No visit to the Scottish Highlands will truly be complete without taking a tour of a traditional Scottish distillery. Pitlochry is fortunate enough to have two world-renowned distilleries at the heart of the town. So there is no excuse for missing out.
Pitlochry is fortunate enough to have two world-renowned distilleries at the heart of the town the Edradour Distillery and Bells' Blair Athol Distillery.
Visitors are most welcome in the distillery. There is a range of tours to choose from. The standard tour is an hour and a half long. You will learn about how the whisky is made and some of the history of the distillery. Of course, all the tours are rounded off with a taste of their single malt whisky.
The distillery only opens its doors between April and September. You also need to plan to visit on a weekday as there are no tours available on weekends. There are three standard tours every day. These start at 10 am 12 pm and 2 pm.
Getting to the distillery from the Croft-Na-Coille is relatively easy. If you are up for a 20-minute walk, then you don't have to worry about drinking and driving.
The Bell's Blair Athol Distillery is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland. The distillery is proud to use water from the local Allt Dour river. The owners credit the local water for giving the whisky its distinctive mellow taste.
Blair Athol offers a few different tours. With each tour, there are different whiskies to taste. For the standard tour, you just turn up on the day with no need to book. The more specialist tours require advance bookings through their website. The distillery is open all year round but the closing times vary with the seasons, so check before you go. Be aware that in poor weather the distillery may be closed to the public, so have a backup plan in autumn and winter.
