Glencadam – a Distillery Tour and Brechin's Round Tower
A few hours.
The route
Glencadam in Brechin has been making whisky since 1825, and for most of that time it kept its doors shut; its visitor centre opened only in 2025, for its two hundredth year.
A tour takes you through the working distillery and an old dunnage warehouse to a tasting of three single malts, with lunch after in the café at the top of the building. Then walk across town to the cathedral and its round tower, nearly a thousand years old.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Book the Glencadam Distillery Tour
Book the Glencadam Distillery Tour on the distillery's website for a late-morning slot, so lunch in its café follows; the café opens Thursday to Monday only.
The day
Brechin
A morning tour and tasting at a two-hundred-year-old distillery, lunch on its terrace, then a stroll to one of Scotland's two mainland round towers.
About four hoursAbout 1.5 miles on foot
Glencadam Distillery
An attraction
Park at the visitor centre on Smithbank Road, on the east side of Brechin, which opens every day from 10am to 5pm. The Glencadam Distillery Tour starts with an exhibition on the distillery's story, then goes out through the working buildings and into a historic dunnage warehouse, and ends back in the centre with a tasting of three single malts. It's partly outdoors with stairs to climb, so wear good shoes and a coat in wet weather. The tour isn't recommended for children under 8, and dogs stay in the visitor centre. Book on its website. For the driver, the tasting is the problem: ask when you book whether the drams can be poured to take home, or let a passenger do the tasting. Afterwards, the café on the top floor serves soup, sandwiches and cakes from Thursday to Monday, with a terrace looking over the town.
20 min on foot
Brechin Cathedral and Round Tower
Leave the car at the distillery and walk west across the town, about 20 minutes, to Brechin Cathedral on Church Street. Its round tower, from about 1100, is one of only two of its kind on the Scottish mainland, tall and slender beside the church, and you can see it from the churchyard at any time. The cathedral itself was founded in the 12th century and rebuilt in the Gothic style from about 1225; inside are stained glass and Pictish carved stones. It welcomes visitors through the year, and dogs on leads are welcome. Then it's the same walk back to the car.
If it rains
The tour is partly outdoors between buildings, so bring a coat; the cathedral is under a roof. In heavy rain, drive the short way to the cathedral instead of walking.
Make it a weekend
