Whisky and History: The All-In Scottish Highlands Heritage Tour with Hotels

With its crystal-clear mountain waters and sweeping fields of barley, Scotland is the undisputed home of whisky and is the perfect place for any connoisseur to distill the ‘water of life.’ Plus, what better beverage to toast to your Scottish ancestral travels?

From North to South and across the islands, Scotland is split up into five different whisky-making regions, all of which distill their own unique version of the illustrious single malt, and offer some of the best whisky-tasting experiences available.

From distilleries found off the beaten track to those just a short drive from the city, we’ve listed our favourite hotels on the trail of Scotland’s whisky heritage.

Often described as ‘whisky heaven’, Speyside has much to offer, from historical architecture and a thriving outdoors culture to quaint country cottages and tasty home-made cuisine. Speyside is also home to The Malt Whisky Trail, the only one of its kind in the world. The trail takes in seven world-famous distilleries making up over half of Scotland’s whisky industry. There’s no greater starting point for your whisky adventure.

A rich single malt, The Glenlivet can only be made in one particular spot, a single glen, in the heart of Scotland’s malt whisky-making country. The distillery runs a series of tours, including the free 45-minute Glenlivet Tour, which includes a guided tour of the distillery, a visit to one of the bonded warehouses, and a dram of The Glenlivet. Other tours include nosing and tasting sessions or walks along the Speyside smugglers’ trail.

One of the oldest and most beautiful distilleries in Scotland, the Strathisla Distillery is nestled along the banks of the River Isla and is surrounded by a cobbled courtyard and picturesque buildings.

The standard tour runs every 30 minutes for a charge of £7.50 (about $9). If you’re looking to do a more in-depth tour, then the Saturday afternoon Ultimate Starthisla Experience is a three-hour whisky-filled affair, including a tutored tasting in the oak-panelled boardroom.

Considered ‘The Queen of the Hebrides,’ Islay is located just off the West Coast of Scotland. The island’s rich, peaty soil and mild climate make it perfect for whisky distilling. As of 2017, Islay lays claim to no fewer than eight distilleries.

Founded in 1779, Bowmore Distillery is the first recorded distillery on Islay, as well as being one of the oldest in Scotland. Its whisky is known for its distinctive smoky flavour, which is achieved by smoking the malt in a peat-fired kiln.

The distillery offers two tours, the first being a Craftsman’s Tour, which allows you to visit the legendary No.1 vaults, where you can taste some very special Bowman indeed. The second is the Distillery Tour, an essential outing if you are visiting the island and want to get a sense of how the single malt is produced.

In the Victorian age, Campbeltown was known as the whisky capital of the world. Only three distilleries have maintained production from those early days but Campbeltown still retains its excellent whisky-making reputation.

Glen Scotia is one of the smallest whisky distilleries in Scotland, producing both peated and unpeated whisky. The site still contains many of its original design features, including the fermenters, the stillroom, and the dunnage warehouse, all of which date back to the 1830s. The distillery offers a Standard Tour for just £5 per person (about $7) or a Heritage Tour which includes a small tasting of their core product at the end. If you are looking forward to a dedicated tasting session, then there are a variety of options also available.

The Scottish Highlands are renowned for their beautiful and rugged landscapes, teaming with wildlife, from rare eagles to hordes of free-roaming deer. The region is home to many mountain ranges, including the highest mountain of the British Isles, Ben Nevis.

Steeped in 250 years of history, the Glenturret Distillery is home to The Famous Grouse Experience, a unique interactive whisky experience and spiritual home of the brand. The story of the brand is as rich and absorbing as the whisky itself, with a range of tours available, allowing visitors a unique glimpse into its iconic history. The newly-refurbished Visitors Centre comes complete with a shop, café and the chance to create your own personalized label on your favourite bottle of whisky.

Founded in 1845, the distillery takes its name from the neighbouring mountain and boasts a royal title since Queen Victoria’s visit in 1848. After the first ever distillery tour, Queen Victoria enjoyed a dram of Lochnagar single malt Scotch whisky. Reputedly she drank her whisky with claret!

Today, the distillery retains much of its original character and is home to one of the six remaining traditional open-top mash tuns in Scotland. Open year-round, the tours and times – which are sometimes subject to change – can be found on the Royal Lochnagar website.

The Dornoch Distillery is an exciting new prospect on the whisky landscape. The adjacent Dornoch Castle Hotel, which is owned and run by two brothers, Phil and Simon Thompson, has long since maintained the success of the castle’s well-respected whisky bar by selling discontinued bottles at a fair price.

Having dreamed of starting up their own distillery, the brothers took the plunge and put their house on the market in order to pursue this exciting new venture.

A warm welcome awaits you on the Isle of Arran, which in the early 19th Century hosted more than 50 illicit distilleries – all carefully hidden from the eyes of the taxman.

Arran Distillery was opened in 1995 and is home to some of the purest water in all of Scotland – making it an ideal whisky-making location. The fresh water is cleansed as it passes over the granite rocks and is then softened by peat as it slowly meanders from the mountaintops into nearby Loch na Davie. The distillery’s award-winning visitor’s centre is where tourists can start their Arran whisky journey and even enjoy some tutored tastings.

Not an official geographic location, the lowlands of Scotland refers to some areas of the south of Scotland, although it’s important to note that not all of them are physically ‘low’, just as some areas that are indisputably in the Highlands, such as Islay, are low-lying.

The picturesque Glenkinchie Distillery is located near Edinburgh, where the rolling barley fields reflect the whisky’s light and dry tones. A visit to the distillery offers whisky fans a glimpse into malting history and demonstrates how the ‘water of life’ is produced through its various stages of distilling. At the end of the tour, visitors are led into the bar for a tasting of Glenkinchie Single Malt Whisky.