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It almost appears to be the power station or water treatment works for the new housing estate above and beside it. Don't be put off by first-impressions, though: there is an exemplary tour on offer here.
Bruceland Road, Elgin, Morayshire, IV30 1YE, 01343 550900. La Martiniquaise. www.glenmoray.com
APPEARANCE AND LOCATION: *** Whilst it is not quite the approach one experiences when visiting The Glenlivet or Talisker, this is about as ‘urban’ a Scotch whisky distillery as you can get and what is a rather nice housing estate in reality does not detract too much from the experience of the single malt quest. Glen Moray occupies snugly its own little plateau and has many redeeming features, not the least of which is passing the Walker’s shortbread factory on the way in. Once you turn on to the A96 (should you be appraoch from Rothes as I did), have the window wound down.
TOURS PROVIDED:
‘Standard Tour’: £3. See ‘My Tour’ below.
‘Fifth Chapter Tour’: £15. Sample five decades of Glen Moray single malts with distillery manager Graham Coull.
DISTILLERY-EXCLUSIVE BOTTLINGS: They have what is essentially a range of distillery-exclusives; the first is a single cask available in the visitor centre to bottle for yourself. When I visited it was a refill Sherry Butt, £45. There is a also a 14yo Port finish from 1995 and cask strength, £60; what was duty-free but, due to stocks selling out, is now only available at the distillery: the 30yo, £180; a 42yo from 1962, the result of stocks reacquired following the recent management takeover, £395; the 15yo Mountain Oak (matured in virgin wood and cask strength), £90, and finally the Distillery Manager’s Choice, a single Sherry cask from 1995 (cask strength) for £70.
My Tour – 27/04/2010
THE RUNNING COMMENTARY: **
THE PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT: **
Notes: The production process itself is not startlingly different, but how they approach the maturation process so that the visitor might understand it better certainly is. They take you to a palletised warehouse and then a traditional dunnage warehouse where there are different casks to smell in and even casks with glass heads to show the whisky’s interaction with the wood.
GENEROSITY: ** (2 drams: a choice of Classic, 12YO or 16YO to compare with a sample of the 14YO single cask Sherry.)
VALUE FOR MONEY: **
SCORE: 8/10 *s
COMMENT: From less than auspicious appearances (it does look a little grotty on first approaches) the tour received was flawless. And I mean that. I think it may even have been the manager that took me and two others round. He definitely had a complete grasp of every stage of the process and emphasised some of the more practical aspects, such as how the foreshots effectively clean the pipes into the spirit safe. The plant itself isn’t the prettiest, with stainless steel washbacks and lots of tight, grid-floored walkways. The educational side of things really ramped up when we visited the warehouses, though. First we were shown palletised warehouses: walls of casks, floor to ceiling. If one leaks, you of course cannot get to it, but the cost-effectiveness with space being at a premium is greater than the loss of one cask. To compare, we were taken across into the traditional dunnage warehouse. Completely different smell and atmosphere awaited us in here. We could nose, from the bung-hole, a still-maturing 10YO Bourbon cask and also nose a Burgundy finishing cask. This latter was quite wonderful. They also have casks with glass ends to show whisky in the wood. Two casks sleep side-by-side, both filled on the same day into the same fill of cask. One is toasted, while the other is heavily charred. Incredibly, the toasted cask is darker. The visitor centre is magnificent. It is very modern with a brilliant cafe and an unbelievable range of stock. If you are in Elgin, this is not to be missed. Maybe under new owners it can gain the profile I believe it deserves.
The marquee tent thing isn't a regular structural feature. When I visited everyone was beginning to gear themsleves up for the imminent festival.