The Famous Grouse Experience is a very canny Scottish attraction. It manages to prick the interest of those who don’t know they love whisky yet, but also manages to provide a real experience for connoisseurs and even for families.
A Breath of Fresh Air
Sometimes on distillery tours I feel I have reached my critical mass and my brain is going to explode from hearing the same things churned out by a monotone guide on tours that are little more than attempts to get you to buy something from the distillery shop. Those on offer at the Famous Grouse World of Whisky (which boasts interactive exhibits, immersive cinema and an excellent restaurant) are a very welcome breath of fresh air.
One of the World’s Most Famous Blended Whisky
The tour could not have a better setting at Glenturret in Highland Perthshire, which is generally accepted as the oldest surviving whisky distillery in Scotland. They have had a licence to distil whisky here as far back as 1775.
The Glenturret single malt is a crucial part of one of the world’s most famous blended whisky brands, Famous Grouse, which these days comes in a dizzying array of expressions. These blends marry Glenturret with a whole host of other single malts and grain whiskies to create the world famous flavours that are popular from Scotland to Singapore.
Various Tours
Famous Grouse offer a number of different tours catering for numerous tastes. For passing tourists who want to start at square one and just have a wee taste there is the ‘Experience Tour’. Then ‘The Stillman’s Choice’ offers an extra experience at the end with the chance to sample a quintet of whiskies. You get to keep the branded nosing glass too. Then for whisky connoisseurs there is the once in a lifetime chance to sneak inside a bonded warehouse and steal the angel’s share on the ‘Warehouse No. 9 Tour’. This opens up the eponymous bonded warehouse for a seriously exclusive tasting session.
Each of the options includes the basic tour, which zips around the various stages of production in no time from the malting of the barley, through
to the gorgeously aromatic mash tun. Then it is on to those glorious stills that help give the raw spirit its sweetness and start imparting flavour before the whisky is transferred on to the warehouse for maturation. Each stage is illuminated with questions dealt with quickly and efficiently en route.
The tours all end with the chance to go into the funky new museum section. Here you can learn more about whisky production and the various Famous Grouse brands. It is all very touchy feely and my young daughter was in heaven with all the sound and light to play with.
Kids are very much welcomed here unlike many other distilleries in Scotland. The highlight for young ones is definitely the BAFTA award winning immersive cinema experience where you stand in a dark room and are bathed in sound and vision. Fish swim by your feet and the famous grouse himself takes you for a spin around the world.
A Very Clever Attraction
The Famous Grouse Experience is a very clever attraction. It manages to prick the interest of those who don’t know they love whisky yet, but also manages to provide a real experience for connoisseurs and even for families.
We have not even waxed lyrical yet about the children’s playground and the excellent restaurant, or even the meeting and incentives facilities that make this a great venue for corporates. We’ll leave all that for you to discover when you head to the Scottish whisky distillery experience that really does offer something for everyone.
Famous Grouse World of Whiksy, Crieff, PH7 4HA. Tel: +44(0)1764-656565. www.thefamousgrouse.com
