow for a day or two, but looks like a "day trip" is likely out of the question based on the ferry schedules; or even if possible - it would be one very long day!). Thinking about our distilleries here in the US, I’m more interested in tasting samples or having the opportunity to purchase bottles I can't get back home (not that it isn’t interesting to see the process). Even here, some distilleries don’t offer “specialty†bottles (Buffalo Trace, Wild Turkey, Maker’s Mark), so I’d love to hear from folks who have been to the UK and visited some of the distilleries, as well as some of the shops.

I’m thinking my best bet may be to come up with a list of shops in the cities we’ll be visiting (London, Edinburgh, Glasgow), and if there are any distilleries (which offer tours, or are open to the public) I can squeeze in along the way – great. The trip is going to start/end in London, so expect that is where I’ll have the most time (we’re still narrowing down which tour we’re going to take).

Any recommendations? Shops that are “must hitsâ€, or distilleries that aren’t to be missed? Tips for buying/shipping?

Right now I've got the following on my list:

The Whisky Exchange (Vinopolis, London)

Gerrys (Soho, London)

Royal Mile Whiskies (London & Edinburgh)

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I'd second the recommendation of checking out Cadenhead while in Edinburgh — it's close to the castle and they have reasonable prices. And, when I was there, the guy working seemed to figure out pretty quickly I was kind of a whiskey geek and then started in on this 10 minute soliloquy about how all whisky should be cask strength and non-chill filtered. It was pretty amusing. If you're looking for non-standard bottles, it's the place to go.

Not too far from Edinburgh is Glengoyne — it's a pretty good tour and a beautiful area. Plus, I think Glengoyne remains a little underrated, so if you haven't had any of their malts it's a good chance to do so.

Oban is also a beautiful area although a little farther out.

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Thanks for the feedback and tips! Definitely going to spend some time this week reading some of these references. The wife is already reminding me that this is next year - not next month regardless how much I'd like to go NOW :lol:

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Hi Gary. I've been to Scotland about a dozen times, and I'd be happy to answer any questions you have as you research your trip. Where you end up visiting will depend very much on how you plan on getting around. In Scotland, the journey is often just as much fun as the destination. If you're taking trains, you'll be somewhat limited but can relax and enjoy the view. If you're driving, you'll have freedom to visit more places but it might be somewhat more stressful (depending on how you feel about right-hand drive and navigating roundabouts).

You're right that a day trip to Islay is pretty much pointless. While technically possible, you'd likely be so tired that it would hinder your enjoyment. And you'd be rushing around, which is exactly the wrong way to enjoy Islay. It's a relaxed and unhurried place and you need to enjoy it at a slow pace.

alr3111 above is right about the distillery tours. Most are scripted and cater to beginners and tourists, not enthusiasts. But if you really want to see a Scottish distillery and are based in Glasgow for a few days, I'd recommend taking the train to Oban. You can get a train from Glasgow Queen St. at around 8:20 AM and be in Oban by lunch time. Have lunch, do a distillery tour and walk up to the Dunollie castle ruins, then be back at the train station in time for the 6PM train back to Glasgow. The scenery on this journey is breathtaking. While sitting on the train you can actually hear people gasping at the views.

In Edinburgh, as mentioned above Royal Mile Whiskies and Cadenhead's are must-see whisky shops. There are tons of pubs in Edinburgh, mostly catering to tourists. Glasgow is less tourist-y and more down to earth. The people are very friendly, and they LOVE Americans. If you speak with any kind of accent, they'll want to talk to you all day. When in Glasgow, you must do a whisky pub crawl. In order of awesomeness:

The Pot Still on Hope Street

The Bon Accord on North Street

Chinaski's on North Street. This is an "American" bar with an impressive gantry of bourbons.

The Ben Nevis on Argyle Street in the west end. On Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, they have a group of local musicians playing traditional Scottish folk music.

The best whisky shop in Glasgow is the Good Spirtis Company. It's not as well stocked as the big shops in Edinburgh and London, but it's run by great people - true whisky enthusiasts. If you can, try to time your stop in Glasgow to coincide with one of their tasting nights. You won't be disappointed.

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  • 2 months later...

I live in the UK so if there are any specifics you'd like to know then feel free to let me know, I could offer good advice on London more so than Edinburgh, although I did visit Edinburgh last year for my stag do, we visited this place http://www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk/ which was good fun for the non whisky drinkers in the group so your wife shouldn't be too bored by it all! They have a good selction of whiskies available to sample along with one of the biggest collections in the world. Prices are on the tourist end of the spectrum so there would probably be better places to buy, but as something to do when in Scotland's capital I would recommend it plus it is central so you wouldn't have to worry about driving if you are staying in the city.

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