Hidden Scotland
Sign in
The whitewashed buildings and tall chimney of Glen Garioch Distillery in Oldmeldrum.
Aberdeenshire

Glen Garioch Distillery

One of Scotland's oldest working distilleries, making whisky in the middle of Oldmeldrum since 1797.

Visit website
Welcome

Glen Garioch has been making whisky in Oldmeldrum since 1797, which makes it one of the oldest working distilleries in Scotland.

The name is said Geery, in the Doric that is still spoken round here, and it takes it from the Garioch, the fertile farmland known as the granary of Aberdeenshire that surrounds the town.

The distillery stands right in the middle of the old market town, rather than out in a glen, and it has always worked on a small scale, producing its whisky in small batches. It is a hearty Highland malt, bottled without chill filtering: as nature intended, in the distillery's words.

The tours go through how and where the whisky is made, in old buildings that have been doing the same work for more than two centuries, and finish with a dram, which the distillery reckons can only be fully enjoyed once the making has been seen. Book ahead. The Foghouse and the Inverurie Whisky Shop are a few miles south, in Inverurie.

A short drive awayThe FoghouseA quiet whisky, wine and coffee bar in Inverurie with over 400 whiskies by the dram.10 min by roadSee itThe front of the Foghouse on Market Place, Inverurie.
Before you go

Tours go through the making and end with a dram.

Book ahead on the distillery's site.

Where
Oldmeldrum.
Since
1797.
Tours
Book ahead.
Where it is

Oldmeldrum.

Close byAround Oldmeldrum.
  1. Meldrum House's turrets seen through trees, heather in the foreground.Meldrum House HotelUnder a mile2 min by road
  2. Two pink soft-serve cones held up under the neon sign at Barra Berries.Barra Berries1 mile3 min by road
  3. Belvoir Farm elderflower, Perelló olives, baguette and salami on a checked tableclothThe Kilted Frog Delicatessen5 miles10 min by road
  4. Dreamy Goat Coffee's white cottage front on North Street, Inverurie.Dreamy Goat Coffee Co.5 miles10 min by road
  5. The ring of standing stones at Loanhead of Daviot round its low central cairn, trees behind.Loanhead of Daviot Stone CircleA recumbent stone circle with a cairn at its centre and a Bronze Age cemetery beside it.5 miles10 min by road
Directions
The front of the Foghouse on Market Place, Inverurie.BarsThe Foghouse5.1 miles
The Brandsbutt Stone, pieced back together, its symbols and line of Ogham on the grey whinstone.AttractionsThe Brandsbutt Stone5.4 miles
The brick front of the Garioch Heritage Centre with its tall blue doors, in the old locomotive works.AttractionsGarioch Heritage Centre5.6 miles
The parterres of Pitmedden Garden below the wall, clipped yews at the corners.AttractionsPitmedden Garden5.6 miles
The Coffee Apothecary's granite café in Udny at dusk, its windows lit.CafeThe Coffee Apothecary Udny6.4 miles
The tasting bar at Still Spirit, stools along the counter by tall windows onto the fields.ShoppingStill Spirit6.8 miles
Carved stone panels and fragments laid along a shelf against the rubble wall of Kinkell Church.AttractionsKinkell Church7.0 miles
A drawing room at Haddo House, its ornate ceiling above portraits and blue chairs.AttractionsHaddo House7.4 miles
Tolquhon Castle's roofless courtyard and gatehouse towers across the lawn under a grey sky.AttractionsTolquhon Castle7.6 miles
Stay nearby

Places to stay near Glen Garioch Distillery, and when each is next free.

A single-storey lodge with a slated roof sits behind a stone wall and clipped hedge, mature trees shading the curving drive.Gate Lodge
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Rothiemay
  • 19 miles from Glen Garioch Distillery
Check datesA triangular timber cabin stands behind a wooden gate and post-and-rail fence, bare trees framing the entrance.Midpark
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Rothiemay
  • 19 miles from Glen Garioch Distillery
Free 27–29 OctA stone cottage with a slated roof and a blue front door, climbing roses in pink and white flanking the porch.Butlers Cottage
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Aberdeenshire
  • 19 miles from Glen Garioch Distillery
Free 17–19 OctA grey stone cottage with dormer windows and a black front door, climbing roses either side, set behind a lawn.Bailies Cottage
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Rothiemay
  • 19 miles from Glen Garioch Distillery
Free 26–28 OctPlaces to stayEvery stay in AberdeenshireAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
Hidden Scotland, the magazine

Scotland, in print.

Every photograph commissioned, every word written by somebody who went. Printed twice a year, made in Scotland.

Get Issue 13Read it here
Find out more

For further reading, before you go.