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A stunningly gorgeous distillery, this one. It's a shame my mood was too black to appreciate it at the time.
Seafield Avenue, Keith, Banffshire, AB55 5BS, 01542 783044. Chivas Brothers. Strathisla Distillery Website
APPEARANCE AND LOCATION: **** Keith itself isn’t the bonniest, but this distillery is in a pleasant secluded neuk just down from the main road through the town with parks to be found on the opposite side of the road. Indeed, some young boys were energetically mountain-biking around the one next to the distillery car park.
TOURS PROVIDED:
‘Standard Tour’: £5. See ‘My Tour’ below.
‘The Ultimate Chivas Brothers Experience’: £25. A tour of the distillery plus tastings of Chivas Regal 18 and 25-year-olds, Royal Salute 21-year-old and the 100 Cask Selection – all seriously premium blends.
‘Straight From The Cask Tour’: £25. Five cask strenght malts from the Chivas stable – “the only tour in Scotland offering all cask strength whiskies.” Pre-book all, and from the leaflet it suggests that the former is on Saturdays and the latter Sundays. It does seem an odd way of doing things…
DISTILLERY-EXCLUSIVE BOTTLINGS: N/A; although there is a service available to personalise your own label on a Chivas Regal 12YO or a Chivas Regal 18YO.
My Tour – 24/04/2010
THE RUNNING COMMENTARY: **
THE PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT: **
Notes: Strathisla uses four waters in its mashing, but that isn’t exceptionally interesting. The spirit is piped out to Glenkeith to be casked through a pipe that exits above the tun room, passes straight over the merry little river Isla and away to another pagoda roof towards the centre of the town. The warehouse visit is the most immersive I experienced short of Glencadam and Bladnoch, but this was a true standard tour.
GENEROSITY: ** (Two drams (the Chivas Regal 12-year-old to welcome you, then a choice of the Strathisla 12-year-old or the Chivas Regal 18-year-old at the end.))
VALUE FOR MONEY: *
SCORE: 7/10 *s
COMMENT: I was thoroughly dour when I arrived, having a nervous breakdown about when the bike was going to snap in two. Having been immeasurably positive and proud of my fortitude the day before, the idea that the bike might collapse before I did because of my own shear negligence was hard to take. It had squeaked at me all the way to Keith, and the nearest bike shop wasn’t until Elgin. One of the many helpful things my guide said to me was where I might find the car DIY store in Keith, and after using a little of the product bought there, the bike rode like new. But the tour. Interesting. When you arrive you have Chivas Bros. marketing films rammed pretty forcibly down your throat. I didn’t need to see a lot of pretty Argentinians quaffing Chivas Regal 12-year-old (with ice), nor some Asian archers doing the same. I wanted to know about Strathisla. My guide thankfully plucked me out of the very comfortable lounge area before some unknown had finished waxing lyrical about some obscure blend. It’s a very old distillery, and it shows in the still room whose wooden beams make for a health and safety nightmare. The warehouse visit is one of the best on offer, though: you walk right through the sleeping casks – can even touch them – to The Vault which contains miscellaneous whisky objects – all connected with the most expensive and rare offerings with Chivas Regal on the label. There are some for coronations and some for other extremely old blends – the 100 Cask Selection, for example. There are casks from Glen Grant and even Laphroaig to be seen among the racks. A beautiful distillery and a perfectly pleasant tour which is well worth your while if you are in the area. And you like all the guff that goes with marketing blended whisky.