"whisky tasting" Perth Things to Do Tip by iaint

A guided tour of the Blair Athol Distillery, followed by a taste of the real thing!

The distillery is part of the Diageo multinational, so don't go thinking this is some cute cottage industry. 98% of its production goes into the Bell's brand blended whisky and the rest is bottled and sold as a single malt (all these technicalities will be explained to you).

Check in advance for the guided tour timings. If it's important to you, ask if production will actually be taking place when you want to visit. It was not when we were there, due to Christmas holidays.

The tour takes 45 minutes and costs £5 per adult (December 08). However we were given vouchers to take £3 off the purchase of any single malt from the gift shop. At that time a bottle of Blair Athol cost about £30.

The distillery is at the south end of the town, and is well signposted in the town.

However, 2 points to remember to avoid confusion
- it is not in Blair Athol, which is a village to the north of Pitlochry
- the town has 2 other distilleries, so do not mix it up with (for example) the Edradour Distillery.

I've been on other distillery tours, and they are all pretty similar. The products are not, however! At one, we were able to sample 3 different single malts all from the same distillery but different ages. Blair Athol only has the one 12 year old malt.

Good value, I would say, especially if you can walk or take the train (or otherwise arrange to be able to enjoy the free dram).

Address: Blair Athol Distillery, Pitlochry PH16 5LY
Directions: By car, take the A9 north out of Perth, and Pitlochry is about 30 minutes away.

You can take the train north as well, on the Inverness line.
Phone: 01796 482003
Website: http://www.uisge.com/ud/blairathol.html