The Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh
Today we’re going to talk about The Scotch Whisky Experience which is open to anyone and everyone visiting Edinburgh, Scotland. It’s a five star attraction which will make you very much acquainted with the joys of Scotch whisky and has been doing so for the last 25 years. It’s located at the top of the Royal Mile right before Edinburgh Castle and was one of the highlights of my recent trip to the city.
The tour we took lasted a few hours and involved identifying common scents found in whisky to sharpen our senses before doing a testing and ultimately blending our own whisky. To say I did rather poorly at identifying the different scents commonly found in whisky would be an understatement. It’s not that it was scents I had never smelled before but what they’re actually called is another game all together. This was a great exercise and it got all of us ready for the tastings to come.
We tasted four different types of whisky, all from different parts of the country and with distinct flavours; after that it was time to begin the blending process. Most great blended whiskys consist of 60-70% grain and then a few different types of single malts mixed together to give a particular taste to the blend. I really enjoyed this process and what was nice was that we got to bottle, label and ultimately keep the blend. This is a nice little memory of my time there and I’m waiting for the perfect time to crack it open and share my blending skills with a group of thirsty friends.
Following the blending it was time to go visit the world’s largest collection of Scotch whisky which literally goes on forever. When you first walk through the door you’ll see a wall filled with bottles and it’s not a small wall so it’s quite impressive on its own. You will study them and be amazed at all the different types which have been collected over the years. Don’t get stuck here though as it’s just the start and a simple glimpse of all the glorious bottles of whisky yet to come when you turn the corner.
That’s not actually me but my friend Sam appreciating the collection in all its glory.
Once you turn the corner it’s another wall which is three times as long and about a third of the way down, it starts on the other side and keeps going. There are over 3300 different types of Scotch whisky on display and on could easily spend most of an afternoon in there appreciating the time and dedication needed to form a collection as complete as this. Just when you think the collection couldn’t get any bigger, you turn another corner and it continues. The entire tour was an enjoyable experience but this was definitely one of the highlights for me. The oldest bottle is from 1897 and by the looks of things they have nearly everything that came out between then and now.
If this is something that interests you, I suggest you visit the Scotch Whisky Experience website and give it a gander to see which tour best fits you and the party you’ll be visiting Edinburgh with. It’s also located conveniently near the Edinburgh Castle so an idea is to do what myself and our group did. We explored The Royal Mile in the morning, enjoyed lunch somewhere, did The Scotch Whisky Experience in the afternoon and finished the afternoon off with a quick Edinburgh Castle Tour. One thing I really appreciated about the tour is that we got to take a blend back with us; it’s always nice to have a souvenir from a memorable experience and this is one I can share with friends.
In closing, I’d like to thank the fine people at Visit Scotland for their hospitality; it was appreciated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DL63ej94vg
Tips hat,
