The Balvenie Distillery

Amazing experience. If you are going to only do one distillery in Speyside make it this one! Make sure you book and book early though as tours are very limited!

We were in Scotland for our honeymoon and I managed to book a tour and tasting at Balvenie a few months in advance. Very glad I did. We toured the distillery for about 2 hours and got an in-depth look at how the distillery works, what makes Balvenie a Balvenie, and had a great host the entire time. It is a bit pricey at £50 per person, but the tasting at the end included some fairly pricey bottles which I normally wouldn't have been able to sample. It's definitely priced as a premium product and I think the quality is there, especially in their more unique expressions (loved the heather in Edge of Burnhead Wood and how things were all sources and done locally). Only unfortunate part is a lack of product for sale on site. I had my eye on a certain bottle or two and had no luck with either (although there was one or two of each in the tasting room - 21 year Portwood and Second Red Rose).

Overall, it looks as a great experience and I'd recommend to anyone looking for something more comprehensive.

Contrary to Mitch, you would do well to visit Glenfiddich Distillery when visiting Dufftown who offer an excellent 90 minute tour with similar content provided. Alas, The Balvenie definitely has a unique (perhaps pretentious) vibe with a few extra special touches which maybe make it worth the £50 fee. From the malting floor to the kiln, the tun room to the spirit safe, The Balvenie distillery definitely reveals its inner workings without trying to hide anything. At some stage during the tour, you will be offered a £20 (additional cost) bottle of whisky which can be bottled yourself using a copper dog. Novel, yet surely this could be included in the admittance fee… Tasting includes 5 x samples and a final visit to the shop. Fairly confident I saw all these whiskies at the Glenfiddich shop also, so don’t be concerned about being unable to visit without a booking. Overall, a memorable experience with a passionate guide but be sure to book well in advance.

My Friends! The Balvenie Distillery provides us with some of the best products there is . Now if you are lucky enough to access the 21 years old Port Wood , get it right away ! Today on this wonderful summer evening here in Montreal Canada, we just did and what fantastic Scotch this is . The best I've ever had. My good friends cheers to you and loved ones . God bless this wonderful distillery.

Balvenie is the BEST whisky 🥃! We went to tour the distillery and sadly they only take a small number of people through at a time on specified days. You MUST prebook months in advance to secure a spot on the tour. Please note the parking is very tricky as you park in spaces within the trees. Signage wasn’t as clear about walk-ins to the distillery and the outside staff was direct and not overly friendly. The Balvenie Distillery is owned by Glenfiddich.

Great tour, very nice and old distillery, lovely tour guide. Tasting will be done at home, got the driver's pack, drinking and Scottish roads are not the best things to combine :-)

One of the best distillery tours I have ever been on. Expert knowledge and amazing access to the whole area a d team. Unbelievable tasting as well.

I visited the Balvenie Distillery last May. . .
Beautiful grounds and an example of a traditional distillery with a malting floor. The tour, although expensive, was excellent because of the highly knowledgeable guide, the time spent showing the distillery and site and the quality and amount of whisky to taste at the end. It is also worth noting that for my visit the tour group was very small (much smaller than on other distillery tours) which made the experience feel more intimate and personalised. The gift shop is small and the Whisky is fully priced, which I guess is to be expected. Well worth a trip.