The Scotch Whisky Experience

Touriste un jour de pluie à Edinburgh !
Je né suis pas du tout, mais alors pas du tout, une amatrice de whisky et pourtant j’ai trouvé whisky à mon palais.
Tout commence par un petit tour de manège éducatif dans une barrique avec effets spéciaux et tout ! On y résout l’équation eau+orge = whisky. Une fois le petit tour terminé, un suit un parcours audio revenant, avec plus de détails, sur les principales étapes de fabrication.
Arrive le moment de la dégustation ! Le guide nous explique les différentes origines du whisky écossais: 4 grandes régions, chacune ayant des saveurs et odeurs particulières allant du plus fruité au smoky. Il vous suffit de choisir celui qui vous fait envie. La dégustation se déroule dans la pièce d’à côté. C’est un endroit magique: l’antre du whisky. Plus de 3000 bouteilles sont exposées sous nos yeux. C’est tout simplement incroyable.
La visite prend fin au bar. On peut au choix continuer à boire, manger ou passer par la case souvenir. La boutique propose une large collection de whisky et produits dérivés pour déguster le whisky autrement.
Petite excursion très agréable et bien faite (ludique). Je vais enfin pouvoir boire du whisky sans faire la grimace !
Le plus — visite disponible en plusieurs langues: un casque audio vous accompagne du début à la fin. Pour né pas en perdre une miette.

At the Scotch Whisky Experience you’re first put into a big wooden barrel. This wooden barrel is a slow ride that guides you through the whisky-​making process. This is their way to entertain visitors and to differentiate themselves from other distilleries, storehouse, or other similar experiences.
The tour guide will pick you up at the end of the ride and clarify any questions you may have as well as give you additional information. You’ll learn so much about four whiskey regions… Islay, Lowland, Highland, and Speyside. There is a scratch and sniff card that you’ll have to work with to smell out what main ingredient is used in what region– so much fun!
Then prepare yourself for the largest Scotch collection ever! This consists of 3,384 (correct me if I’m wrong) whisky bottles!!! Then the tasting begins… You get to pick one region that interests you the most and taste one of their whiskys– chose from Highland, Lowland, Speyside, Islay, and Campbeltown (campbeltown they didn’t talk much about). Depending on what tour you’ve purchased, you’ll have more whiskys waiting for you at the bar.
I enjoyed my time here. The gold tour included enough whisky to make me feel pretty good after, haha. You get to taste a Scotch from four regions. This was £17 ($ 24.50USD).
Lowland Single Malt– Glenkinchie 12 year
notes: gentle, citrus, sweet
Highland Single Malt– Aberfeldy 12 year
notes: honey, dry, light smoke
Speyside Single Malt– Tomintoul 10 year
notes: raisins, caramel, citrus
Islay Single Malt– Smokehead
notes: peaty, heavy smoke, seaweed
The only downside was the tour guide’s heavy accent. It was hard for me to comprehend since he was talking a bit too fast.
Side notes: Different tours are available from £14.50 t0 £65.00 ($ 20.90−93.71USD). The more you pay the more you get out of the experience. Morning masterclasses are also offered here £60.00.
Website:
My Photos:

Decided to go on this tour since I am a complete whisky noob. Tour started with a ride in a fake barrel through a virtual experience of what it takes to make whisky. Afterwards you get to sample one of seven whiskies from the various regions of Scotland. All in all the experience was good for a noob like me and seeing the collection of whiskies was pretty cool. You get to keep the tasting glass also, which was a nice bonus.

The tour starts with a cheesy barrel ride through a whisky distillery process. Afterwards your tour guide guides through the differences in whiskies from the various regions of Scotland. This is followed by a sampling of a whisky from your chosen region. The tasting guide, Charolette, was informative and made a whisky novice like myself comfortable with the 5 steps to appreciate whisky. The tour is complete with a complementary Glencairn Glass.

Pretty cool way to kill a hour during a rainy day in Edinburgh. Especially interesting for people like myself who are far from whiskey experts. The barrel tour is very… strange… but I really enjoyed our tour guide after he was very funny and it was actually pretty informative even in such a short time.
To make the most of your visit I suggest springing for the Gold tour. The Silver only gives you one tasting and it is fairly rushed because they have to get the next group through, but the Gold gives an extra 4 that you have the pleasure of enjoying in their bar upstairs. It also gets you a «membership» that allows you back in the bar without paying the tour fee and a discount in the souvenir store.

I’m not a whiskey drinker but thought I’d give the tasting experience a try while in town. I got the silver (most basic) tour and it includes a barrel ride (with a recorded personality explaining the process of making scotch), a guided tour of the four scotch-​making regions, a tasting of one of the four varieties of your choice, and a visit to the massive scotch collection room.
It’s definitely a good way to introduce someone to the art and craft of making scotch, and the background information on the regions was useful. However you don’t get to taste all of them. They give you a piece of cardboard with different smells representing the characteristics of the four regions but you only get to taste one.
The place is located next to the castle so easy pitstop on your way to or from there. After that enjoy a leisurely stroll down the Royal Mile while trying to sober up, or hop next door to the restaurant before some shopping.

The only downside is the cost — but hey, it’s also the real deal!
I did the Morning Masterclass and it was fantastic. Or guide was humorous and knowledgeable, and all of the bits from history to the tour to especially the smelling and tasting were great.
The downstairs restaurant was also great. I went for the haggis (AMAZING, not at all what I expected) and smoked salmon (also AMAZING) and another 7 drams of scotch to, you know, develop my palette.

I really liked the Scotch Whiskey Experience. Is it cheesy? Yes. You take a ride in a barrel as a holographic ghost walks you through the process of making Whiskey. Consider it a drunk Disney experience… and I like Disney so bring it on. It’s the next half of the tour that shines. The introductory presentation of Scotch Whiskey with tasting is fantastic. Scratch and sniff whiskey cards? Love it. The collection they show you is impressive. We did the Gold experience so got to taste 4 great whiskies (one from each region represented on the tour). Their tasting room is also classy with a great view of Edinburgh. If you are new to Scotch drinking and/​or you’ve got time to kill in Edinburgh and you don’t mind a high cheese factor, I can’t recommend this enough.

This was actually good fun. Thought it might be a bit of a tourist trap but decided to check it out. The ‘Experience’ is a barrel ride through the history and process of whisky making — the barrels only seat maybe 3 so you go in the groups you come in, you don’t have to sit with strangers. Plus, they run the ride in the language of your choice.
After the ride a whole group is ushered in to a room and given scratch & sniff cards — it’s time to learn about the different noses of whisky and the regions (the artificial banana smell is a bit weird, but I kind of get it). After having the four regions (Highlands, Lowlands, Islay and Speyside) and their differences thoroughly explained you use the colour coded circles in front of you to select one to taste by placing your glass on it (you get to keep the glass too!). There’s no elitism or judgement here — if you want to try a sweeter whisky or have a splash of water in yours no-​one is giving you the stink-​eye.
While sampling your whisky you get to wander around a weird room full of glass cabinets holding a large and impressive collection of whiskies — novelty bottles and branding as well as well known and revered ones. It was in this room that we were also given some tips on how to get the best out of a tasting — the nose, how the liquid coats the glass and the colour being important things to look for before any uisge beatha (that’s «water of life» for the non-​Gaelic speakers) even passes your lips.
On the way out you get a box to transport your glass in safely, and then you can enjoy some more whisky in the bar (some packages include a full tasting in your entry).
Throughout the whole thing all of the staff were lovely — friendly, helpful and knew their stuff! I’m by no means a whisky expert but I do know what I like and the Scotch Whisky Experience was a great way to learn more.

Nice area to discover whisky making during a stop at Edinburgh.
The experience starts with an interactive explanation of the whisky production (could be in several languages) followed by a presentation (could be in different languages) of the different whisky producing areas in Scotland with a degustation.
Possibly to drink other whisky a at the bar and to buy bottles.
A restaurant is also available.
This experience is the first step for discovering whisky and should be followed by a visit of a whisky makers especially for the whisky lovers !

«add a few drops of water into your whiskey, mate.»
This is what I learned. This and a bunch of other stuff about drinking whiskey, properly.
They give you free samples and there’s a sweet bar at the top. I drank quite well in this bar.
There’s also a ride, like at Disney World. Except, for drunken idiots like me.
Dope.

El tour por si solo es un chiste. Con una atracción móvil que te lleva por el recorrido sobre como se elabora el whisky. Después de eso viene la explicación sobre las diferentes regiones de Escocia sobre donde se elabora. Muy piola la tarjeta con los aromas predominantes de cada región para poder elegir la que uno va a degustar. Después te muestran una vitrina inmensa llena de botellas sin abrir. Es imponente. Si compran el golden pack ahí se pone en serio. Ya habiendo probado uno ya venís canchero. Y probas 4 diferentes de las 4 regiones importantes. La clave además de oler y degustar es preguntarle todo al bar man. Ahí arranca el tour en serio. El flaco teníà la posta. Le pregunte sobre diferentes barricas, la evaporación, y el tiempo óptimo. Estuve mas de media hora uno a uno preguntando, oliendo y degustando. Eso fue lo groso del tour. Lo del principio es una joda. Para eso vayan a una destilería en serio y vean y sientan todo lo posible.
No te mandan un voucher por mail pero te tienen anotado por nombre.

Very touristy! Starts off with a barrel ride, basically a pod car on a track, twisting and turning while telling you how scotch is harvested/​fermented/​aged/​types of wood barrels/​etc. Seemed like this part of the journey took forever.
After the ride, you go to a classroom with stations, you are provided a scratch and sniff postcard and a glass. Then, the tastings, it was the most informative and favorite part of the experience.
Then you exit into a scotch whiskey collection room, to continue the tasting experience. It was rather impressive, I’ll admit.
The folks running the operations are top notch, super nice! The gift shop folks, not so much.

It may be a touristy thing to do, but heck — we WERE tourists, and it sounded like fun.
We booked the Platinum tour, and for the heck of it, added on the «Taste of Scotland» dining experience at the end. That took care of us for the evening, at least.
The tour starts out kind of kitschy — you’re loaded into a barrel that takes you through the whisky-​making process — but it actually provided some useful information along the way. There were a few points where the background noise drowned out the voice of the narrator, but other than that, it was a nice little ride.
You leave your barrel and climb some stairs to get to the lobby of the classroom. There, you can check out some additional information about whisky production — they detail the barrel-​making process, the types of woods, the importance of water — before you’re ushered into the classroom itself.
Each person has their own station around a u-​shaped table. Each station comes equipped with one scratch-​and-​sniff postcard, one glass of water and two tastings of whisky.
The day we went, we were tasting varieties from Islay and Speyside in the room, and then had another tasting of a Highlands whisky at the end. Our guide, Roz, gave us a brief history of whisky production in Scotland before breaking down the differences in the four «main» locations (which are Highlands, Lowlands, Islay and Speyside). She had us use the scratch-​and-​sniff postcards (though, they’re really rub-​and-​sniff) to get an idea of what we could be expecting from the tasting, then she had us sniff the actual Scotch before inviting us to take a sip of the sample.
Let me just say, I’ve never had Scotch before this day. I’m kind of a lightweight, and felt myself getting giddy off the fumes. She had us sniffing to pick out tones for so long, I was practically drunk. Giggling softly to myself, I obligingly took the tiniest of first sips when prompted.
Into the resulting silence, Roz said, «After you’ve taken a sip, take a second to savor it. No coughing.»
One person coughed. Want to take a stab as to who that was? Yeah… me. I tried to hold it in, I swear. But, it was either cough it up or choke, and I chose to breathe. Everybody started to laugh, and I started to wish I had chosen choking, instead.
That stuff is strong. Roz and the others — including my husband — were discussing the different flavor notes they were picking up in the whisky. I was thinking, «All I get is alcohol.»
The next dram was even worse — if you know anything about whisky, you’ll understand when I say the next dram contained Speyside whisky. For those who don’t know, it’s like you’re at a BBQ, and you’re standing downwind of the grill. It was like taking a swig of liquid smoke. It was awful. Adding a bit of water did absolutely nothing for me.
The final tasting — which we took in their impressive whisky collection room — was of the Highlands variety, a 21 year aged whisky. This one I had no problems drinking or finishing. And of course, this bottle runs a cool £95 per bottle. Of course I handle the more expensive kind. Of course.
Though I still wouldn’t call myself a whisky-​aficionado (or even fan), I did enjoy the experience. Roz was patient and fun, and she had a lot of good information to give us. I loved the collection room — so many old bottles! — and all the little plaques they had up on the walls along the way. Yes, it’s touristy, but it’s fun.
Plus, you get a goody bag at the end of the night! Nothing wrong with that!

This has changed over time and it looks like it has been bought up by Disney recently.
Made to be fun for tourists, this tour involves a ride through the fermenting process and treating tour. After the random theme park ride you are then walked into what looks like a school room and given a presentation (although in the past it was mostly spoken now it seems to be predominantly slides) before you pick a whisky flavour and get to tasting.
You are then shown into the whisky collection room where you hear about the bottles around you until it is time to go to the shop.
Various prices available based of of the amount of time you want to spend here, but I recommend the cheapest option as it’s quite dear and you can later go test your newfound whiskey tastebuds in the pub.
I would recommend going to an actual distillery, but for tourists it would likely be a nice time.

A day in Edinburgh meant we had to try a few different whiskies and the whiskey experience was right where we were :-)
Ok so it’s a tourist place, but it’s nice, the barman was so helpful and lovely and friendly too. At about £4 ish a single shot it’s not cheap but it’s worth the experience. There is a gift shop and that really was horribly expensive, but if you are going to visit Edinburgh as a day tripped of spend a few days there then this is worth spending £8 ish and try a few different whiskies in a nice environment with nice staff. Everyone in Edinburgh was so lovely and the scotch whiskey experience was no exception.

Para todo amante de whisky este tour es excelente. Primero vas en unas especie de barril con ruedas –tipo trencito– en el que se te va explicando la historia de esta bebida mágica que a todos tanto nos gusta y encima para el que mucho de inglés no entiende, se puede escuchar el audio en el idioma que gusten.
Pero, obvio, lo mejor es el momento de probar whiskys y ahí es dónde podes elegir entre las distintas variedades que se producen en Escocia, recuerdo que en ese momento probé el mejor de mi vida, con tan solo olerlo ya estabas ebrio y a todo esto un sabor increíble, onda que el whisky pasaba por tus entrañas.
También tienen la colección de whiskys más impresionante del universo, no se puede creer la variedad de botellas que tienen en este lugar. Para el final del recorrido hay dos opciones: Un barcito para quedarse y seguir bebiendo o una tienda para comprar y seguir disfrutando fuera. Un lujo a un valor accesible y la posibilidad de vivir una gran experiencia y conocer un gran lugar. Totalmente recomendable, como el whisky que ofrecen ahí. The Scotch Whisky Experience rules!

Let me preface this by saying: Do not buy your whiskey here, it’s much, much too expensive and severely marked up to accommodate tourists with fat wallets.
Okay, with that single point made, let me go one with the review.
We did the platinum tour and I feel it was well worth the investment (I think it was 27£ each for the tour and tasting. That’s about $ 43 Dollars or € 34 Euros). This included 4 tastings, one of which was a relatively rare Scotch and absolutely wonderful!
In this tour, you will also get to view the largest, privately owned whiskey collection in the world with thousands of bottles; some considered to be priceless. I have to admit, we were tempted to try sneaking some bottles from their secure cabinets :-)
The tour also included an education in Scotch Whiskey making and I was delighted by the experience. They did a wonderful job teaching how the libation is made and it was a memorable lesson.
If you’re looking to buy some nice bottles of Scotch while in Scotland, I recommend High Street or the Airport Duty Free for better prices. Additionally, you can also save by driving well out of the touristy areas to shop like a true local and get local prices; but since Edinburgh is a walking city, most visitors won’t have cars.

Let me break it down for you, if you’re touristy enough to go to a place called the Scotch Whiskey Experience (which i totally am), then don’t complain about having a cheesy time! The tour begins with a ride, where you get to learn how whiskey is made. They also have this in many languages for people who do need translation. Then we were taken to a room and our guide talked about the different regions. Do yourself a favor and pay for the gold tour– you’ll get to try whiskey from all four regions and decide which you like best. I suggest starting with the blend, and the end of the tour they’ll bring out the four glasses from each of the different regions for you to taste. I actually hate scotch, but the hubby loves it and has sat through many a tequila tasting with me so I indulged. This was actually pretty educational for me, and I learned that I prefer Speyside whiskey, so now i can sound fancy when I talk to true scotch lovers. They give you a scratch and sniff card to help exaggerate the flavors, and I was all over that! They also take you to their private collection room– another piece of eye candy. If we had more than 3 days in Scotland we probably would have made the day trek to an actual distillery, but if you’re pressed for time like we were this is a fine alternative.

While this is a touristy place, don’t be afraid! I only came here because when I was in Dufftown, a whisky shop owner recommended I come here.
I assumed the proximity to Edinburgh Castle would be directly related to higher prices but that’s not the case, prices were lower than some other places further down the Royal Mile. Great selection of whisky.

I come from a family of whisky drinkers, but am far from connoisseur — not even a huge fan, really. But Dad made sure I knew a few things about this lovely brown liquor and as such, I was totally not offended with going to a whisky themed tourist attraction.
While one should consider adding just a touch of water to release the aromas of whisky, The Scotch Whisky Experience more or less poured gallons of into a perfectly balanced barrel. If you’re already a hardcore whisky fan, this is probably not the place for you.
Well yes it is whisky 101, presented in interactive little cars that resemble a Disney ride. The whisky guides were knowledgable and obviously fans of the product. I did like their presentation.
Almost everyone in my tour group raised their hand when the guide as who is a whisky fan… But I was the only one in the group who bought the Silver ticket. I have no shame in drinking alone when surrounded by lovely whisky selections in a tasting room overlooking scenic Edinburgh! I definitely have renewed interest in whisky after.
Please go with a full stomach, or maybe carry some bread with you. It is liquor after all :)

I type it: whiskey. That’s what I like… and that’s what my spell check likes.
This… now this is an experience for tourists. And tourists only. I don’t think an actual Scot comes in this building unless they’re working.
The experience includes a ride on their Haunted Mansion (but slower and not as scary) ride through the process of how to make whiskey. A friendly ghost… yep, you read that right, is your guide through the distilling process. It takes about 6 or 7 minutes and then you disembark and head into the music room.
It’s not really a music room… but there are treble clefs on the wall. My wife mentioned it was some imagery about the harmony of flavors or something… anyway, you watch a video about the regions of Scotland that produce certain styles of whiskey. All in all, it’s educational and not at all boring.
Next, you taste! You get to try one style of whiskey… and you slide your little glass onto the right color and it opens the door to the Shrine of the Silver Monkey.
No, no… that’s not right… you slide your glass onto a colored spot on the table and the guide pours you that corresponding region’s whiskey. I opted for the smooth, vanilla-​like kind… I think I picked yellow.
Next, you move into a room that is pretty dang impressive… you will stare in awe at the largest private collection of whiskey anywhere… I think there were about 3,400 bottles… none duplicated… and a couple that were over 100 years old.
Take a picture in the whiskey vault… seriously… it’s like the Cave of Wonders if all of the Wonders are whiskey.
Then, you get spit out in a bar! Where you can buy more whiskey! Or just read some plaques and then go downstairs to the gift shop… and buy more whiskey!
It’s fun… it’s not too expensive… it’s worth doing once. And it’s right by Edinburgh Castle — and you’re already going to the Castle… right? Yeah, you are. So maybe think about stopping in.

Für meinen letzten Abend in Edinburgh habe ich mir eine Tour bei der Scotch Whisky Experience gegönnt. Und zwar genau die Luxusversion «Taste of Scotland» mit einem 3-​Gänge-​Menü im angeschlossenen Restaurant «Amber» inklusive. Der Ablauf der Tour ist aber (ohne Dinner) mit der Platinum Tour identisch.
Man wird von den Mitarbeitern sehr freundlich empfangen und dann gleich in ein Faß geleitet, daß sich als Fahrgerät entpuppt. Mit diesem Faß fährt man durch eine virtuelle Destillerie, um den Herstellungsprozess eines Single Malts erklärt zu bekommen. Nach einer ca. 10 minütigen Fahrt empfängt der «Tourguide» die Teilnehmer in einem kleinen Raum, in der die Herstellung nochmal mithilfe von Gerste und Torf auch sensorisch gezeigt. Dann wurde auch die Bedeutung der Pot Stills und der Fässer erklärt.
Danach kam es zum Wichtigsten Teil des Abends: das Tasting. In diesem Raum haben uns bereits gefüllte Nosing Gläser auf farbig markierten Punkten erwartet, daneben eine Karte mit den selben Farben, die mit den Regionen Speyside, Lowlands, Highlands und Islay beschriftet waren. Wir sollten dann unsere Nasen überprüfen und an den farbigen Teilen der Karten rubbeln und riechen, um den «regionentypischen» Geruch erfahren zu können. 2 Whiskies gab es dann zu probieren, aus den Highlands den Deanston und von Islay den Ardbeg. Dazu wurde uns der richtige Ablauf eines Tastings erklärt — sehen, riechen, schmecken.
Nach dem Tasting ging es weiter in die weltgrößte Whiskysammlung, dort erwartete uns schon wieder ein Dram :) Die Whiskysammlung von Claive Vidiz umfasst um die 3500 Einzelflaschen Whisky. Eigentümer ist jetzt der Getränkekonzern Diageo.
Zum Abschluß gab es für die Teilnehmer der Tour ein «Goodiebag» mit einer Whiskyminiatur und einem Nosing Glas. Natürlich gabs noch eine Teilnahmebescheinigung.
Anschließend ging es für die «Taste of Scotland» — Teilnehmer weiter ins Amber Restaurant, in dem es dann ein 3-​Gänge Menü gab. Darüber habe ich einen eigenen Beitrag geschrieben.
Um einen ersten Eindruck über die Welt des schottischen Whiskys zu bekommen ist ein Besuch in der Scotch Whisky Experience auf dem Castle Hill eine gute Hilfe.

Good overall intro to Scotch Whisky.
The beginning part of this tour is an automated ride in a simulated Whisky barrel taking guests through the process of Scotch Whisky making. This portion of the tour is narrated and one is provided with a general understanding of the key elements of the process to produce a bottle of Scotch.
While the beginning part of the tour is a bit hokey, when the barrel ride part of the tour ends a real tour guide takes over and provides some really good information on the different regions that produce Whisky and the general differences in the styles between the regions. A scented card and brief slide show are used and are well done and informative. Guests then select which Whisky they’d like to sample.
Once samples are selected, guests are ushered into a room containing the largest Scotch Whisky collection in the world where guests get instructions on how to taste and appreciate their selection. Again, very well done and our guide was very informative. Be sure to snap some photos here, the collection is impressive.
Finally, guests enter a formal tasting room. We did the Gold tour so we got to select an additional 4 tastings each and were able to enjoy these at our own pace.
Everyone exits through a liquor store and I could not leave without purchasing two bottles…
Overall, a very good tour /​experience; highly recommended. My only suggestion is to eat something before you go on this tour.

Ici, vous apprendrez dans une espèce de ‘tonneau manège’ comment le whisky est fabriqué. On vous présenteras ensuite les whisky écossais et vous découvrirez celui qui vous convient le mieu, vous n’aurez plus qu’à le deguster dans la piece contenant la plus riche collection du monde.
Bien sur la classique boutique de souvenir et de whisky tout tarif.
Visite très agréable, seul bémol le tarif un peu élevé (11 livre, 20 pour avoir un plus grand choix de whisky à déguster)