Dunnage warehouse visit

  • Comradegeneral
    Topic creator
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    Joined: 30.12.2015Posts: 7Ratings: 0

    Hi Everyone,

    I am planning my first visit to Scotland next year, naturally including a few distilleries.
    I would really like to visit at least one distillery where visitors can access the traditional dunnage warehouses.
    In your experience, which distilleries have those on site and let visitors in there?

    Many thanks in advance.
    (Holiday) cheers!

  • horst_s_2 Administrator horst_s_2 Joined: 01.07.2014Posts: 507Ratings: 661
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    @Comradegeneral
    Hmmm. Not that easy. Warehouses are typically locked by two locks and need two persons from the distillery to be opened. Therefore tours often make stops at closed windows only (e.g. Auchentoshan). I remember the tour at Ardbeg where we stopped in a warehouse with natural floor. But I do not know, if this was part of the VIP tour.

    Sorry, that I can't give you more details.


    Kind regards, Horst Luening, Master Taster, Whisky.com
  • bedlamborn Member bedlamborn Joined: 18.09.2016Posts: 611Collectionbedlamborns CollectionRatings: 21
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    @Comradegeneral
    Some distilleries have warehouse tours. The two that I know are Glengoyne and Bruichladdich. However I don't know if they have traditional dunnage.

    For example Glengoyne have the Warehouse No1 tour which costs 80.
    http://www.glengoyne.com/visit-us/distillery-tours/no1-warehouse-tour

    Then Bruichladdich have a warehouse experience. Don't know what that means.
    https://www.bruichladdich.com/distillery-tours-visits

    Several other may have tours but you have to check their homepages and probably ask them.


  • Suzanne1967 Guest, Member Suzanne1967 Joined: 09.05.2015Posts: 68CollectionSuzanne and Lee's drinking CollectionRatings: 164
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    Having completed a large amount of tours over the past 2 years I can categorically state that we have had warehouse access at the following

    Dalmore - June 2015

    Springbank - June 2016

    Bruchladdie - June 2016

    Auchentoshan - May 2015

    Aberfeldy - Nov 2016

    Balblair - June 2015

    Edradour - June 2015

    Cragganmore - June 2015

    The Lakes - July 2016

    Annandale - July 2016


    There are a lot more that we have visited, but I cannot recall if there was a warehouse tour as part of the standard tour...... I know Balvenie and BenRiach do include the warehouse as part of their tours, but as we have yet to do tours there I have not included them, although hopefully we will get Ben Riach done on Valentines week :smile:


  • Suzanne1967 Guest, Member Suzanne1967 Joined: 09.05.2015Posts: 68CollectionSuzanne and Lee's drinking CollectionRatings: 164
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    @bedlamborn Bruchladdie's warehouse experience is an additional tour of one of the warehouses, with a tasting of 3 'specials' straight from the cask, we had a 27YO Laddie, a 12YO PC and a 10YO Octomore, awesome drams!

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  • bedlamborn Member bedlamborn Joined: 18.09.2016Posts: 611Collectionbedlamborns CollectionRatings: 21
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    @Suzanne1967
    That warehouse tour at Bruichladdich sounds wonderful.

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  • Suzanne1967 Guest, Member Suzanne1967 Joined: 09.05.2015Posts: 68CollectionSuzanne and Lee's drinking CollectionRatings: 164
  • bedlamborn Member bedlamborn Joined: 18.09.2016Posts: 611Collectionbedlamborns CollectionRatings: 21
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    @Suzanne1967
    So who has the best tour of all the distilleries that you have visited_ 

  • Suzanne1967 Guest, Member Suzanne1967 Joined: 09.05.2015Posts: 68CollectionSuzanne and Lee's drinking CollectionRatings: 164
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    @bedlamborn Lol, they all have their good points.... but if pushed I would rate the following as definitely in my top 10, so far, in no particular order...

    Dalmore - Old Warehouses, lovely whisky, ended up trying all 7 expressions that they had in the shop and buying 6 of them! Going back there in 5 weeks.....

    Laphroaig - Full range tasting - really good guide who was funny and informative, very impressive.... We left with 4 or 5 bottles that we had not yet tried.....

    Bruchladdie - Warehouse Tour.... Awesome drams as mentioned, and a chance to sample anything that you fancied in the shop - apart from Black Art.... another expensive day!

    Kilchoman - Small farm distillery with lots of enthusiasm, and really small stills and everything else... very passionate....

    Ardbeg - I was ready to be underwhelmed on this one, as all the hype that surrounds Ardbeg did not match with my one previous experience of the Uigidail, which perhaps I tried too early in my tasting, but the tour and the whisky blew us away, again I think it was 6 bottles that came home, not a cheap day at all!

    Springbank - wonderful old distillery with proper maltings and old school kit, passionate and knowledgeable guide, definitely worth doing, and Cadenheads shop is wonderful... lots of IB of other Distilleries at really good prices, we picked up a 25YO Dalmore for £103... very nice, although also very strong.. a fair bit of water and it is superb....

    Glengoyne - really pretty distillery with a lovely feel to it, some parts are old - the stairs between the mill and mash room are really tight and steep, and again passionate and knowledgeable staff that allowed us to try whatever we fancied in the shop...

    Edradour - small but very pretty, nice team and knowledgable, only shame is they wont allow you to sample anything in the shop...

    Aberfeldy - great tour, starting with the self guided exhibition, ending with a dram in one of their warehouses, and then a chance to sample what you fancied in the bar... again was not a cheap day....

    Tobermory - only us on the tour, the guide was a very passionate girl who really engaged with us, chance to ask questions and to understand, good advice and a chance to sample everything they had.... some lovely drams.....

    Any of the Classic Malts - Tallisker, Oban, GlenKinchie, Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Blair Atholl, Caol Ila, Lagavulin, Royal Lochnagar we have done and Cardhu and Clynelish we have visited but not done the tours - thanks to the Friends scheme that gives free entry - are worth doing, there are some very passionate folks, but generally they are pretty practiced and slick, whereas the other ones above seemed to engage more on an individual basis, the character of the guide coming out more....

    We are off back to Speyside in 5 weeks, this time we are touring Glen Ord, Tomatin, Glenfiddich, Cardhu, Glen Grant, Glenmorangie, Old Pultney, Dalmore, Glenfarclas, Glendronach, Maccallan, Balblair, BenRiach, Aberlour and calling in at Clynelish on the way to Old Pultney and into GlenKinchie on the way home... going to be another epic trip... we are taking 2 friends with us too, they are fledgling Malt Maniacs, so hopefully we can have some fun and enjoy the whisky too, and perhaps bring home one or two nice souvenirs..... :wink:



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  • bedlamborn Member bedlamborn Joined: 18.09.2016Posts: 611Collectionbedlamborns CollectionRatings: 21
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    @Suzanne1967
    Thanks for the descriptions. I hope that I can visit a distillery when visit Scotland this summer.

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