Glenturret Distillery

Transport

Outbound: Bus: Edinburgh – Crieff (1hr 49), Walk (30 min)
Inbound: Bus: Crieff – Perth (50 min), Train: Perth – Edinburgh (90 min)

Note: For the outbound journey, the Fort William bus only runs once in the morning, so if you want to go at a different time, then the train to Perth and the No. 15 bus from Perth Bus Station is the best alternative. A benefit of that route is that it will take you closer to the distillery as you can get off outside of town at the Dalvreck House stop, which is then only a 10-minute walk to the distillery.

My Itinerary

08:40 – 10:30 Bus: City Link (913 Fort William) Edinburgh – Crieff:
10:30 – 11:00 Walk – Crieff High St – Glenturrent:
11:30 – 12:30 Tour: Standard Tour:
12:45 – 13:15 Walk Glenturret – Creiff High Street:
Pint: Tower Bar
14:10 – 15:00 Bus: Stagecoach (15A) Dollerie Terrace – Perth:
15:30 – 16:59 Train: ScotRail (Edinburgh): Perth – Edinburgh:

Getting to the distillery

My journey to Glenturret started with an early morning CityLink bus to Fort William, which departed at 8.40 am, which I think it only runs twice a day in the morning and evening but is the quickest way to get to Crieff from Edinburgh. The bus was packed as it appeared that there was a school trip on, as there were loads of kids with hiking packs, so lucky I booked in advance! The bus stops on Creiff High Street, and from there it is a good 30-minute walk to the distillery (I walk pretty fast and clocked it at 25 minutes). I headed left after I got off the bus and then kept on the footpath until I came to a road sign pointing to Glenturret Distillery which is on the right. I followed the and then stayed on Comrie Street on the right-hand footpath (there is a bit of a fork in the road near an old church like building, which can be confusing, but you want to stay on the footpath and do not turn off right up the hill or left downhill when the road splits). I then followed this path for around 15 minutes, and just before the road sign for Glenturret, there is a small footpath sign on the right which directs you to a route through the forest to the distillery.  It is possible to follow the road, but the footpath disappears for a bit; it would require walking on the road for part of the journey, while the forest trail is quite sheltered and scenic. It took me around 10 minutes to reach the distillery via the forest path. There was one section where the forest path splits, but I stayed on the left and was fine. I did have to pass the distillery to get to the entrance, as the path doubles back, so you can get across the river via a bridge which leads directly into the distillery. 

One thing to note is that when tacking the forest path, you have to then walk towards the exit to find the start point for the tour, don’t follow the signs that say tours!  I headed past the shop and bar, toward the car park, and on the left was the check-in area where the tour starts.

At the distillery

The location at Glenturret is a little different from your standard distillery as you can enjoy a really high-end level of shop, restaurant and bar, which seems more suited to the exclusive areas of London than Crieff. The distillery is owned by the Lalique group, which specialises in luxury products, and that influence is clear at the site (and even in the very elegant bottles which Glenturret are sold in!). There is a two-star Michelin restaurant onsite, which seems random for a distillery in the middle of nowhere! The shop on site has the full range of Glenturret whiskies but also a select range of exclusive editions, which top out at £60,000. There is also a small bar on site just outside of the shop, which has a massive whisky selection for you to choose from, ideal for a pre- or post-tour dram.

Tour

I went on the standard tour, and it gives you a fairly brief introduction to the whisky-making process at Glenturret. I am unable to share any pictures from the tour as they do not allow any photos or video to be taken during the tour (not quite sure why!). You begin in the building opposite the car park, and there is a small plaque with the history of Glenturret, which labels itself as the world’s oldest working distillery, as it dates back to 1763. Although Glenturret does not feel like an old distillery, due to many of the buildings having gone through an extensive renovation programme implemented by the new owners and it appears new and modern.  The upgrades included removing the previous open mash tun and changing it to an enclosed mash tun, which is what you usually see at a whisky distillery. It’s a bit of a shame as that would have been something unique to see, but from an energy and cost savings perspective, you can see why they made the change. I think the only two oldish items you see are the old Porteus mill and the old wash still (which does look cool). The tour takes you through the standard whisky ingredients, where you see the mill, and then the newish-looking mash tun, washbacks, and wash still. It’s pretty quick, I would say it was only around 40 minutes before I was heading to the tasting room, which was great as U visited on a boiling day and could do with a dram! On the way to the tasting room, which is located above the shop, you pass a statue of Towser, the former Glenturret distillery cat. Towser is quite famous as he holds the Guinness World Record for mice caught during service from 1963-1987.

Tasting

The penultimate stop on the tour is the tasting, which is hosted a large open room which is just past the distillery shop. As you head up the stairs, it seems like a high-class boutique hotel or shop, but you then have a large room with a couple of big round tables.  The tasting on the standard tour included two drams, which were the triple wood and the ten-year-old smoked Glenturret. The triple wood is finished in the three casks used at Glenturret of American oak, bourbon and sherry casks. Although the breakdown of each cask is not given, I would say it is perhaps a higher Bourbon content as the dram had floral and fruity hints on the nose and had a short, sharp finish on the palate, which is common with Bourbon finishes. The second dram was one of the peated expressions which is offered at Glenturret.  It was more of a light peat taste within the dram, which was not overpowering, and on the palate, it had a similar fruity profile to the triple wood, but I found the finish was more lingering and interesting as the peat and fruits combined to give an intriguing and enjoyable finish.

Shop

The tour ended in the shop where you are taken through the bottles on offer, but also the more expensive and exclusive options. The bottles are a bit pricey compared with larger distilleries, with the ten-year-old being £67 at full price, and the cheapest bottle offered was a 5 year old bottle, which was £45.  However, I have to say the glassware and design of the bottles are amazing, and as it’s a smaller producing distillery, it’s understandable that you would have to pay a little more. One good thing about the tour is that you do get a £5 discount on any bottle you purchase, which does mean that if you buy one of the core range bottles, it will probably work out cheaper to buy it on the day rather than online. It is good that Glenturret offer this, as one pet peeve of mine when the bottles at a distillery are priced substantially higher than elsewhere!

Summary

Tour Price- £25
Drams: Two
Time: 1 hour