#EpicIslayTrip

October 2014. A group of our friends – most of which had never been to Scotland or even a distillery, had agreed to be shown a handful of distilleries and follow our lead to our beloved Scotland. Success of our trip was great, we popped some Scotland-cherries and it did not take long before the…

Dungeons & Eagles

In our search for the next passionate Dutch distiller, we travel to the picturesque municipality of Doesburg, where medieval monastery “Het Arsenaal” has been converted to house several small businesses. Where a Grand Café, small cinema, game store, wine merchant and whisky specialist already had found their home, a micro distillery has joined inside their…

Little Black Hill – Knockando Distillery

During the heydays of the Scottish Whisky industry in the end of the nineteenth century, dreamer, gambler and entrepreneur John Tytler Thompson decided to build a new distillery on the banks of the river Spey. He commissioned acclaimed architect and engineer Charles Doig to build him a modern distillery, the first Speyside distillery to be…

The Can-Dhu-Spirit

On many occasions in the last few years, we have shared our stories traveling through the Speyside region with its omnipresent distilleries. It seems that every week, another of the existing ones are opening their doors to the public, create visitors’ centres and install good kitchens and lunchrooms to attract many visitors to the distillery…

The Jameson Experience

In last week’s article, we told you about what we have experienced with Irish Distillers’ Method and Madness brand launch in Dublin, the Q&A tasting the next morning and the visit to the archives and micro distillery with all their mad ideas in Midleton. Having some spare time before our plane would bring us back…

#MethodAndMadness

When the invitation from Irish Distillers to join the launch of their new Method and Madness Irish whiskey range came in at WhiskySpeller headquarters, we were curious to see the details, hopped on an airplane and joined the launch-event in Dublin. ‘The Method and the Madness range is a respectful nod to the experimentation that has…

The Land Between Two Rivers – The Edradour Distillery

It doesn’t seem to matter if the weather is dreach or the sun is out on its highest peak, the Edradour distillery seems to attract busloads of people every day during the season. Not so strange really, if you take a look at the tiny bridges over the rushing cooling water of the Edradour burn,…

The indistinct shed – a look at the Kininvie distillery

Following a very successful Spirit of Speyside Festival in 2016, we were given the opportunity to visit the fairly unknown Kininvie still house, little more than an indistinct shed tucked away in the woods between the Glenfiddich and Balvenie distilleries, with a strong attraction to WhiskySpeller for the past few years. A Little History After…

WhiskySpeller – News Update

A lot has happened since our last update at the beginning of November. Next to the stories we usually share about our trips and distillery visits, we have added book reviews to our revamped site and started sharing tasting notes on a daily basis from the Drinks by the Dram Advent Calendars. On top of…

The Oyster Catcher – Inchgower Distillery

At the end of April 2016, during the Spirit of Speyside festival, a cold freezing wind and a watery pale sun remembered us we were closer to winter than we were to summer. We enjoyed a good sturdy home made breakfast in our rented cottage in Cullen, cleared the car of the night frost and…

Discovering the Secret – The Speyside Distillery

On the edge of the Cairngorms, close to where the river Spey flows towards the last whisky distillery which uses its waters, we discovered a hidden gem – the Speyside distillery. Coming from the south, the easiest way to reach the distillery is to take the Kingussie exit on the A9, drive through the village…

The Meeting Place – Dalwhinnie Distillery

Dalwhinnie, or “Dail Chuinnidh”, Gaelic for “the Meeting Place”, is beautifully situated north of the Drumochter pass, on the south-western edge of the large Cairngorm National Park in between the Ben Alder and Creag Meagaidh mountain ranges. History tells us the location was often used as a place to rest weary travelers’ legs or meet…