If you’re looking for a wee dram of Scottish whisky during your stay in Inverness, we’ve got you covered with our guide to the distilleries you can’t miss - all near Inverness.
Updated April 2024
Despite what the Irish, the Japanese, and the Americans may say, there is little doubt that the world’s very best whisky is 100% Scottish, and that will always be the case.
With many of the country’s most famous malts hailing from the Highlands, it would therefore be somewhat scandalous for anyone with even a passing interest in what George Bernard Shaw refers to as ‘liquid sunshine’ to visit this part of the world and not (responsibly) indulge in at least a few small drams.
In this post, we’ve shared advice on how to visit them independently or with a specialist tour.
Whisky Distillery Full-Day Tours
Before we get on to the distilleries you can visit from Inverness, if you’d prefer to enjoy your whisky tastings without having to worry about having a designated driver, consider joining one of these highly rated distillery and whisky tasting tours. They all include different distilleries, so you can pick the tour that covers the ones you’d like to visit most!
Scotland Whisky Distilleries and Tasting Private Day Tour by Luxury Car | The most popular tour on offer, this full-day option includes Glen Moray Distillery, The BenRiach Distillery, The Macallan Distillery, Speyside Cooperage Visitor Centre, Aberlour Distillery, Glenfarclas Distillery, The Glenlivet Distillery and Tomatin Distillery Visitor Centre.
Clan Tour of Speyside Distilleries | Join a kilted tour guide on a journey through Speyside with stops for tastings or tours at Cardhu Distillery, Glenfarclas Distillery, Glenfiddich Distillery alongside time at the Speyside Cooperage Visitor Centre, Old Pack Horse Bridge, and Grantown-on-Spey.
This option is very similar but visits Glen Moray Distillery, Glenfiddich Distillery, Cardhu Distillery and Glenfarclas Distillery instead. (it is however quite a bit more expensive).
Speyside Whisky Trails | This highly-rated private tour - still led by a true Scottish gent visits Glen Moray Distillery, Glen Grant Distillery, Glenfiddich Distillery, Cardhu Distillery, Glenfarclas Distillery and the Tomatin Distillery Visitor Centre, as well as time for lunch in the pretty little Dufftown.
Deluxe 5 star Private Speyside Whisky Tour | Another popular option, this tour includes stops at The Glenlivet Distillery, Cragganmore Distillery, Aberlour Distillery, Glenfiddich Distillery, Cardhu Distillery, Speyside Cooperage Visitor Centre and Tomatin Distillery Visitor Centre This famous Speyside Distillery offers shopping, tastings and tours. Booking is essential for touring. 1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
Speyside Whisky Tour | If you have specific whisky distilleries you’d like to visit, this is the tour for you as it’s completely customisable.
Most of these whisky tours are private, and therefore quite pricey, so if you need to save your Scottish pounds for other Highland adventures but still want to visit some of the distilleries on a tour, consider this small group option that includes stops at Tomatin Visitor Centre and Glen More Distillery.
Need to Know // We have noted that it is quite rare for the tour price to include all entrance fees (and rarely the additional cost of multiple tastings), even pricey tours such as this one. Therefore, do check this before booking them.
the Best WHISKY DISTILLERIES NEAR INVERNESS
More than half of Scotland’s distilleries are located in the Highlands, so the small city of Inverness is an excellent base from which to explore a few (please have a designated driver though).
This list is by no means exhaustive, but includes the most well known within around an hour’s drive of Inverness.
Tomatin
Just 25 minutes from the city, Tomatin distillery is easy to visit using a taxi so you can indulge in a tasting without worrying about a designated driver. Having produced whisky since 1897, nowadays it tends to focus mainly on blended malts known for a soft character with notes of fruit (as well as being used in many famous blends like J&B, Chivas Regal and Johnnie Walker).
They offer a number of different experiences and tours (available seven days a week) that allow you to try a variety of whiskies of varying ages and quality.
· The Legacy Tour | Includes a tour of the distillery plus the opportunity to taste three of their single malts. Tours last 1.5 hours, run every hour on the hour from 10am until 4pm, and tickets cost £15 per person.
· Taste of Tomatin Tour | Includes distillery tour followed by a tutored nosing and tasting of six different Tomatin expressions. Tours last 2 hours, take place at 10.30am and tickets cost £40 per person.
· Single Cask Experience | Includes an in-depth distillery and warehouse tour concluding with a tutored nosing and tasting of five different Distillery Exclusive single cask expressions. Tours last 2.5 hours, take place at 1.30pm daily, and tickets cost £60 per person.
They recommend that bookings are made in advance either by phone (+44 (0)1463 248 144) or email (visitors@tomatin.com).
You can discover more on their website (including how to book a visit) or find the distillery here on Google Maps.
Glen Ord
Famous for their Singleton of Glen Ord whisky which is said to be ‘sweet, malty and dry on the palate’, Glen Ord tends to cater to the tastes of the south-east Asian market (where almost all their single aged malt whisky is exported), and as such, the distillery is the only place where it’s available to buy in Europe - making it a must-visit if this is your preferred tipple.
They host six guided tours a day during which an experienced team member will guide you through the distillery leading a tutored tasting of three whiskies, ranging from twelve to eighteen years old. The tour lasts one hour and costs £15.75 per adult.
· The Singleton Distillery Tour | Includes a distillery tour, plus the opportunity to engage in a tutored tasting of three whiskies, ranging from twelve to eighteen years old. Tours take place everyday, the first at 10am and the last at 4pm. Tickets cost £20 per person.
· The Singleton Malt to Task Tour | An exclusive experience that must be booked in advance, this tour provides a unique opportunity to explore their onsite drum maltings, take a guided tour of the distillery, draw your own samples from the warehouse casks and then enjoy a tutored tasting of unique and rare expressions from the Singleton range. This experience is only available on Thursdays at 11.15am, is limited to a maximum of eight people and costs £250 per person.
Glen Ord distillery offers a number of other experiences, the details of which can be found here.
You can discover more on their website or find the distillery here on Google Maps, around 30 minutes from Inverness.
Where to Try Whisky In Inverness
Whilst this guide is meant more for those who are keen to get out and explore the best distilleries near Inverness, we appreciate that not everyone has time in their itineraries to fit in a day trip from the city.
In that case, we’d recommend making your way down to The Malt Room (an excellent whisky bar in the centre of Inverness). Super knowledgeable staff are on hand to provide advice, with a large selection of whiskies from which you can choose or be guided. Handily, they also offer tasting flights for those that would like to sample a few different malts.
Alternatively, you can book one of their ‘Malt Room Whisky Gigs’, which allows you to spend the evening sampling select malt whiskeys (three are included in the price), while folk legend Davy Holt sings traditional and original Scottish songs.
Read Later | 10 Great Things To Do In Inverness
Glen Moray
A speyside distillery that has been producing whisky for more than 130 years, the tours here are super informative.
· Distillery Explorer Tour | This is Glen Moray’s standard tour offering which includes a visit to the distillery plus optional complimentary tasting of two whiskies. The tour departs four times daily (9.30am, 11.30am, 1.30pm and 3.30pm) tours cost just £12 per adult (free for children).
· The Heritage Tour | This is the next step up, this tour will take you through the processes of creating the whisky, the history and heritage of the site and the cask exploration within our warehouses, followed by a tutored tasting of three whiskies in their private tasting room. This tour costs £40 per person, last approximately two hours, and takes places Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays at 12.30pm.
· Tastings | Glen Moray distillery also offers a number of tasting only experiences, varying from £30 to £50 per person. You can find full details here.
Tours are best booked in advance via their website, where you can find lots of other information about the distillery.
Glen Moray is located just outside Elgin (Google Maps), one hour by car from Inverness.
Balblair
Created in 1790, Balblair is the oldest distillery in this part of Scotland and, sitting on a remote and unspoiled hillside overlooking the Dornoch Firth, matches exactly the image one conjures up of a Highland distillery. Around a 50 minutes drive from Inverness, it is actually located just off the North Coast 500, so if you’re heading north after Inverness, maybe coincide your visit with that portion of the trip.
The Balbair Discovery Experience | This introductory tour visits the distillery and then you have the opportunity to sample both the Balblair 12 and 15 Year Old whiskies. The tours take place every Monday to Saturday, three times a day (10.30am. 2.30pm & 3.30pm), and tickets cost £25 per person.
The Balblair Essence Experience | A small group tour with one of their senior guides, you’ll learn all about how they craft the whisky and the production process before enjoying a tasing of their core range of malts (Balblair 12, 15 and 18 Year Olds, plus their new release - Balblair 21 Year Old. Tours take places at 12.30pm every Monday to Saturday. Tickets cost £50 per person.
Bookings must be made in advance, and be done so via their website here.
They also offer ‘The Balblair Definitive Experience’ for the real whisky connoisseur (£125 per person), but you need to contact the distillery directly to find out more and make a reservation.
Find Balblair here on Google Maps.
Dalwhinnie
Whether you refer to this whisky as Speyside or Highland, Dalwhinie - with its notes of heather honey, citrus and vanilla - ranks very highly amongst Scottish malts. Located around an hour from Inverness, it is a little further afield than others on this list but could ideally be combined with a visit to the Cairngorms National Park.
The distillery (here on Google Maps) is running a variety of different tours, including a standard 45 minute tour and tasting for £14. Full details of all available tours can be found here.
Glenmorangie
Also located on the NC500 (not far from Balblair) Glenmorangie is a world famous whisky, with a global following meaning it is nowadays enjoyed as much as a dram as it is in fancy cocktails. Established in way back in 1843, it lays claim to the tallest stills in Scotland and is probably the distillery on this list which sees by far and away the most visitor traffic. Despite this it's still a very worthwhile stop for anyone driving the route, or indeed basing themselves in or near Inverness.
They offer a number of tours and experiences including:
· The Classic Tour | Take a guided tour through the distillery then finish with a two-dram tasting from the Core Expressions range. Tours last an hour and take place every 30 minutes between 10am and 4pm every day during the summer months of June to August, every hour between 10am and 3pm Monday - Friday in May, September and October, and at 10am & 2pm Monday to Friday the rest of the year. The tour costs £23 per person.
· Innovation Tasting | Enjoy a three-dram tasting session of Glenmorangie’s most innovative and ground-breaking expressions. The tastings last 30 minutes, cost £35 per person and can be joined every day at 11am & 4pm in the summer months, and in April at 11am & 3pm Monday to Friday.
· Rare Cask Warehouse Tasting | Venture into one of their traditional dunnage style warehouses to explore a selection of the most rare and exclusive bottlings. Includes the opportunity to sample four highly limited whiskies. Tickets cost £75 per person, and the experience is available Monday to Fridays at 3pm in April, and Monday to Sundays at 3pm June - August.
· The Wonder Tour | Join an immersive Distillery tour before finishing up with a four-dram tasting of the Infinita 18 Years Old, followed by three of their most ground-breaking and experimental single malts, each complemented by a delectable selection of cheese and fine chocolate. Tickets cost £95 per person and take place every day at 11am & 2.30pm between June and August.
Due to the popularity of Glenmorangie Distillery, you will need to book these tours and experiences in advance via their website.
Find the distillery here on Google Maps.
Dalmore*
Founded on the shores of Cromarty Firth in 1867 by descendants of the Mackenzie Clan, Dalmore is a quintessential Highland Scotch whisky, ranked among Scotland's most renowned single malts (it’s also one of Andrew’s favourites). From a purely aesthetic point of view, we loved how wonderfully old fashioned everything looked here - from the vintage delivery truck to the collections of old casks outside.
You can find the distillery here, or visit their website for further information.
*Unfortunately, Dalmore Distillery is currently closed to the general public but given its worldwide popularity we wanted to leave them in this guide in the hope that the tours will re-appear in the future.
