aberlour distillery

This distillery is easy to locate, just off the main road with a beautiful gatehouse and gift shop. I paid for a tour in advance and enjoyed aprox. 1 hour being shown the distilling process, the differences from other brands, and history of the brand followed by a tutored tasting session of 6 expressions of Aberlour. The guide was friendly and informative.Parts of the distillery are ultra modern, and some of the purists may not be a fan, of the lack of wooden mash tuns, but the final product shows that traditional methods and modern technology word together to product a fantastic spirit. At the end of tour and tasting there was the option to fill your own bottle and register it in their book, which although expensive gives you something to remember the day with. After finishing the tour and tasting, I took up the opportunity to explore the local area and talk a walk along the beautiful River Spey which runs nearby.

Jonathan showed us around the distillery and got a good lesson on how whisky is made and how their process differs from those nearby. Ends with a handful of drams to try and of course a store to buy if you so choose. I'd certainly recommend it to others!

Wow not knowing what to expect, I was blown away with everything I learned about the Whiskey distillation process. We chose to attend the Founder's Tour, which is limited to 10 people and is 2.5 hours long. It did not seem like 2.5 hours because the tour was so interesting. It is quite pricey at 30 pounds per person, but it is the experience that we always tell people about when recounting our Norther Europe trip.Our guide (a lady, I forget her name) was very knowledgeable, and answered everyone's questions. As an engineer, learning the process of distillation and history behind it was very exciting. Since Aberlour is a smaller distillery, you can do some things that you can't at other larger distilleries (Glenfiddich, for example). We got to taste some of the foam coming from the fermentation process and chew on both smoked (peated) barley vs. non-peated barley. We also got to taste the Whiskey at different stages of its development at the tasting room. Chocolates were paired with our Whiskies, and then we got a chance to bottle our own bottle from a special barrel that doesn't get released. Hands-down the coolest thing we did in Scotland. Highly recommended.

Have been on a number of distillery tours previously elsewhere so we wanted to focus on the whisky tasting. From the moment you enter the shop at the entrance to the end of the tasting - it was a real pleasure. So what was unique? - we went for the Aberlour casks from the past tasting and it was superb. We tasted 4 cask strength whiskies which are no longer on general sale due to their rarity. The tasting room was very atmospheric but it was the enthusiasm and knowledge of our guide (Jonathan) who spent a fair bit of time "talking us through" each dram - fascinating and the whisky was excellent.Far too many distillery's just push their standard wares - whilst standard is very nice in most cases I think it was really worth trying "casks from the past". Add to this a very friendly and knowledgeable team and you have a real winner. Thanks Aberlour.

Pre-booking your tour is highly suggested. A great behind the scenes look at the operating side of their unique the distillery. The tour guide held the tour for group that was slightly late coming in from Edinburgh, a very nice touch. She made us feel very welcome. The distillery was in operation and quite warm around the cooking stills. Very interesting seeing the production side. 6 different WEE drams were provided for our nosing and tasting pleasure. Great inside look at Aberlour and they maintain their small distillery feel while being part of giant Pernod Ricard. The fee for the tour was well worth it!!

We had a group of 12 and the tour guide lady was like controlling each of us, carefull, full of knowledge, has the authority and sense of humour. The production site is well done, whiskies are excellent. We had a chocolate pairing with some of their standart productions, visit the warehouse, taste and hand fill from one of their sherry casks. Such a good experience, thanks to everyone...

For 14 pounds you get 6 drams of whisky at the end, which is worth it alone. Add on top of that the tour of the distillery. The tour was pretty cool, all in all, but seemed to be a bit lacking in something, although not sure what. Our group had a bunch of hungover germans and our tourguides jokes seemed to fall on deaf ears... Seemed like she was running out of steam and the tour started to get a bit bland. There aren't any workers or anything, just some machines pumping out alcohol... Wasn't really that exciting.I doubt that the cask strength whiskys that you can make your own bottle at the end are really worth the price. It is OK tasting whisky but for 65 GPB you can get some really awesome whisky if you know what you are doing. That being said I would still pick one up for pictures and the experience. I need to play around with how much water to add to the cask strength 60% to get it to my taste as well.

The Aberlour Distillery provides a truly brilliant tour of their distillery and an insightful tasting session. What I particularly loved about this tour was the authenticity of the experience and the staff running the shop and tour. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable about the process and it was clear she had not learned this knowledge simply by rehersing lines. The tasting session was one of the best I've been to. The tasting covers six different elements of Abelour whisky - from New Spirit, to Bourbon Cask, Sherry Cask, Aberlour 10, another Aberlour variety and finally the A'bunadh. The explanation of all the varieties was absolutely brilliant and the experience top notch.I highly recommend this tour and tasting session to any whisky lever, regardless if Aberlour is your preferred single malt or not.

An excellent tour - with some unique experiences not found on others; ( i.e. tasting Wort and New Spirit. ) . The guides are great and so is the whiskey :). You'll need a reservation for the tour - so book ahead if possible.

Great service in the Visitor shop.Their standard tour is always a benchmark for a distillery tour in Scotland. It's very informative and at the end of the tour you will try 5 of their whiskies. You can also pour your self a bootle of Aberlour whisky at a fair price (65 GBP).

There are few things that were unique in this tour (at least for our distillery visits);* We've tasted the Wort. * We've tasted unaged whiskey (new spirit). * We finally saw the whiskey vault from a close distance. The tasting at the end is very thorough and there are some good explanation there. The tour guide, Ellen, was great - funny and professional.

Excellent whisky and exciting history. Nice and funny guides. If you go to Spey valley, don't miss a visit to a distillery :-).

I am a drinker of Aberlour Whisky as I consider it to be very reasonably priced and as a plus, it s really good whisky.The distillery is obviously well managed and run and looks like it is.The tour we enjoyed today was thorough and well delivered and whilst, the Aberlour Distillery is a bit smaller than some of the other big whiskies, it holds its own for interest and information.Its a shame you don't get to see the casks but they keep them off site as they are part of a large group. I actually did not realise they are part of the Chivas group.The shop is quite small but you can still purchase Aberlour at favourable prices as well as one or two other items.The Whisky tasting is the most relaxed and comprehensive I have encountered so far and well worth the price of the tour alone!Highly recommended.

This was special to us as the product was one of our favorites before we got there. We probably learnt more about Whisky during this tour than anywhere else. The place was great and the guide fantastic - he knew everything about the process and the product. The tasting started from spirit through to final product was over 6 individual tastes - something we didn't find at others in Edinburgh or the highlands.It may seem a little expensive compared to others but its worth the effort and the little town is worthy of a stroll - especially if driving after the tastings

We had booked the explorers tour and Alan was our guide. He was great, he had loads of great stories and anecdotes. We went on a informative and relaxed tour with 12 in the group the highlight of which was the extensive tasting. All the way from New Spirit to Abuna. Well worth a visit.