A Speyside Whisky Tasting Holiday by public transport

After our memorable first whisky tasting holiday on Islay a few years ago, we decided to embark on another self-organised Scotch whisky adventure. This time, we would go on a Speyside Whisky tasting tour! Together with friends, we booked apartments in Dufftown and Elgin, aiming to explore the area’s renowned distilleries. Navigating the region by public transport was a bit challenging, but it allowed everyone to fully enjoy the Speyside whisky tasting experience. Read on to discover how we organized our Speyside Whisky tasting holiday.

This post contains affiliate links. We may earn a comission at no extra cost to you if you buy through this link.

Islay and our Scotch Single Malt Whisky Journey

None of us were avid whisky drinkers before 2019. Even a hike on the West Highland Way had not converted us to whisky in spite of passing some distilleries. And then on a whim the four of us decided to visit Islay, the island famous for its peated whisky. To avoid drinking and driving, we meticulously planned our week-long visit to fit in eight Islay whisky distilleries using public transport. Was it an eye-opener? Absolutely! Our fantastic whisky tasting experiences on Islay meant that we could never go back to standard whisky.

With that in mind, we headed to the Speyside region on the lookout for rare and expensive single malts.

Speyside – one of the most famous Scotch Whisky regions

Nestled in the northwestern part of Scotland, between Inverness and Aberdeen, the Speyside region is wonderfully remote and far away from everything (except Inverness and Aberdeen). It’s a landscape of countryside, rugged coastlines, some beaches and adorable highland cows. Were it not for the many whisky distilleries, Speyside might not attract many tourists. But Speyside whisky is legendary.

Reportedly, when the British King George IV visited Scotland, he declared Speyside whisky his favourite! And only then did the tax authorities realise that there was no licensing system and none of the many Speyside distilleries paid taxes. So the British rulers quickly passed the Illicit Distillation Act and the Excise Duty Act, making it illegal to produce whisky without an official license and paying taxes. This is why many major Scottish whisky distilleries have founding dates in the 1820s, although many of them have been in the business for much longer …

Speyside whisky tasting around Dufftown

Dufftown is a small town by the river Spey. Often named the Whisky Capital of Scotland, it is neither old nor big. In fact, Dufftown was only founded as a new settlement in the 19^th century, next to the historic village of Mortlach with a mediaeval church, some Pictish relics, and a nearby castle. The town’s modern fame and importance comes from the distilleries in the vicinity. Apart from six working distilleries, several more are not in use anymore. There’s a whisky trail to pass by all of them, and a yearly whisky festival.

That’s why we decided to start our whisky travel experience in Dufftown.

The Glenfiddich Distillery

For our first day in the Speyside area, we had booked a tour at the famous Glenfiddich Distillery. Beyond the expansive visitor car park, the Glenfiddich distillery complex includes a visitor centre, the mash tuns and wash backs, dozens of stills and long rows of warehouses. We join a tour conducted by a Dutch guide who charmingly reveals that she originally moved to Speyside for love, not whisky.

The Glenfiddich tour is efficient and professional, reflecting the distillery’s stature and marketing prowess. And because Glenfiddich is just so big and famous and does such a good marketing, we are a bit apprehensive when it comes to the whisky tasting. But the tour exceeds our expectations, offering good value for money. Remarkably, Glenfiddich remains a family-run business, a rarity in the world of whisky distilleries. They have been pioneers in new trends from the start. For instance, Glenfiddich started marketing in Asia in in the early 20^th century and later promoted single malts over blended whiskies.

Nearby, we explore the ruins of Balvenie Castle, a formidable 15^th century fortress. From the hills and the footpath back to Dufftown we admire the pagodas of Balvenie Distillery and of some other old distilleries. On a rainy day, we walk around town, visiting the historic Mortlach Kirk, and pass the Dufftown and Mortlach Distilleries.

The Aberlour Distillery

From Dufftown we made some excursions, partly hiking, partly by bus, to nearby Speyside whisky tastings. One such a trip was the whisky village of Aberlour and the Aberlour Distillery which is a half-day hike over the hill away from Dufftown. Owned by Moët Hennessy, the Aberlour Distillery was undergoing construction when we visited, so we couldn’t tour the distillery itself. Instead, we opted for a tasting session.

Our knowledgeable guide, a local whose chemist parents met at the distillery’s laboratory, enriched our experience with fascinating insights. We thoroughly enjoyed both the tasting experience and the whiskies. We liked them well enough to purchase a single cask whisky to take home.

More distillery trips from Dufftown

On another day, we visited the Glen Grant Distillery in Rothes, for a whisky tour and tasting. While we found the whiskies there less impressive, our stop at the Highlander Inn in Craigellachie on the way was a good decision. We had a fantastic whisky tasting flight and one of the highlights was a whisky from the local Craigellachie Distillery, which we have already passed several times. It is easily recognizable by its open display of their spirit stills.

The Craigellachie Distillery is located opposite the Speyside Cooperage where many of the Speyside whisky distilleries have their casks repaired.

From Dufftown, we also managed a whisky excursion by public bus to the Ballindalloch Distillery and Cragganmore Distillery. Of the two, we preferred the Ballindalloch whisky experience for its charming atmosphere and excellent tasting.

The Whisky Line Train: Dufftown to Keith, and the Strathisla Distillery

To make our way from Dufftown to Elgin, we board the Keith and Dufftown Railway, a historic line that operated for over a century, from 1862 until 1968. Originally the railway was an important transport connection to access the distilleries in the Speyside area – passengers were less important.

Unlike distilleries in the peat-rich West, those in Speyside relied less on peat for malting. This was thanks to readily available coal from the East Coast which the distilleries could bring in by rail. Therefore, the Speyside area whisky is typically not smoky or peaty like the Islay whiskies.

After its closure, the railway tracks still remained and occasional trains ran until 1991. In the early 2000s, a group of dedicated train enthusiasts revived it as a heritage railway.

Today, the Dufftown Heritage Train runs several times a day in season, but only on weekends. The carriages, including a nice restaurant carriage permanently installed at the Dufftown station as a café, are old rolling stock from the 1950s. They evoke a bygone era of train rides. However, the train we went in from Dufftown to Keith was a blue train from the 1980s and felt slightly retro rather than historic.

Run entirely by volunteers, the Dufftown Heritage Train provides a charming experience. At Elgin station, retired volunteer Donald delights us with a demonstration of the station’s model railway. The volunteers also let us store our luggage while we visit the nearby Strathisla Distillery, which mainly produces blended whiskies for the Chivas brand.

Speyside whisky tasting around Elgin

The second base of our Speyside whisky holiday was situated in the small coastal town of Elgin. Once home to two distilleries, Elgin now has only one remaining distillery – Glen Moray Distillery, the former West Elgin Distillery. Belonging to La Martiniquaise, a large spirit company also producing rum, cognac, and other spirits, Glen Moray incorporates the casks of these liquors into its whisky production. Therefore, many of the whiskies in our Glen Moray tasting have some unique flavours and aromas.

Another nearby whisky distillery we visit is Benromach Distillery in Forres. The Benromach Distillery closed in the 1980s but reopened in 1993 under the Gordon & MacPhail Whisky company. Gordon & MacPhail in Elgin are independent whisky bottlers who specialise in ageing whiskies from various sources.

Benromach stands out as the most photogenic of the distilleries we explore, although pictures are only allowed outside. We enjoy both a Gin Experience and a comprehensive whisky tour and tasting at Benromach, appreciating the craftmanship and history behind each sip.

Things to do around Elgin

Beyond whisky, Elgin and its surroundings offer captivating sights and outdoor activities. In Elgin, we tour the renowned cashmere factory of Johnstons of Elgin. From there we walk on to explore the mediaeval ruins of Elgin Cathedral. In Forres, after visiting the Benromach Distillery, the 9^th-century Pictish Sueno Stone captivates us with intricate carvings. And we visit the harbour village of Findhorn, once a hippie community. A day hike on the Moray Coast Trail, from Hopeman to Lossiemouth, reveals breathtaking coastal views. Due to rainy weather, we enjoyed some wonderful cloudy skies and beautiful light. We are planning to come back and hike the full coastal path in the future.

We enjoyed adding at least some other activities to the whisky tasting experience. Due to its remoteness and the density of whisky distilleries, it is appropriate in Speyside to cluster the whisky tasting. However, in most cases during our travels we include one or two such tastings between other sightseeing spots. We might, say, visit one Sherry factory in Jerez, or make a detour to Brunello in Tuscany for some exclusive wine tasting. The Japanese whisky factories of Suntory and Nikka make for good day trips from Kyoto and Sapporo, respectively.

Speyside Whisky tasting logistics – intricacies of the Moray bus network

Exploring the whisky region around Dufftown and Elgin requires navigating the intricacies of public transport in Moray. While public transport centres on the Stagecoach busses, there are some additional services. Most importantly, Moray Bus operates an on-demand service of small busses under the name of m.connect. We mostly relied on Stagecoach connections, which required careful planning, as some routes only ran on specific days, while others operated every two hours. Never mind: Navigating the obstacles of public transport travel is quite familiar to us from other countries. We have hitchhiked in Mexico and Armenia, taken share taxis in Senegal and through Turkmenistan, and waited for rare busses in Lebanon …

As we were a group of four, we found the Group DayRider tickets to be the most cost-effective option. These tickets were available for different areas. For instance, a Moray Group DayRider ticket covering the entire area costs £29.30, while a group ticket for Elgin and the coastal area is £19.50 (as of 2024).

Despite the logistical challenges, these options allowed us to fully enjoy our Speyside whisky tasting adventure! Self-driving might have been more convenient but was out of the question because all of us were participating in the whisky tasting – and thus drinking alcohol.

How to arrange a Speyside Whisky tasting holiday

Planning a Speyside whisky tasting holiday requires starting well in advance. We had decided against the summer months to avoid the midges that may or may not be annoying in that area. Presumably, early May is a good time to visit Speyside to catch the Whisky Festival in Dufftown, when some distilleries open their doors exclusively for this event. However, this also means higher accommodation costs and the need to book even earlier. Eventually we settled on late May.

We started planning about 9 months ahead. Once we had an idea which towns and distilleries we wanted to visit and had mapped out their accessibility, we booked accommodation in two different locations. This was more than 6 months prior to our whisky tasting holiday.

The next step involved finetuning our itinerary: which tasting experience was available and possible in terms of transport on what day of the week.

Several weeks before the Speyside trip, we had secured all the distillery tours and activities. Some bookings were necessary before the summer schedule for the busses was released, so there remained an element of suspense! But in the end, everything worked even smoother than anticipated and we could visit eight distilleries in ten days.

Would you like to go on a Speyside whisky tasting holiday? Or have you been there? What are your experiences? Let us know in the comments.

NB: We did not receive any funding to write this whisky tasting blog post and paid all the expenses ourselves.

Clip this post and save it on Pinterest: