Scottish Routes Tours

Two friends and I went on their 4 day Speyside whisky tour and it was great. Our driver Jamie was knowledgeable and friendly, accommodations were good, and the selection of distillery's was well done culminating in what I thought was the best tour at Glenfarklas. If your a whisky fan you will like this!

I did a whirlwind tour of the UK and little bits of Europe and one of my goals was a whiskey tour of Scotland. I was hoping for all of Scotland but I'm happy I stuck with the 4 day Islay Whiskey tour from Scottish Routes.

It was a great start to a great vacation. The other guests on the tour were great and our tour guide, Duncan, was fantastic, very patient and easy-going, especially when I kept disappearing on my own (it's the downside of being a single; I tend to forget the larger group on the quest of something I'm interested in).

In total, we visited 7 distilleries and they were, on the whole, fantastic. The distilleries they chose were a good cross-section of what's available, especially when it comes to smoky Scotch whiskey. I learned a lot about what I enjoy and the different flavours that come from the different barrel aging; I also received a few recommendations from the other guests, based on their experiences with whiskey and the ones I had enjoyed at each distillery.

It was fantastic to have someone drive when a lightweight, such as myself, gets hooked up with drams of whiskey to taste.

Islay was fantastic and reminded me of home. Duncan was great at keeping us on time (which was fantastic with my OCD "MUST BE ON TIME" issue) and he was able to find us interesting sites in the areas of the distilleries if we arrived somewhere early.

Seriously, who knew Scotland had a surfing culture and sandy beaches?!

Scottish Routes also found us a fantastic B&B to stay in during our time on Islay (Bowmore House is AMAZING and the proprietors are the sweetest) and great places to eat each night.

My only regret was that I didn't end my European vacation with the 4 day Spayside tour but that's a goal for next time. Or I'm going to gather my girls and we're going to personalize a tour, just for us.

... that seems more like a warning to Scottish Routes. My girls are LOUD. And drinky.

Scottish Routes is now a perfect 2-for-2 as we have traveled with them first on Islay and now to Speyside. They go above and beyond merely driving you from one distillery to the next by crafting a personalized tour including excellent accommodations and food. It truly felt that Will and Sara were just other members of our group (there were 12 of us) and I personally thoroughly enjoyed all the stories and history of Scotland as we drove through the Highlands and along other routes with gorgeous views and scenery. I cannot recommend them enough and will likely be thinking about and planning another trip with them in the next few years.