Benromach 2015

We called ahead but all tours were fully booked. We decided to go anyways, and when we reached the distillery we had a talk with the staff and they offered to take us on a tour if we could go right away as they waited for a big Malaysian group. We accepted of course and a nice young guy showed us around. We were the only ones on the tour.

They have a small museum with old equipment and it was here we started. The production was in one room and after a chat about the different stages in the production we went to one of their warehouses. It is a very small operation, but still very interesting and the guide had his facts straight.

After the tour we went to the Visitor Center where we got to taste one of their whiskies. We asked if we could try their cask strength as well, and that was not a problem. Actually, we ended up trying four different whiskies from Benromach.

A couple of features that is special for Benromach, which is worth mentioning:

- They only produce about 250.000 liters per year

- It is the only distillery owned by the independent bottler Gordon and MacPhail

- Between 1993 and 1998 Gordon and MacPhail altered the distillery so it could be operated by only 1 man

- The distillery was closed between 1983 and 1998, so if you get your hand on an old bottle, it is from the old Benromach Distillery

Fantastic service and even though they were fully booked, they went that extra mile to show us around. And even though I had visited about 40 distilleries the past 3 weeks it was still very interesting and a nice relaxing tour. I will rate this 6/10.