We were looking for a unique experience during our recent weekend trip to Scotland and found it in…read morethis unique walking tour. It turns out that Dufftown has the highest concentration of distilleries anywhere in Scotland. Michelle, the proprietor and leader of the walking tour, is fabulously knowledgeable and entertaining on the couple mile walk around town. I learned so much both about the whiskey making process, about the history of scotch, and about the area. Going into this, I had very few expectations but we enjoyed this so much! We ended up drinking more than a few wee drams along the way to keep us warm and really enjoyed all the local commentary. This is the most fantastic way to explore Dufftown - highly recommended!

We had been planning our trip from the US to Scotland for many years. We cancelled twice due to…read morethe pandemic but FINALLY got to go. Although there for a couple weeks, we wanted to plan something awesome in advance in terms of learning and tasting the fabulous whisky of the Speyside area for a couple days. After carefully researching all options, we selected Michellle and Speyside Tours. We arrived in Dufftown in the afternoon, checked into our B&B and then met up with Michelle's walking tour. It was a delightful day and a fantastic experience. Michelle has lived in Dufftown her whole life and is a wealth of knowledge! She knows EVERYTHING about whisky, the region, the people, the history and chocolate! That's right, we were on the Whisky & Chocolate Tour! Michelle selected precisely the right chocolate for each whiskey tasting. We started at her home office garage where we were issued whisky glasses tied to a lanyard that we had around our heads. We hiked through town and the beautiful countryside, taking relevant stops along the way. Michelle had a large backpack full of great whiskies and a several tins of different chocolates. We would stop in front of a distillery, and she would give us all the background while pouring tastings and serving chocolate. It was so cool! The walking tour was a group tour of about 12 of us. We weren't done with Michelle. The next day, we had booked a driving tour with her. She used her van and took the 4 of us to Speyside Cooperage where we got to see how whisky barrels are refurbished. Then we went to Cardhu Distillery where we got a professional tour from the distillery. It ended with a nice group tasting plus a cocktail. Then Michelle drove us to the River Spey where we hiked down the riverbank and had a delicious sampling of more whiskies from the area. Then we went to Glenfiddich / Balvenie and did more sampling and gift shopping. From there, Michelle cooked us a traditional Scottish lunch with amazing food (salmon, venison) and delicious desserts....PLUS - a cocktail. Following lunch, we took a digestive walk, looking for local botanicals suitable for making gin. This was so fun! We came back to Michelle's office/garage, and proceeded to distill our own personalized gin using some of our fresh botanicals! Overall, I highly recommend Michelle and Speyside Tours. We felt that it was well worth the cost. This was one of the best parts of our entire Scotland adventure!

Wow! We toured the cooperage on the middle of several distillery tours and I have to say it was…read morejust as good. With as much colour, flavor and fragrance as the barrels contribute to whisky, this tour teaches you just how important cooperage work is. The tour guide was one of my favorites on the whisky trail. She was funny, friendly and extremely knowledgeable. We learned so much about what goes into barrel making and repair, it really is a key part of making whisky. I highly recommend this tour if you are a whisky connoisseur.

We had booked ourselves in for the 1pm tour on a Friday. A lovely 1 hour tour started with an…read moreinstructive video, followed by a tour of a very busy cooperage and finished by a dram of whisky. Seeing these coopers at work and the traditional methods they use is amazing. Well worth the visit.

Came to Scotland for some whisky, and GOT SOME WHISKY! haha…read more First distillery tour was scheduled at GlenDronach distillery as I very much enjoy the juice and was curious about their process as I heard it was very much hands on and smaller. Yep, just as I was told. This is a great tour if you are looking for a small place that still does things the old fashioned way and puts out good juice! Our tour guide did a great job at explaining their process and enjoyed the tastings afterwards. If visiting, keep in mind this is a bit far off the main road on a single lane road so mind others driving. In addition, keep in mind that dirver's are not allowed a tasting and will be given some take-away samples. Lastly, no much photos are allowed during the tour which kind of sucks but still very much enjoyed my visit.