Constitutional Business
The second and most meaningful meeting was finally organised and booked to leave Inverness on the 0845 train to Pitlochry. We would first Tour Eradour Distillery and then Blair Athol where the tasting experience had been booked.
This was some accomplishment as due to members various work commitments/life/social life/ University requirements and so on it seemed a near impossible task. Some say that the planning of the Edinburgh tram system was an easier task. However finally our beloved president was able to make it happen and had all of us gathered on 18/12/17 and embarking on the 1hr 40 min train journey to discuss the future of the society. Well when I say all of us, there was five of the six and the question was raised about the 6th committee members where about (Scott Moch-Head of Finance) : it appeared the six months of planning was about to be derailed. There had appeared to be a miscommunication and he was in actual fact departing from Edinburgh and would meet us on our arrival in Pitlochry. Due to the professional nature of the society the Chief Whip was instructed to hold a disciplinary meeting against the no show. The consequences would be decided later and would fit the crime.
IWAS Agenda
Signing of the Declaration
After a lot of discussion during the journey the final details of the function and role of the future of the society was voted on. We are going to be looking at global domination as the number one whisky authority/society. In enable us to do this we are increasing the numbers in the society which will be carried out in a organic expansion fashion. Three new members have now been voted in and we look forward to introducing them at a later date.
Edradour Tour Now as respectable society we take the business of providing a review of the Distillery we visit very seriously so that our readers can get a insight into whether they should spend there hard earned money and then visit it themselves.
Executive Transport
Edradour is probably the Distillery that the group had the highest expectations for as it has the potential to appeal to any whisky enthusiast due to is location, size and independence from the other conglomerates which are the norm amongst the majority of distilleries. So on arrival we made our way to the visitors shop for our 11am tour. The shop has a wide selection of their own brand whisky and then an even bigger selection of there parent companies bottled whisky which are branded under the Signatory label.This whisky is very reasonable priced as they buy casks from various distilleries and then store and age it to their own requirements and you can make a substantial saving on the bottles bought.
Arrival at Edradour At this stage everything seemed to be going reasonably well and although not blown away we were quite happy with what we were seeing.
The tour starts a bit differently to most.You are first of all taken to watch a short film about the distillery and then you are given a choice of two drams to taste and then are allowed to take the Glencairn glass away as a souvenir.
However it was around this point that information we were being told just did not add up and some pretty gaping holes were being identified in the Edradour Story..... Basically the distillery is trying to say it is unique it that it is very small-not the smallest but one that does things completely traditionally and is a farm distillery and there is no other like it in Scotland. To visitors who do not know a lot about distilleries or whisky then they will believe this as fact. The one example and trust me there is plenty more that I can give you of a truly Farm/small scale distillery that does do things the traditional way is https://kilchomandistillery.com/ .
Edradour distillery seems to market itself on its past and not its current situation.
The guide was knowledgeable and knew the process of making the whisky inside out, however when the question was raised about the malting's and if they were sourced and done on site this was where things took a turn for the worse. "No they are not they are sourced from Bairds malting's outside Inverness". Basically the same as every other big Distillery does.
Walking to Warehouses that hold Pitlochrys finest air
The tour carried on with the various areas of production and process being shown along with the warehouses which the whisky takes a lot of its character from the famous Pitlochry air or so we were told.
From left to right, Still, Famous Heat exchanger, Mash Tun, Spirit Safe, Probably most appealing part of Distillery(view)
To sum up our visit to Edradour I would say it is to be brutally honest not really worth it. If you want to see some attractive building and a nice location then its fine, but that would be about it.
Blair Athol
Now for a review about a Distillery on the completely other end of the scale. Blair Athol which which is one that is owned by Diageo.
We had booked ahead a tasting session on completion of the tour which came in at £35pp. This Distillery is located on the fringe of Pitlochry so after a quick stop for a bite to eat we proceeded to walk down to the visitor centre. Although it is on the road side when you step into the grounds it is like taking a step back in time and you have some lovely original buildings and the water supply flowing through. So first impressions are what count and we were instantly made to feel welcome and as we were early were told we could have a dram at the bar if we liked.
Bar The exposed Mash Tun is a great idea for a bar and definitely a good centrepiece. At this point we were introduced to our tour guide Max Wen who would be taking care of us for the next hour and a half.Max is probably one of the best tour guides we have been fortunate enough to have the company of. He was very knowledgeable about both the distillery and had the process down to a fine art. He didn't dress up what was happening at the distillery with any woolly truths(as previously experienced at ~Eradour~) and gave out accurate information which we appreciated. The tour followed the standard format of being shown around the various production areas then coming to a end in the warehouses. Then the bit we were looking most forward to was the tasting to follow.
Famous Otter location Now this is only a minor criticism and in no way is directed at the actual tour but at Diageo's no photography policy in all the production areas. It is a real shame as there are some beautiful areas that would be nice to have pictures of for records/memories however this is not possible. The reason they use is not really valid as when you visit a lot of the other distilleries there is not the same draconian rules. So come on Diageo sort this out let you paying visitors take pictures.
From left to right, Tasting Table, Society limbering up, Chief Whip, previous Marketing Manager getting stuck in
The tastings were a selection of six different whisky with a good selection and variety provided some that you ordinarily wouldn't try, these included two cask strength ones a 1993 and 1986.
As with all whisky it is very much a personal preference on what one is the best or worst. But one thing that can be said was it was very enjoyable
After discussion with the members this can really be attributed down to one main factor and this was the Tour guide, it was the individual who took the time to provide the experience that made the difference on how these two separate Distillery's would be viewed.
What we all came to the conclusion is that the majority of distilleries are missing a trick, as these companies have a huge marketing/advertising budgets that they spend on promoting their brands in a lot of cases running into the millions. However Tour guides are probably a undervalued resource which could be used and utilised with far more efficiency. As it was down to the experience that Max Wen provided to us on that day that would transfer from us to other family, friends, acquaintances to buy and try the Blair Athol whisky or visit it and enjoy the tour. I certainly know that if I am at a bar struggling to decide what dram to have and I see a bottle of Blair Athol I will go with that choice.
Anyways that is enough for the blog today. We are now busy with the next field day to plan which is hopefully going to be The Royal Brackla Distillery just outside of Cawdor. So we will update you with a review on that experience when it happens.
All the best for 2018
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