When we decided on Scotland for our big international trip this year, there was no question that we would spend at least one day in Speyside.  The hubs fancies himself a whisky connoisseur (or at least a connoisseur-in-training) and since some of the world’s most well-regarded Scotch whiskies come from Speyside, it was a must-do.

Speyside is one of the five whisky regions in Scotland, named for its proximity to the River Spey, the water source for many of the distilleries.  It’s located in northeast Scotland, along the coast between Inverness and Aberdeen. Speyside was previously grouped into the Highlands, another Scotch producing region and the region of Scotland where it’s located, however due to the high concentration of distilleries in the region, it’s now recognized as separate from the Highlands.  

Where to stay

You have two options when visiting Speyside – stay in a city outside and drive in, or stay in one of the small villages where the distilleries are located.  We divided our trip across the two, spending our first night in Inverness and our second near the distilleries.

If you’d like to stay in a larger city, Inverness and Aberdeen are both a 90 minute drive from most of the distilleries and have airports that offer regular flights from London and a host of other European locations.  We opted for Inverness the first night, having just flown in to the Inverness Airport the afternoon before. The Best Western Inverness Palace Hotel offered a central location, spacious rooms, and an incredibly affordable rate.  Don’t let the Best Western name dissuade you – it was a well-kept boutique hotel and spa. Other great choices in Inverness include the Rocpool Reserve and the Kingsmill Hotel.

The Best Western Inverness Palace Hotel, Inverness, Scotland

The heart of Speyside is the small town of Dufftown.  Dufftown itself is incredibly small with few lodging accommodations, so most people opt to stay in nearby Aberlour or Craigellachie to tour the distilleries.  

We splurged on a room at The Dowans Hotel and had an amazing experience.  Their restaurant is amazing, the rooms have all the amenities of top luxury hotels, and The Still, their in-house whisky library, is heaven.  I’ve never seen such an expansive scotch list (and the prices aren’t incredibly inflated!). The Craigellachie is another well-known hotel with a well-regarded restaurant and bar nearby, or you can choose from dozens of smaller B&Bs in town on Booking.com.

The Dowans Hotel, Aberlour (Speyside) Scotland

What to do

Many of the distilleries in Speyside produce whisky for use in blended scotch brands like Johnny Walker and Chivas and aren’t open to the public – but there are dozens that are.  

Two must visit spots: Macallan and Glenfiddich.

The Macallan opened its new state-of-the-art distillery in May 2018.  All of the distilling operations have been moved under one roof, into a fully automated production facility with 36 copper stills that can produce 15 million liters of whisky a year – with plans to expand production further.  The tour incorporates high-tech exhibits walking you through the history of the company and the production process, from grain to barrel, and ends at their circular bar which holds more than 900 bottles of Macallan dating up to 70 years where you can sip a dram while looking onto an archive of 800 bottles highlighting the Macallan’s history or their Masters of Photography exhibit.  It’s unlike anything you’ll find elsewhere in Scotland!

The modern production floor at Macallan

Interactive exhibits showing the stages of distillation, The Macallan Distillery

Guided whisky tasting, The Macallan Distillery

Glenfiddich rivals the Macallan’s production scale, but does so in a less ostentatious way. Their operations pull water directly from a spring on the Glenfiddich grounds (make sure you drink from the tap on the side of the building to taste its unique softness!) and distill using direct-heat fired stills (most distilleries have switched to more efficient steam coils).  We opted for the Solera Deconstructed tour which ends in their lab where you bottle your own Solera blend – more on that in a separate post – or you can select one of their other tour options that each offer a unique look at the distillery. As a note, they are in the process of building a new production building that will, like Macallan, shift a lot of the production under one roof and modernize the process, so the tour may look a little different in future years.

Fresh spring water supplying Glenfiddich Distillery

The Still House at Glenfiddich Distillery

Looking across the Glenfiddich Distillery

The Solera blending experience at the Glenfiddich Distillery

Other distilleries worth a stop if you have additional time:

• Cardhu, which was pioneered by a woman and also now produces for Johnny Walker blends
• Glen Grant, a distillery in Rothes with gorgeous Victorian Gardens
• Strathisla, which is one of the few Chivas producers that’s open to the public.  
• Glen Moray, a smaller distillery in the nearby town of Elgin.  
• Benromach, known for producing the world’s first fully-certified organic single malt.

The Speyside Cooperage is another popular spot on a scotch pilgrimage, and is home to thousands of casks.  Unlike the Speyside Cooperage in the US, this cooperage specializes in repairing and rebuilding sherry and bourbon casks from Spain and the US, transforming them for aging whisky (they actually take the bourbon casks apart and rebuild them larger – really cool to see!).

The Speyside Cooperage, Aberlour Scotland

Getting there

Coming from the US, you can fly into Aberdeen or Inverness via London Heathrow or Amsterdam on a number of carriers.  I searched for 10 day trips in 2019 and found a number of flight options for less than $500 round trip. From either city, you would then need to rent a car or hire a driver to take you to Speyside (a 90 minute drive).  The drive is a bit further from Edinburgh (3.5 hours) and Glasgow (4 hours).

Alternately, the Scottish national rail service, ScotRail, has a variety of options that arrive into Keith or Elgin.  It is tougher to get a car hire from the train service, so you’ll want to reserve one in advance if you’re going with this options.

The Macallan modern visitor’s centre

And of course, you’ll need to plan for how to get the scotch you purchase back home.  Read our tips and tricks for traveling with wine, which also apply to traveling with whisky.

Follow along with all of the posts in our Scotland series here or on our European travel Pinterest board.