Review: Glenlivet Reflection Distillery Tour
I get it. It’s hard to think of visiting Scotland without sampling some of their famous Scotch whiskey. But is it worth signing up for a distillery tour in Scotland? We visited the Glenlivet Distillery for their Reflection Tour priced at £125 per person. Read on to learn more about our experience at Glenlivet Distillery.
What to expect
Arrival & Introduction
The Reflection Tour at Glenlivet was introduced in 2024 to mark their 200 year anniversary. A maximum of 8 people can participate in this tour at a time. It starts at 13:00 and lasts approximately 2 hours.
When you enter, you’ll see the reception pictured on the left. I do think the decor is rather beautiful and the barley hanging over the reception is a romantic touch. We were greeted by Emma who joined our group a second host alongside Rosie.
The waiting area is a beautiful, dimly lit space that looks inviting. Take a look around. In the book case, you’ll find a portrait of their founder George Smith above a box set of his original pistols which he used for self protection before obtaining a legal license for producing whisky.
The Private Tasting Room
We entered the private tasting room through a staircase hidden in the wall of the waiting area. See if you can spot the door in the picture on the right.
If you look at the frames to the left of the fireplace, you’ll notice a small protruding section of the wall.
The tasting room for The Glenlivet Reflection Tour sits right above this waiting area and is accessed by the stairs behind this door in the wall.
I didn’t make any pictures of the tasting room, but suffice to say it was large, beautiful, and comfortable. The tasting tables (two, each accommodating 4 people) were prepared with the whisky glasses, water, and shortbread cookies.
After a quick round of introductions, some small talk about our experience in Scotland so far, and a round of instructions, we headed out into the rare Scottish Sun to take a look at the stills.
Whisky Stills & Warehouses
It’s quite warm inside the distillery where the stills are. We were told not to make any pictures until we got up to the viewing platform. We spent the minimum possible time in there as it gets quite uncomfortable and smells overwhelmingly of barley!
Once outside, we made our way around the building to the old, rolled warehouses. It’s quite interesting to see the old stone buildings. Again, no pictures were allowed but we did see a cask signed by then-prince-now-king Charles of England.
Most of the barrels are American oak with a few sherry barrels in the mix. They explained a bit about the additive, reductive, and interactive function of the barrels and how their Chief Engineer must decide which barrels to use and where to place them throughout the ageing process. The old warehouse is no longer double layered due to the age of the building floors.
The modern warehouse uses a stacked 7x7 system and houses hundreds of casks. Casks are also distributed across warehouses within the Chivas group to avoid risk of damage due to acts of god or other threats.
The Old Dog
In the new warehouse, we were told the story of the “Old Dog” a little copper pipe that was used to steal whisky by distillery workers back in the old days. They’d sow this pipe into their pant legs and pull it out while on the job to steal a bit of whisky. They’d say to their fellow workers “I’m just going to go walk the dog for a bit” meaning they should keep an eye out and warm them of any approaching bosses as they were about to go steal some whisky.
Our 4th tasting glass came from dipping the old dog into a cask and ‘stealing’ some whisky the old-fashioned way. After this, we made our way back to the tasting room, with our respective glasses in hand.
What whisky do you get to drink in The Glenlivet Distillery Tour?
As I mentioned earlier, we got to try 3 aged and 1 unmeasured whisky. The first was The Glenlivet Nadurra. Exceptionally smooth, this turned out to be my favourite. Unfortunately, it’s no longer available for purchase. The second was a 21 year old retailing at £220. This was the popular favourite, including being my husband’s. The last one was The Glenlivet 1992. I liked this one more than the 21 year old, but not as much as the Nadurra.
Final Verdict: Is it worth it?
If you are already a Glenlivet fan, you should go to the distillery tour simply to sample some of their wares that are no longer available for sale. If you don’t really care about the brand and are just looking to sample a wide variety of whiskies or are hoping to learn about your own preferences, you’d be better off on a more fun whisky tasting experience such as the Harry Potter Whisky Tour. If you are still interested in Glenlivet but are balking at the hefty price tag of the Reflection Tour, consider the Glenlivet Visionary Tour priced at £65.
Where to eat before or after the distillery tour?
This was surprisingly the most asked question to the hosts. They didn’t have entirely satisfactory answers. If you are coming from or heading to Aviemore, I highly recommend the Nethy House Café. They serve the most delicious sandwiches and cakes.
