Glenkinchie

I’m surprised to not see more 5 star reviews. We visited 15 distilleries during our 10 days in Scotland. Glenkinchie has one of the most informative and unique visitor centers of the bunch. Including having a working spirit safe in the visitor center that you can manipulate the controls on and a huge cut away model of a distillery. The staff were some of the nicest people we encountered on our trip and they were very accommodating with our disabled son. The tasting room is very nice albeit quite crowded during our visit,

Es ist ein kleiner Abstecher von Edinburgh, bei dem eine Besichtigung mit Verkostung lohnt. Schöné Tipps zum Genießen haben wir bekommen. Ich empfehle es nicht nur für Whisky-​Liebhaber, weil auch die Geschichte und die Entstehung der Whisky Brennerei interessant sind. Es gibt einen Raum mit Informationen, der die ganze Historie beleuchtet bis man dann zu einem Rundgang durch die aktuelle Produktion geführt wird. Man lernt den Unterschied zwischen Highland– und Lowland-​Whiskys kennen, die unterschiedliche Schreibweise «Whiskey», die Lagerung in unterschiedlichen Fässern, die den Geschmack beeinflusst sowie die Tatsache, dass im Anfangsprozess beim Brauen eigentlich nur noch eine Zutat fehlt, dann hätte man Bier…

Anita A and I made the trek from Edinburgh to the Pencaitland. Past Tranent –as we are Lothian bus card holders we get to travel the first 2 zones and only pay for the last one. Saved us a bit of money. At the village bus stop we phoned the «need a lift» guy and he took us and 5 Koreans to the distillery. As long as we promised to have a drink at his pub on the return trip.
We used a Group On voucher for a full tasting an tour. Which normally would have been £12 each. We were greeted by a young fella who took us on the tour. He was very knowledgeable and we got a good laugh. He took also care to speak clear and plain so the Koreans got to understand the trip as well. We learned how the whisky is made, prepared and kept for maturing. Also what «angel’s share «means. They are part of the same company that makes Johnny Walker, Lagavullin, Dimple and the likes. They are located around a well. This well is kept behind lock and Key, in a big closed off barn like structure without windows. Very mysterious.
After the tour we got to taste some samples. 12, 15 and distillers special. Then it was exit through the gift shop.
The pub landlord cum taxi driver picked us up and we took a few drinks in his pub, before long the bus showed and we went back on our jolly way to Edinburgh.
The trip in total took the best part of 4 hours. I enjoyed it and will definitely try other distilleries.

A great Sunday trip…
Fun and informative tour…
An Edina trip must!

What a cool way to spending a morning… yes a morning whisky tasting! Yup its a gid Scottish Breakfast!
Firstly getting to the Distillery can be a bit of a trek. about an hour on the bus, from town .no sweat then its about a 45 min walk, great if its a fine day, but if you are planning to go, their is a chap that will pick you and your friends up for £6 and give you a lift to the distillery (you’ll find a board at the bus stop with the mobile on) after the distllery tour he will pick you up and talk you back to his pub (a couple of metres away from the bus stop) and ask you to buy a drink. Thats is all for being so friendly and driving us there and back!
The distillery was really enjoyable, and although i am not a fan of whisky i still like to learn and taste! We tried 4 malt whiskys inlcuding a Glenkinchie 12 and 15 year old, a Tallisker and Dimple, We were toured by a lovely women, who had a great knowledge of it all! it cost £12 per person for the 4 malts at the end and £7 for two, including the tour ofcourse.
This is a fabulous wee day trip out of the weather is semi decent. Please go!

Our trip to Glenkinchie using public transport from Edinburgh was definitely an adventure. I expected the UK to be rainy, but unfortunately didn’t bring proper shoes. The trek to Glenkinchie involves a 45 minute long bus ride, and then walking for about two miles to the distillery on a dirt road. I knew this would be unpleasant, but I couldn’t rationalize not TRYING to go. So we went.
We waited at the bus stop for nearly 30 minutes because the bus was late. This didn’t seem so surprising, given the weather conditions. We met some nice Germans from Dresden who were also making the trek to Glenkinchie, and chatted them up. At least we had friends to accompany us on our trek! On the bus ride, we saw flooded playgrounds (water up to the tall beam of swingsets), suggesting that this long spell of rain was not to be expected. Lucky us.
Almost to the end of the line, and the bus pulls over, and the driver in his thick Scottish accent tells us we must get off and board a van. I kid you not, we boarded a van (the four of us) that took us to the end of the line. We were hoping he would magically drive us to the distillery, but alas, he dropped us off two miles out and we made our trek in the sprinkling rain. The rain could have been much worse, but I’m not sure my shoes would have noticed; they were soaked through after 10 minutes of walking. Parts of the road were covered in water, resulting in attempts to cross at the shallowest part. Hey, my shoes were already wet! Did it really matter, at that point?
In the last half mile to the distillery, after clearing the path for several cars who drove right past us, a car pulls up and offers us a ride to the distillery. Wet, cold, and uncomfortable, we warned him that we would dampen his car, but he took us on anyway and drove us the last half mile to our destination.
By the time we finally got to the distillery, there were actually tons of other tourists there, who looked at us with a bit of disdain. Ah, the things we do for scotch.
The guy who gave us the tour was great, and we paid for the premium tasting at the end. It was here that I discovered my love for Islay malts (Lagavulin is delicious) after previously categorically rejecting them based on the barbecue smoke flavor. Josh K. even picked up a souvenir glass.
They are owned by Diageo, and there is definitely a corporate feel to the whole distillery. I learned a lot though, and overall, it was worth the day’s excursion. This could be the effect of buying an expensive mattress (you’ve already spent the money/​time anyway, so you might as well extoll the virtues rather than making yourself feel worse), but I would not have been satisfied had we not attempted to make it out here.

Glenkinchie — it’s a local distillery. The whisky itself is as mild as you get — and a great introduction to those who want to step a trembling toe into the golden-​hued waters of this particular aqua-​vitae. For those who like a peaty smokey flavour, it won’t put up much a of a fight to convince you.
We went on the basic tour. I was the designated driver (no encouragement of drink driving thank you very much… although I was chastised by a slightly humourless cashier for making a joke about excessive drinking) so my samplings went to my partner in crime, though not too many (as per chastisement). Although I was a little peeved that my joke fell so flat, have to give the lady credit for being responsible about an establishment that positively encourages drinking… although clearly more of the appreciative type rather than binge (have you ever tried to slam a shot of whisky down? I don’t recommend it).
The tour itself was great — Daniel, our guide was friendly and coped with our never ending barrel of questions. We struck out — a tour of just ourselves and missing the tour buses that were filtering in and out of the distillery. He clearly enjoys his trade and took us through the distillery, seemingly ad libbing along the way.
At the end, my friend got to try numerous samples whilst figuring out a suitable gifts to take home to his family and got more than we paid for. Nice service and no rush about standing supping away on his drams.
When you buy the tour you also get a fiver off (per ticket) a bottle of whisky. The G-​man bought 2 bottles and got a tenner off using both our tickets — so not sure if it’s a fiver per bottle or multiple tickets can be used against one bottle. It’s a nice little incentive.
Glenkinchie is owned by Diageo, a pretty large drinks corporation. It’s changed since my last visit, and the marketing side is very clear. Not sure how I feel about big corporations (I have an inclination to compare Diageo to MacDonalds versus a small holding selling their wares) but at the end of the day, Glenkinchie is a pleasant afternoon trip out for (mainly) adults, as well as a pleasant whisky.

Hi, wer Whisky mag und Edinburgh besucht, sollte über einen Abstecher zur Glenkinchie Distillerie nachdenken. Die Distillerie liegt nur ca. 20 Miles von Edingburgh entfernt. Die angebotenen Besichtigungstouren sind sehr informativ. Das Tasting (Flavours of Scotland) zum Abschluss der Besichtigung ist sehr zu empfehlen. Absoluter Einkaufs-​Tipp im Shop: Glenkinchie Natural Cask Strength, wird nur dort vor Ort verkauft. Etwas teuer (ca. 60 Pfund), aber sein Geld wert.