Distilleries in Scotland

Dahlwhinnie- one of my very favorite single malts and they do an excellent tour that is not very expensive. They also have a nice, small shop.

This is hard to do. I've been all over Scotland, but not been to a lot of distillery tours. I would pick it on location or on taste. For location, I liked the convenience of Atholl. It was in Pitlochry and was in walking distance of my hotel. If I were picking on taste, I think I'd like to tour Lagavulin. I love the peaty malts and so touring this distillery would be very special. I guess you may get people who can respond based on the quality of the tour, but haven't done enough to choose based on this criterium. BTW, you might want to pick up Iain Banks Raw Spirit. This is about his search for the perfect dram. It's a great book and might have the best answer to your question. Pam

If you are in Edinburgh then the Glenkinchie Distillery in Pentcaitland in nearby. Just east of town. Crowd was very small when we were there and almost got a personal tour. Also got to taste "sips" of several types of whiskys. You would need a car. We combined this with a trip to Rosslyn Chapel-Same area.

Not into Scotch Whiskey but toured some distilleries with husband. We really enjoyed Glenlivet located near Balmoral Castle.

I do have to agree with Pam- the distillery in Atholl is lovely and the town and castle are excellent, too. One note about Dahlwhinnie- it is the highest distillery in Scotland. Wear your walking shoes if you don't drive- it is a bit of a walk from the train station or bus stop. But well worth it. We haven't been there yet, but there are several distilleries in Cambelltown and the general Dufftown area. Balvinnie is one of my favorite whiskies- but I think they charge a very high fee for tours. There are several others there, too- I think about 8 or 9 in all. You might find these sites helpful: http://www.visitscotland.com/guide/inspirational/itineraries/whisky/ http://www.maltwhiskytrail.com/ http://www.scotchwhisky.net/distilleries/dist_trail.htm http://www.discovering-distilleries.com/dalwhinnie/
http://www.thebalvenie.com/

The answers already given are very good. I've only done the Oban distillery tour, Tobermory was closed for maintenance work or I would have toured that one, too. I'd like to tour Bruichladdich and Highland Park, as they are my favourites, but both of those are harder and therefore more expensive to get to. I don't think you would be disappointed with Oban - lovely taste and you get to sample overproof malt from the barrel which is something I'd never done previously. Also there is a souvenir tasting glass in a box which I managed to get home in one piece. Do you have a favourite single malt?

Been to Auchentoshan and Glengoyne distilleries in october 09, in fantastic weather. Both are close to Glasgow and we enjoyed it very much. We did the tour at Auchentoshan and it was quite nice. We took the time to talk with the guide girl while sipping the whiskys. Very nice, friendly and educational.
Spending a few days on Islay sounds very interesting, in good weather biking from Ardbeg to Lagavulin to Bowmore and trying their lovely peaty malts - heaven.

Jura. http://www.isleofjura.com Once upon a time it was the only malt whisky served on British Airways, as they found that it was the only one that retained its taste at 35000 feet. Roger