Glengoyne Distillery

We missed out on a distillery tour in Inverness as it was not open on Sundays so we really wanted to make sure we visited one on the last leg of our holiday when we hit Glasgow. We had such a great tour with Arthur, one of the Glengoyne guides that I am glad the other tour did not work out. You can catch the C10 bus from Glasgow and it’s about a 50 minute ride to Glengoyne through the ‘burbs and out into the countryside. They have a nice selection of tours that are all based on how many of their fine malts you would like to taste. We happen to be there on a weekday right when they opened so there was only 4 of us in the tour. But I got the impression that there are no set times for tours, they will set people up with a guide as they come in. All tours start out with a wee dram of their 12 year old whiskey that you can enjoy while watching a video history of the distillery. Then you get a tour of the distillery and learn the distilling process used to make Glengoyne one of the best award winning single malts in the world! Arthur was wonderful at explaining all the processes and answered all our questions. Then at the end of the distillery tour since we had purchased the Gold Metal tour tasting (the other couple had not) Arthur took us up to a private tasting room and had the other 3 drams of whiskey set out for us (18, 21 year and cask strength: 58.7% alcohol) and proceed to explain to us the different flavor to expect with each one and showed us how even 3 drips of water will change the taste. It was fascinating! We also each got Glengoyne dram glass with this tour and you get discounts in the store if you purchase something and have been on a tour.

I’m really not much of a whisky drinker — I find the smoky flavour a bit harsh — but I had a really great time visiting the Glengoyne Distillery and going on the distillery tour.
It’s in a really beautiful place and the distillery buildings only serve to enhance that. Dumgoyne is a very picturesque part of Scotland and a lot of the other visitors to the distillery were clearly on walking holidays or trips. They don’t seem to mind one bit when folk turn up in hiking gear, so if you’re planning a walk in the area I reckon this would make a great pit stop.
We bought tour tickets for £11 each which included the tour itself and two tasters of whisky; one of the 12 year old and one of the 18 year old. The 18 is probably supposed to be the better one (it’s certainly the more expensive) but I preferred the 12. I was also delighted to learn that Glengoyne don’t use peat in making their whisky, which meant that those smoky flavours I don’t get on with are totally absent. The flavour is almost entirely derived from ageing the whisky in oak sherry casks.
The tour was very interesting and quite similar to tours I’ve done of breweries, although it obviously diverges after a point. It was cool to see all the different processes involved, as well as to see what a difference ageing makes — they have a display showing the whisky after each year of ageing. It’s pretty impressive.
I’m still not a whisky drinker but at least now I know I like Glengoyne 12 year old and I’m definitely going to go visit a few more distilleries after having had such a good time at this one. Seems a shame to live in Scotland and to not try them.

Touring the Glengoyne Whiskey Distillery is an amazing experience. The guides are friendly and knowledgeable. Tasting the whiskey, smelling the barrels and walking through the distillery gives you a rich history of Scotland. If you like whiskey it’s just a bonus.

Alright, overall I loved it here… with one caveat which I’ll get to at the end. I had the day to spend in Glasgow and it was my first day exploring. Of course, I want to go to a true Scotch distillery! This one just happened to be not very far from Glasgow and accessible by bus (they actually drop off right in front of the distillery). Win-​win. The grounds are beautiful as are the facilities. I ended up buying the Gold Medal Tour which, for the money, is 100% worth it (Mind you my n for Scotch whiskey tours is 1). When you first start the tour, they give you a dram of the 12 year while you watch a video then you tour, which takes about 40 mins. You (of course) end up in the gift shop to conclude the tour. Those who bought the «Wee Tasting» tour got a second dram of 18 year at this point. Two other guests and myself were then ushered to a private room for our Gold Medal Tasting. We sampled the 18yr and the 21yr here while we chatted. Both were excellent and it was good times. You are then ushered back to the gift shop (of course) for the final tasting, which is cask strength (Tasty but a bit strong for my tastes). Excellent. Now, my caveats. I claim a bit of Scotch ignorance. I once bought a bottle of Glenmorangie as a starter scotch and never really moved past it. I always put a bit of water in mine to open it up. I did this in the private tasting and I felt a bit looked down upon for it… like the dynamic of the tour changed. This happened again when I asked the question of why one might choose a cask strength whiskey over the others (besides a higher alcohol content). Kind of minor stuff but it adds a bit of regret to what otherwise would have been a 5-​star experience for me. I would still recommend this as an excellent day trip for those in Glasgow.

Visiting Scotland for a couple days and my cousin took me to this distillery as my first distillery tour, I must say this place was a fantastic first experience. The staff was amazing especially Sasha, Julie (the tour guide), and Alistair. Julie took us around for a private tasting as we got the gold vip tasting of the 10−21yr whiskys for some lovely conversation. The distillery itself is in the scenic rolling hills about 30 minutes out of Glasgow. And is absolutely worth a visit should you have the time. I picked up a bottle of the 18year, no regrets there, all in all I would recommend this to any of my friends, even those that don’t appreciate scotch as they soon would.

Was wäre ein Schottland-​Urlaub ohne den Besuch einer Whisky-​Destillerie. Ganz in unserer Nähe befand sich die Glengoyne-​Destillerie. Täglich fanden zur vollen Stunde Führungen statt. Also fuhren wir an einem Donnerstag auf gut Glück hin.
Der Parkplatz befand sich auf der einen Seite einer gutbefahrenen Straße, zusammen mit den Lagerhäusern. Die eigentliche Destillerie lag auf der anderen Seite. Das Besucherzentrum befand sich am Ende des Geländes. Als wir um kurz nach 12.00 h eintraten, hieß es, wir könnten noch an der laufenden Tour teilnehmen, sie habe gerade erst begonnen. Das nahmen wir gern in Anspruch.
In dem Raum, in dem die Touren begannen, waren etliche Besucher versammelt. Sie hatten bereits ihre Whisky-​Probe erhalten, die wir aus Zeitgründen zum Abschluss bekamen. Damit wir sie in Ruhe genießen könnten, wie es hieß. Sehr aufmerksam.
Die Besucher wurden in drei Gruppen aufgeteilt, jede mit einem eigenen Tourguide. Wir schlossen uns der dritten Gruppe an, die nicht ganz so groß war wie die beiden anderen Gruppen. Gut organisiert.
Wir wurden über das Gelände zur Whisky-​Produktionshalle geführt. Dort gab es überall Erklärungen; wir durften einen Blick in den Gärbottich werfen. Es war nur etwas eng. Besonders die Treppen, die in das 1. OG führten, waren schmal. An beiden Seiten gab es Geländer, man konnte sich gut festhalten.
Die Tour endete, wie sollte es anders sein, im Shop. Dort erhielten wir die versprochene Whisky-​Probe. Wer eine weitere Probe gebucht hatte, bekam sie hier kredenzt. Schließlich verabschiedete sich unser Guide, ein freundlicher, älterer Herr, der sogar etwas Deutsch sprach (die Touren finden in englischer Sprache statt). Wir schauten uns in dem Shop um und stellten wieder einmal fest, dass Whisky in Deutschland preiswerter ist als vor Ort in Schottland. Ich erstand einen Schlüsselanhänger als Souvenir.
Es gibt verschiedene Touren. Die reguläre Tour geht 45 min. und enthält eine Whisky-​Probe. Bei der etwas teureren Tour erhält man noch einen 18-​jährigen Whisky. Dann gibt es Touren, die auch die Lagerhäuser umfassen. Wir beließen es bei der regulären Tour.
Im Flyer wirbt man mit Shuttle-​Bussen, die im Zentrum von Glasgow starten. Die Anfahrt sollte also auch ohne Pkw kein Problem sein. Weitere Infos finden sich auf der Website.
Uns hat der Besuch gefallen, wir können die Touren empfehlen.

At just 13 miles from Glasgow, this distillery is well-​worth the visit if you appreciate fine whisky. I think it may have been the closest one to Glasgow. I didn’t want to rent a car nor venture too far off the beaten path, which is why I was able to find an efficient tour van/​guide who could take me here in addition to another distilelry and a few other sights in the same general vicinity.
First of all, their surroundings/​setting were absolutely gorgeous and green with pastures and rolling hills. The distillery grounds themselves were quite pituresque, which included a waterfall and creek. Makes you wanna have a drink and enjoy!
Here is a blurb on it from wikipedia —
«Unlike many malt whiskys Glengoyne does not use peat smoke to dry their barley but instead favours the use of warm air. The clear and bright appearance and distinctive flavour of the Glengoyne single malts are credited to this lack of peat smoke…
…as a result of the use of unpeated malt Glengoyne has been noted as being stylistically closer to a Lowland single malt as opposed to a Highland single malt.»
I took the Wee Tasting Tour, which is the 1-​hr tour with two tastings (£10.00 per person). They start you off with the 12-​yr at the beginning of the tour, then you get the 18-​yr.
The tour guide provided lots of information, and injected quite a bit of humor into her presentation. She actually had me smiling/​lauging the entire time!
All-​around, they are well-​worth the visit, while being so close to Glasgow, and a more «put-​together» tour than the other one I went to (Deanston); I also liked their scotch!

Glengoyne Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky has been distilled here in Drumgoyne since 1833.
Owned by Ian Macleod Distillers Ltd., this distillery is unique in many ways. One of which is, it is distilled in the Highlands and matured on the other side of the road in the Lowlands.
I went on the «Wee tasting tour», which was conducted by Bill. He had a great sense of humor and knew what he was talking about.
I was given 1 dram of the 12yr at the beginning and a dram of the 18yr at the end. Sadly, I was only given those two drams. A certain distillery not too far away was way more generous with their whiskies!
Good, informative and recommended.

This is the most beautiful single malt whiskey distillery in Scotland and I should know as I have visited almost all of them.
It is a small distillery located just 13 miles north of Glasgow and 53.5 miles from Edinburgh. Their whiskey is the best tasting single malt I’ve ever tasted and very well priced. Just tasted their ²⁵⁰⁄₉ and the Tea Dram and they are both very unique and exquisite. When you visit the distillery make sure to do the tasting tour.

For the folks of Glasgow — this place is one of the two of the easily accessible places that you can see the process of whisky production.
Just North of Glasgow on the way to the Trossachs, it is not a difficult trip if you have transport out of the city.
It is a lovely trip just geting there. Nice meandering roads traversing the Scottish countryside.
There are a wide variety of tours available lasting from 45 minutes to 2 hours. I have always found the guides well informed and open to questions.
The shop has a decent selection of stock as well all of the Whisky themed items that normally fill these places.
If you have not been — then go.
If you have folks arriving from foreign shores to Glasgow — this is an excellent place to take them

This little distillery right on the edge of the highlands is the perfect little side trip from Glasgow or Loch Lomond (and maybe a few other places, but geographically that’s what I can attest to). They have tours on the hour from 10am — 4pm daily. You can choose whether you just want the single dram included or upgrade to taste some other malts. The tour starts with your first dram (the 10-​year-​old) and a somewhat cheesy video. But then you get into the guided portion of the tour, which is informative and interesting. It ends in the gift shop, where you additional drams, if you opted for them, will be waiting. The staff are chatty and upbeat, and all in all the whole tour is utterly charming.
I’d say the overall experience is more than the sum of its parts. The setting is beautiful, the tour is interesting, and the whisky, I think, favors the novice. The barley is not dried by smoking and is aged in old sherry casks, so it has a gentler, fruitier taste than some more well known, smokier-​tasting heavy hitters. A trip to Glengoyne is an inexpensive, fun and lovely wee experience for the tourist or the day-​tripping native.

Enjoyed tasting their whiskey and the fun yet informative tour.
Highly recommended.

Nestled among picturesque, sheep-​filled hills is Glengoyne. It is a small, working distillery that offers a range of tours and classes for the discerning whiskey connoisseur to the much less discerning, much like myself.
Prior to coming here, when touring Jameson’s, I was warned that the Scots would try to lay claim over whiskey (after all, many know it as Scotch) even though the term comes from Irish Gaelic «uisce beatha» which means water of life. Irish monks invented this lordly libation. Yet soon after paying entrance fees, we were told by our guide, John that although the Irish invented whiskey, the Scots perfected it. It is known as Scotch, afterall.
It was a great start to a great tour. Given the many options, I selected the Tasting Tour. This came with an intro video viewing, a full guided tour, and a sampling of a 10 year old and 12 year old whiskey. We also sampled older blends, 17 and 21 year olds. The video was brief and a little-​overly Hollywood. It featured a Rob Roy-​character who was tall (rather than stocky) and raven-​haired (rather than roy, ahem, ginger-​haired) and who was somehow related to modern-​day whiskey making. Eagles also factored heavily. Thankfully, it was brief and didn’t detain us long from the tour and was all so much easier to «swallow» with the free dram of life-​water provided.
The grounds were simple and graceful. There is a small waterfall and lake that provides enough water to cool machinery when needed. Next we walked through the distillery, the blending rooms, and then to the warehouses. Glengoyne’s greatest asset is how personable the tour is, thanks to its small size. John answered all of our questions and would offer more information based upon and relevant to our respective geographies. The tour ends, as most do, in the gift shop. There everything that you could imagine is sold (such as hand soap, fudge, and adorable highland cows).
Most importantly, they poured our samples of older whiskeys at the shop. Glengoyne whiskey is a smooth and unpeated (non-​smokey). The older versions tasted decidedly less like burning than did their younger siblings. If you haven’t noticed, I don’t actually like they liquid and so, am a horrible judge. But, I disliked it much less than I have others that I sampled. Five stars!

Like all good Scots (!) I’ve been to lots of distilleries around the country — the stereotype is very true! Glengoyne is located not far from Glasgow and Stirling so it’s one of the most accessible if you’re in the central belt of the country and don’t have the time to travel to Speyside or the Islands.
They say it’s the most beautiful distillery in Scotland and they’re not far off. It’s nestled into a valley and feels very self-​enclosed. The site isn’t huge so there isn’t far to walk to get around, and you really feel like you’re seeing the ‘real’ place, rather than just a visitor centre that bears no resemblance to where they actually make whisky.
I went for the standard tour and it was excellent — I wouldn’t have minded paying a bit more to be able to try a couple of the older whiskies — fine as long as you’re not driving!
So, if you’re around Glasgow or Loch Lomond and looking for something to do, I’d really recommend it.