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Whisky
in Aberdeenshire.

It’s 21:38 in Aberdeenshire.
Aberdeenshire

Drams from the glens and the coast.

Aberdeenshire has made whisky for centuries, in market towns, quiet glens and by the sea. There's a small distillery a mile from Balmoral, a distillery in the foothills of the Mearns, and one of the oldest in Scotland in the middle of Oldmeldrum. On the coast at Sandend, a distillery has come back to life after years of silence. In Braemar, a hotel bar keeps a library of rare malts. Book tours ahead, and choose a driver.

Royal Lochnagar Distillery→
Bertie's Whisky Bar→
Fettercairn Distillery→
Distillery of the day19 hours ago

Glen Garioch Distillery.

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

Read about it
Quiz18 hours ago

Royal Lochnagar distillery, beside the Balmoral Estate on Deeside, won the right to call itself 'Royal' after a visit in 1848. Who came?

A pairing16 hours agoAberdeenshireRoyal Lochnagar DistilleryBalmoral Castle, 1.0 milesAberdeenshireFettercairn DistilleryEdzell Castle, 4.7 milesAberdeenshireThe GlenDronach DistilleryHuntly Castle, 6.1 milesAberdeenshireGlen Garioch DistilleryTolquhon Castle, 4.1 milesAberdeenshireGlenglassaugh DistilleryFindlater Castle, 1.6 miles

A castle and a dram.

The distilleries with a castle within ten miles: the tour in the morning, the ramparts after lunch.

See all the distilleries
From our guide14 hours ago

Fettercairn Distillery Tour.

In the foothills of the mountains, midway between Aberdeen and Perth, you’ll find a distillery that has been doing its thing for close to 200 years. Its founder, Sir Alexander Ramsay, was one of those who campaigned to license Scotch whisky distillation – so if you’re after a dram with a genuine sense of history, you’re in the right place.

See the place
Quiz13 hours ago

In the mid-1950s the distillers at Fettercairn found a way to make a purer spirit. What did they do?

From Issue 5 of Hidden Scotland magazineIssue 511 hours ago

The Whisky Queen of the Cairngorms: Katy Fennema

Katy Fennema, once an orchestral oboist and now Whisky Ambassador at the Fife Arms in Braemar, on her tastings, the Cairngorms and the Braemar Highland Experience she runs with her husband.

Read the story
New at Fettercairn Distillery9 hours ago

Fettercairn Distillery has rebuilt its Chelsea Flower Show garden, The Angels' Share, in its own grounds.

It won a Silver-Gilt medal at Chelsea this year and now stands at the distillery for visitors to walk through.

Photograph: Sujata Rana on Google MapsSee Fettercairn Distillery · Aberdeenshire
From the magazine8 hours ago

Bertie's, the whisky bar at The Fife Arms in Braemar, is named after Queen Victoria's eldest son, and its malts are shelved by flavour rather than by region.

The prince was known for his hedonistic ways, and the bar that carries his name is a warm, womb-like room with a dramatic backlit library of bottles. Instead of grouping the malts geographically, by the part of Scotland they come from, Bertie's divides them into four flavour profiles: fragrant, fruity, rich and smoky. Scotland has no shortage of hotels with great whisky bars, and this one sits in a hotel transformed by the designer Russell Sage, who also turned Glenmorangie House into a dazzling wonderland.

Read the full story in Issue 8
Quiz6 hours ago

Before Royal Lochnagar, a man called James Robertson tried to make whisky legally in the parish of Crathie, on Deeside. What happened to his distilleries?

From our guide4 hours ago

Royal Lochnagar Distillery Tour.

Traditions die hard at Royal Lochnagar, which sits at the foot of the Cairngorms within a whisky-fuelled stroll of Balmoral. In situ since the mid-1800s, the distillery is known to have been a hit with Prince Albert, and a tour lets you see the age-old methods still being used to produce its single malts.

See the place
Lunch3 hours agoAberdeenshireMorgan McVeigh's6.6 milesAberdeenshireDean's of Huntly6.9 milesAberdeenshireOld Post Office Tea Room13.4 miles

Lunch near The GlenDronach Distillery.

The three good places closest to it: Morgan McVeigh's, Dean's of Huntly and Old Post Office Tea Room.

See The GlenDronach Distillery
Quiz1 hour ago

Sir Alexander Ramsay, the founder of Fettercairn distillery, campaigned for the Excise Act of 1823, which licensed whisky-making. Whom did he take on as his first stillmen?

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