Glenbeg – A Distillery Tour and Lunch on Loch Sunart
A few hours.
The route
Halfway along the Ardnamurchan peninsula, at Glenbeg, the Ardnamurchan Distillery makes its single malt with power and heat from the river, the sun and wood chip from local forests.
A guided tour takes you round the production areas and ends with a dram in the bar. Then it's lunch at the Salen, a family-run café on Loch Sunart.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Borradill House in Glenborrodale, 5 miles away. Sleeps 6; next free Sun 15 Nov to Wed 18 Nov.
Then Borradill Cottage in Glenborrodale, 5 miles away. Sleeps 4; next free Sun 29 Nov to Wed 2 Dec.
Book the Taste the Story tour on the distillery's website: it runs Monday to Friday only, at 11am or 2pm from November to March and at 10am, noon or 2pm from April to September, at £18 for adults and £4 for children.
The day
Ardnamurchan
A morning among the copper stills at Glenbeg, then lunch in Salen.
About three hours
Ardnamurchan Distillery
An attraction
Park at the distillery, by the road through Glenbeg. The Taste the Story tour takes about 45 minutes: a guide tells the distillery's story and walks you round the production areas, and there's a small whisky glass to keep. Whoever drove gets a driver's dram to take away. The distillery's power and heat all come from nearby. The Glenmore river, which gives the distillery its cooling water, also turns a hydro generator, solar panels add more, and the stills are heated by a boiler burning wood chip from forestry less than 15 miles away. The washbacks are oak, Oregon pine and stainless steel, and the casks mature in the distillery's own warehouses. For more, the 90-minute Behind the Scenes tour takes in the warehouses too, with a few drams. The visitor centre sells every Ardnamurchan malt, with glasses, flasks and other gifts.
19 min by car
The Salen
Lunch
Lunch is 19 minutes' drive east along the loch, at the Salen in Salen village. The old hotel is now a licensed café, serving food from 10am to 5.30pm, Tuesday to Saturday: breakfasts, light bites and fuller plates, with gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian choices and local seafood specials when there are any. It doesn't take bookings, and well-behaved dogs are welcome. Ring 01967 431661 if in doubt.
If it rains
On a wet day, the tour and lunch are both indoors.
Photographs by Gordon Fraser, John Michael Hauck and Fraser Stewart via Google
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