i shouldn't really start with my (mis)adventures in this haddows. it sells the usual fags, beer and…read morecheap cider so was handy when plenty of those things were my forte. i regulalry used to fall out the phoenix or blackfriars into first the chippy and then haddows after an afternoon on the sauce, erm i mean shopping. memories

This is just another general Victoria Wine store. The shop is very well laid out in sections of…read morewine, spirits etc. The prices are what is to be expected though I usually find Tesco cheaper for spirits but they can be well priced if there is an offer on and of course they have a better selection of wine than some Tesco stores. There are only a few members of staff but they are helpful when you ask them.

Victoria Wines, another franchise, struggles to compete with Haddows being just down the road,…read moreespecially with Haddows being just a little closer to the town centre. Despite this, it seems to do a roaring trade, and like Haddows, always has very strong offers, although Victoria Wines tends to avoid the beers offers and sticks to the Spirits and Wines. The staff are always much friendlier in Victoria Wines than they are in Haddows or Oddbins, and will often let you know about offers on similar products if you haven't noticed them.

I have used the Williamson Group for years and have been ordering produce from them for nearly 20…read moreyears you can but from 1 sack of potatoes to a tonne. They supply most of the restaurants, hotels and small food outlets across the Highlands. Williamson's are trade only and can supply any requirements from fresh fruit to vegetables, you can also buy cases of juice and branded crisps that you cannot normally find in the supermarket. You can call them and place an order by phone or fax, and in a day or two they will deliver your order to your door. In the years that l have used these guy's l have never had any problems and have always been reliable, would highly recommend these guys to anyone looking for a supplier to their food business.

From the owner: Williamson Foodservice is the North's leading fresh fruit and vegetable distributor and…read morefull-service wholesaler to the foodservice, catering and retail industry. A family run business for 60 years Williamson Foodservice is trusted by some of the biggest name in the food and hospitality industry with an ever-growing product range which includes, dairy, soft drinks, dry store, speciality & delicatessen. Our fleet which delivers daily is entirely temperature controlled and our expansive warehousing is modern and temperature zoned.

Tours can be very variable depending on your guide, but lucked out with a good one. And it helps…read morethat the distillery itself has lots of amenities, props, signage, and equipment prepared for tours - including components into the barrels, which was not something commonly seen on most tours. Access to the aging warehouses is fairly common but again they did an unusually good job, complete with some partially clear barrels to help demonstrate losses due to evaporation (Angel's share). The history, both the rise and fall and subsequent years remaining the brand, were also very interesting, and a unique perspective vs many other distilleries. The tasting itself was also well done, with proper appreciation of scotch, and a decent sampling. Paid for some extra tastings that were also solid - the Cu Bocan expressions were a particularly nice addition to the lineup.

Overall, I think we would have preferred the glitz and glam of a larger operation. We felt slightly…read moreunderwhelmed at Tomatin. Upon booking, I was debating between Tomatin and a larger well known 'D' distillery a little further down the road. We passed that distillery after our Tomatin tour and there was a large brown tourist sign on the road for it, making me think it was a much larger operation and I kind of wished we'd gone there. I guess we'll never know. Anyway, read on for more details about our Tomatin experience... BOOK AHEAD We booked a tour at Tomatin at least a month in advance, which was easy to do online. It's recommended you do this to avoid disappointment. There were people from around the world on our tour, about 16 in all. CHECK-IN After parking in the free lot, we entered the building where there is a check-in/cash register counter, small bar, small gift shop and toilets. In order to check in, we simply provided our name. I felt the staff were a little lackluster. SMALL GIFT SHOP While we waited for the tour to start, we browsed the gift shop where we later purchased a small pack of 3 whiskies as a gift. (Around £26). Unfortunately, they didn't offer any bubble wrap or anything for those of us having to fly with said gift. That would have been helpful. THE TOUR Our guide Lois spoke very clearly and slowly on our in-depth, roughly hour long tour. While the tour was interesting about the whisky making process, there was something lacking for me, which I can't put my finger on. It kind of lacked some zest, zeal and atmosphere. It wasn't a bad tour, it just felt a little flat. THE TASTING ROOM EXPERIENCE This was the same for the tasting experience at the end of the tour, which takes place in a very bland room -- almost like an office board room. Everyone is on a long [boardroom type] table with the host at one end. You're given 3 pours each. The driver in your party is given a 'driving pack', which is standard in Scotland as there is 'zero tolerance'. We had imagined the driving pack to be 3 'mini bottles' like those you buy at a liquor/beverage store, where they are labeled and look like mini versions of a full size bottle. What we were given (and I'm sure this is standard, not just at Tomatin) were three 'urine sample bottles' (that's what we called them!) in which you poured your given sample into. DRIVING PACK My husband later drank the driving pack tastings in different hotel rooms on our trip out of water or wine glasses. While I completely understand and agree with the zero tolerance driving pack idea, it obviously isn't as enjoyable. (Although more enjoyable than getting in an accident or getting a ticket). THE WHISKY Having tasted the whiskies, we both thought they were 'OK'. Some of them are available in our local liquor superstore in the U.S., but I don't think we will be rushing to buy. Helpful?

My distillery tour and accompanying whisky tasting were enjoyable because of the…read moreup-close-and-personal tour of the inner-workings of the distillery and our superbly engaging and humorous guide Alex. We arrived after the last stated tour time, but since there was another couple with the same fate as us, they offered to do one more basic tour for the 4 of us. Alex immediately plunged us into his whisky world, with a thick but understandable Scottish accent. I haven't been to a large distillery, but from what I've heard Benromach's tours are intimate in the sense that we can walk right up to the mash containers and take whiffs of the premature spirits (it's NOT called whisky until it's finished :)), as well as smelling and even rubbing our hands with the different by-products of the whisky making process (the "head" and "tail"). One of those products had the effect of a nice hand lotion which smelled like whisky. At the end of the tour, Alex was nice enough to let us try small samples of some whisky's which weren't part of the normal tasting. I think it's because we were good tour takers :) If you aren't so lucky at tour's end, I recommend tasting the organic Benromach.

While in the Speyside region of northern Scotland, we toured a few whisky distilleries. Of all of…read morethem, my favorite was Benromach. This small distillery is a short (~30min) train ride from Inverness to the town of Forres. It is then a short walk down the road to the distillery. What I liked about this distillery was that it was a small operation. Because of this we were given a really up close tour of the facility. Our tour guide was an older Scotsman who was pretty funny and also fluent in Spanish. In addition to an overall cool feel to the distillery, the actual tour was really cool, too. Well, if you've done a tour or so, they're pretty much all the same (harvest grain, distill with famous Speyside water, and age it in a wodden barrel, etc.), but I liked this one because we got to see how the whole process works and we were able to ask lots of questions. There's a little museum area where one can see some displays related to the whisky-making process. This is the only place one is allowed to take a picture while going on the tour. Oh, and FYI--Benromach has a barrel which Prince Charles sealed a while back, and is due for a tasting. The tour was then topped off by a tasting of a couple of different Benromach whiskys. I was not a whisky drinker before going to Scotland, but I let half of my heritage kick in, grew an appreciation.

Nice small family owned distillery that re opened having been dormant for several years . It…read morefollows a traditional handcrafted method of producing a good speyside malt . Very reliant on the 3 distillery staff who are passionate about their product . Their 10 year old is smooth and fruity and can be purchased in the small shop . The whisky tour lasts about an hour and costs 6 pounds with a dram thrown in for good measure . This year they have won several accolades for their product which is a feather in their cap . The product is also stocked in Gordon and McPhail.s in Elgin and is also available in some supermarkets .

This was a great independently owned distillery to visit with a tour. Video introduction on the…read morehistory of the owners who bought and restored the distillery. The owners of Gordon and MacPhail own this distillery and their store in Elgin is also worth a visit with their rare whiskeys.