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Type: Highland
Known for: being Scotland’s oldest distillery
And: being home to the Famous Grouse
Contact: www.thefamousgrouse.com
Overview:
The oldest distillery in Scotland is a surprisingly modern place thanks to the Famous Grouse. Because when Scotland’s favourite blend needed a home, this was the place that was chosen. Not because Glenturret whisky is intrinsic to Grouse (it’s in there, but not in huge quantities), but because the distillery is packed with heritage (it’s Scotland’s oldest) and the location’s a cracker.
Which made the perfect spot for an all-singing, all-dancing visitor ‘experience’. This means Famous Grouse branding all over the place, a superb bar, a virtual flying simulation over the wilds of Scotland (best undertaken before tasting rather than after), and more men in kilts than you will see in the rest of the country put together.
It’s as much about entertainment as it is about the whisky, and taken this way works very well. Behind it, there’s a little more depth than you might expect to be found in the Grouse range as well as the deeply unconventional Snow Grouse, and for the hard core there’s an excellent single malt to be discovered in the Glenturret itself.
The antithesis of its brash branded cousin, the Famous Grouse’s residence at Glenturret may even help the single malt, letting it quietly get on with doing its own thing in the background. Small production volumes (it’s the third smallest distillery in Scotland), and low-tech production (mashing is still done by hand), it’s a fine drop.
Buy Famous Grouse Scotch whisky from:
Buy Glenturret Scotch whisky from:
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