For whisky lovers, distillery warehouse tastings in Scotland are one of the most memorable experiences you can have. You get to taste rare and unique whisky straight from the cask, all while being surrounded by towers of barrels. You smell the mustiness of the warehouse, the wood, and the whisky, and start to get a sense of why the whisky tastes the way it does. It’s truly magical.
It’s worth noting that not all distilleries have warehouses on site. Many distilleries age in an entirely different area (like Caol Ila aging in Stirling, Scotland) or only have a few warehouses at the distillery (with others offsite). So you can’t do distillery warehouse tastings everywhere, but I recommend it when they are available.
During my Whisky & Wonders of Scotland tour, we did several distillery warehouse tastings and I learned a few things along the way. Here’s what to know before going to distillery warehouse tastings in Scotland.
What to Know About Distillery Warehouse Tastings in Scotland
There’s usually no distillery tour included with the tasting.
Let’s get this out of the way first: distillery warehouse tastings in Scotland do not usually include a tour. So if you want to see inside the distillery, book a separate tour in addition to the tasting. Some distilleries make this easy by offering tours as an add-on to warehouse tastings, others will require separate bookings. So pay attention when you book! (And it goes without saying that you should be booking all your distillery visits well in advance.)
But before you instantly book a distillery tour to add on to every distillery warehouse tasting, take a moment to think about which distilleries you truly want to tour. Distillery fatigue is real — meaning seeing distillery after distillery after distillery gets old. While each distillery is unique (especially in Scotland), at the end of the day they all have the same components. Our 10-day trip included 11 distillery visits, so we alternated distillery tours with warehouse tastings to avoid getting tired of either.
Have some background knowledge of the distillery.
Most warehouse tastings don’t provide much background information about the distillery. The assumption is that if you’re doing the warehouse tour, you’re likely familiar with the distillery and want to taste their special casks.
During the warehouse tasting at Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay, visitors get to pull the whisky out of the barrel with a whisky thief! It’s a fun, hands-on experience. The tasting includes three pours from each of their brands of whisky: Bruichladdich (unpeated), Port Charlotte (heavily peated), and Octomore (super heavily peated). Each are single casks with unique backstories, and all are delicious.
But our guide didn’t give us much background about the distillery or go into too much detail about the casks. That was fine by us, many of us are die-hard Bruichladdich fans! Deanston Distillery was similar, but I didn’t know much about the distillery beforehand and wish I’d done more research.
Related :: How Bruichladdich’s New Port Charlotte is Redefining Islay Whisky
You get to taste some really rare stuff.
The main reason you go to a distillery warehouse tasting in Scotland is the chance to taste some rare whisky. Also, there’s something magical about drinking whisky while surrounded by whisky barrels!
Be prepared to taste whisky you’ll likely never get to taste again, so savor it! At Lagavulin, we tasted a 25 year old sherry puncheon single cask. Bruichladdich shared a 2012 Port Charlotte distilled from Islay Barley aged in ex-bourbon, then Pedro Ximenez, then back into ex-bourbon. (It’s very unusual for Bruichladdich to use PX casks; they usually use Oloroso sherry.) And at Bunnahabhain we tasted a 17 year full maturation Oloroso cask peated to 45 ppms that tasted like bacon s’mores. Mmmm!
Luckily some of the warehouse tastings don’t force you to savor the whisky all on site. Some distilleries gave us 1-ounce bottles to pour the remainders of our samples into to save for later. (Unfortunately Lagavulin did not, and they poured a lot of whisky!) And a few distilleries (like Bunnahabhain) actually sell bottles of some of the unique casks.
Distillery managers or other special guests may be there.
Some distilleries offer experiences hosted by their distillery managers or master blenders. And if you have the chance to sign up for those, definitely do it! Distillery managers, master distillers, and master blenders are the top experts of the distillery (and whisky industry, for that matter!). Their knowledge and experience is awe-inspiring, so it makes the experience all that more amazing.
One of the highlights of our entire whisky trip to Scotland was the distillery warehouse tasting at Lagavulin. Yes, the whisky was fantastic. (And we had a lot of it!) But it was memorable because the tasting was conducted by legendary distillery manager Iain McArthur. With more than 50 years working in the whisky industry on Islay, Iain has endless knowledge about scotch — and endless, hilarious stories. He weaves in both during the tasting, making for a memorable experience.
Think outside the box for distillery warehouse tastings in Scotland.
As I mentioned above, not all distilleries have warehouses on site, so not all distilleries offer warehouse tastings. And even some distilleries that have warehouses on site, don’t offer tastings in them. So plan accordingly!
But don’t forget that in Scotland, independent bottlers have access to rare and unique casks from well-known distilleries. And some of them offer warehouse tastings, like Cadenhead’s Warehouse next door to Springbank Distillery in Campbeltown. And because they are independent (meaning not associated with just one distillery), they offer a wide range of whisky from all over Scotland.
At the Cadenhead’s Warehouse Tasting, we got to taste single casks from six different distilleries. A handful were from the Speyside region, plus whisky from Ledaig and Highland Park thrown in. What is available depends on what’s in their warehouse, so the offerings change all the time.
Not all independent bottlers have warehouse tastings, but some have tasting rooms where you can taste their whisky. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society has a few, Gordon & MacPhail has one; plus many others.
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Distillery warehouse tastings in Scotland are truly memorable. If you’ve been to one and have advice to share, I’d love to hear in the comments.
Related :: The Ultimate Guide to Distilleries on Islay, 10 Days of Whisky & Wonders in Scotland, and More Scotland Distilleries
