Address: Invererne Rd, Forres, Morayshire IV36 3EB

Website: http://www.benromach.com

Opening Hours (as seen on distillery website 19/8/15):

January 5th to April: Monday to Friday 10am – 4pm (last tour 3pm)

May: Monday to Saturday 9.30am – 5pm (last tour 3.30pm)

June to September: Monday to Saturday 9.30am – 5pm (last tour 3.30pm), Sunday 10am – 4pm (last tour 3pm)

October to December 19th: Monday to Friday 10am – 4pm (last tour 3pm)

---

TOUR OPTIONS (as seen on distillery website 19/08/15):

THE WELCOME TOUR

Enjoy a 30-minute guided walk through the Distillery followed by a tasting of our award-winning Benromach 10 Years Old. And, of course, a very warm welcome.

Duration: About 1 hour

Booking: Just turn up when we’re open

Cost: £6.00 per person

THE ESSENTIAL TOUR

An in-depth tour followed by a delicious exploration of our expressions… a tutored tasting of four drams from our gorgeous Whisky Collection.

Duration: About 90 minutes

Booking: Essential

Availability: May-September Monday-Friday at 10am and 2pm and Saturday at 2pm.

October-April Monday-Friday by appointment only.

Cost: £15.00 per person

THE DISCOVERY TOUR

Hear our story and enjoy an in-depth tour with Susan our Brand Home Manager… completed by a tutored tasting of five drams from our gorgeous Whisky Collection.

Duration: About 2 hours

Booking: by appointment only

Availability: Monday to Friday

Cost: £30.00 per person

PERSONAL DISTILLERY MANAGER’S EXPERIENCE & BOTTLE YOUR OWN

Anecdotes and insights from Keith Cruickshank as you walk around together. Learn about our Good Wood policy on your exclusive tour, and how he and our two other distillers handcraft our whisky. Next is your chance to re-create our 10 Year Old using hand-drawn cask samples. Then, fill your own bottle from our Exclusive Distillery-Own Single Cask to take home.

Duration: About 2 hours

Booking:  by appointment only

Availability: Monday to Friday

Cost: £95.00 per person

BOTTLE YOUR OWN

Hand-fill your own bottle of Benromach from our Exclusive Distillery-Own Single Cask to take home.

Duration: About 15 minutes

Booking: Just turn up when we’re open

Cost: £60 per person

---

OUR THOUGHTS:

Benromach is an all-time favorite of ours. The first bottle of single malt we bought in Scotland was a Benromach 10. Since then, visiting the distillery has been a goal of ours and on a fine Sunday morning we finally made the trip!

As we were arriving on a Sunday, we were restricted to the Welcome Tour (we would have loved to do the Manager’s tour!) But nonetheless the tour was great. We started in the distillery’s museum, which sat alongside the production areas and showcased machinery scavenged from other disitlleries, including a cut-open mash tun and porteus mill. From there, we entered the mill room to get a glimpse of their milling process. At Benromach they use a cast-iron ‘Boby’ Mill manufactured by Robert Boby Ltd of Bury St Edmunds. This mill is smaller than the standard Porteus that many distilleries use but does Benromach proud.

Moving on we enter the main production area which is all (for the most part) housed in a single room. The mash tun, separated from the rest by a partial wall, can hold up to 1.5 tonnes. Moving along, the room opens up to house 4 washsbacks along the left wall and a single pair of stills on the right. This compact arrangement allows the distiller to keep a keen eye on all parts of production at any given time and lends itself to the unique character of Benromach whisky. Interestingly Benromach is known as one of the few distilleries that use both distillers and brewers yeast in their fermentation.

From the production area, we moved to the cask filling room where we saw bourbon casks lined up ready to be filled with that week’s spirit. Apparently they fill casks weekly and in batches of one type of cask. Finally we took a look at one of the bonded warehouses to check on the sleeping spirit.

On the whole, we were both amazed at how compact the distillery was. Our guide was cheerful and informed and guided us happily through the distillery and warehouses. We asked lots of questions and gained a lot of insight into the everyday workings of the distillery.

After the tour we went back to the Visitors centre for a dram of the Benromach 10 and some good chat with the guides and our fellow visitors.

We couldn’t leave without taking a momento, so we decided to do the bottle-your-own, which was a 9 year old Bourbon barrel (single cask).

We are certainly planning to come back to Benromach in the future. Great tour, great value and a truly unique distillery

–  AliceinWhiskyland