Distillery tours are generally a straightforward affair. We at IWAS have a love of distilleries and each unique story as to how they are here today, but even for the most adamant of distillery baggers it can be tedious hearing about the distillery history. ‘We used to be owned by a family, then we changed hands, closed, reopened and now we are owned by a massive conglomerate; but nothing has changed honest’ is generally how the story goes.
Whipped round by a guide which can range from a young student to a semi-retired lady, and anything in-between, the whole experience is finished with a fine tasting from the distillery collection (assuming you paid a decent price, otherwise you’ll be left with a thimble sized serving of some delightfully named 3 year old NAS)
The Clydeside, however, has no history to lazily chat about at the beginning. It has no product to drown out the weaker parts of the experience by delivering the golden spirit at the end. The result of this is an experience which brings care and thought right through the outing from the beginning until the end.
As soon as you walk into the shop, you are greeted by a vast display of whisky to cater to anyones budget. All types, different owners, different regions.
After collecting your tour ticket, getting an introduction by your guide, you get shown a short video about the history of whisky on the Clyde. I found this connection appealing and refreshing, alongside a very sleek, modern cinematic video. After this is finished you are then given 10 minutes to take your time through and exhibition of Scotch and more detail on the Clyde River’s links with whisky.
After this you are then taken to a room in which you are given a quick run-down of production. I didn’t find this very clear and thought the conventional method of ‘explain as you go’ would have worked better, but again it showed the distillery had thought about how to deliver a unique experience.
Moving round the distillery we got to see all the items you would elsewhere, and the sympathetic way in which the old building and new building work to show off each other’s characteristic strengths.
For the tasting we were given 3 different expressions from bottlings from elsewhere, with the setting for the tasting a class above. Irn Bru for the kids who endured the tour was just another simple touch which went down well with our foreign visitors.
There was a café at the end of the tour which added to the vibrant atmosphere, although I didn’t manage to try it as we were running late for an appointment with Ben Solo and Luke Skywalker at the IMAX across the water.
In conclusion, this place is everything you would want from a new distillery, and the final word has to go a still house that can rival Scotland’s greatest. Its history and the future together, a bit like the drink itself.
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