Visit a whisky distillery in Scotland

“So last week after a little planning we went on our 4 day visit to Islay, we’d booked a tour and tasting at Laphroaig (the Distiller’s Wares tour) and a tasting at Bunnahabhain (the Warehouse 9 Cask strength tasting). Alongside this we managed to visit every whisky distillery on the Island, picked up some swag and the odd bottle. Both distillery tasting/tour experiences were fantastic, if I had to choose I’d say the Laphroaig experience slightly pipped Bunnahabhain but both were incredibly memorable experiences for me - tasting whisky straight from the cask is something I’d highly reccommend, I don’t think anything can beat that and it was an incredible life experience let alone one just for whisky. [...] The best part of the experience at Laphroaig was perhaps the very malty farm-y funk that I picked up during the tasting and generally the smell of the distillery that I now think I’ll pick up in Laphroaig that I don’t think I’d have picked up without it.”

“The tour itself incorporated all the key areas of whisky-making through the distillery, touching on all the key areas. The Distillery itself is very photographic on the outside and really beautifully quaint. This is one of the smaller Distilleries in the group that I’ve visited but resonates with heart and soul. The tour is very intimate and we had a smaller group here than any of the others we visited on that particular trip. Our guide was very passionate about whisky and hugely knowledgeable. She was eager for questions and engaged with us on every level possible. It was the enthusiasm of the guide, the no holds barred approach to visiting the facility, and the authentic atmosphere that made this tour so special. On the back of the tour, the guide led us to a tasting room where we sampled 5 whiskies and a new spirit from the distillery. This was one of the most thorough and informative tastings that I’ve had in the various ones that I’ve done. I liked the inclusion of the new spirit so that we could understand the liquor that enters the casks, and exactly what the maturation process does to that alcohol. It’s nothing short of magical.”