Scotland Trip - March 2018

@Nock in terms of Speyside distilleries I would highly recommend the tour of Balvenie. It was a highlight. You can easily do the tour in the morning and then walk over to glenfiddich for lunch in their restaurant - which is very nice. You’ll want to stay in craigellechie at either the highlander inn or the craigellechie hotel. The copper dog restaurant in the hotel is very good. They also have a well stocked whisky bar (the quaich bar). For getting around Speyside I would recommend pre booking pickup and drop off times with tawse taxis - which is leagues cheaper than any of the Range Rover for a day options. Craigellechie is about an hour outside of inverness airport. It’s doable if you want to get to Speyside.

A lot of the non Islay distilleries you mentioned are not close to one another, although a few are nearer the airport. Oban is on the west coast halfway between Glasgow and inverness. Glenmorangie is an hour north of inverness. Edradour is halfway between Edinburgh and inverness. They are hours away from one another.

Some distilleries also only offer tours on certain days (benriach only on tues and thurs for example). Inverness as a city doesn’t have much to see. Having spent a day or two there I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as a place to spend time or whisky is your focus.

In some ways I would land in inverness (is that how you’re arriving there as well?) and drive the hour to Speyside. Plan one tour for the afternoon you arrive (ballindollach is interesting - they are still maturing their whisky but the tour involves a tasting of aged whiskies). Hit Balvenie in the morning for a tour that you pre book, glenfiddich for lunch, and one other distillery for your full day there. My two cents based off of my trip there this past summer.