Location and contact details
Location: The GlenDronach Distillery, Forgue By Huntly, Aberdeenshire, AB54 6DB
Visit Type: Vistor Centre
Co-ordinates: 57.484608, -2.629604
Telephone: +44 (0)1466 730 202
Web: http://glendronachdistillery.co.uk/ 
Twitter: GlenDronach (@Glendronach)Facts and figures
| Location | Aberdeenshire |
| Founded | 1826 |
| Owner | Brown-Forman |
| Water Source | Dronach Burn |
| Stills | 2 wash stills (13,635 litres) 2 spirit stills (6,800 litres) |
Opening Hours
Opening hours vary through the year, but tours usually run at 1000, 1100, 1300, 1400 and 1500; check for details of opening hours. GlenDronach is open all year on Mondays to Fridays (except between 17th December and 16th January) and Saturdays and Sundays between May and September.
Tours
Glendronach Distillery Tour
£10
Join them for a visit through the distillery, seeing first hand the traditional methods that have been in use for nearly 200 years.
Your guide will explain the whisky making process taking you through the mash house, to see the copper topped Mash tun and Scottish Larch washbacks, showing you how they create the robust, heavy spirit in the Still House.
Step into one of the dunnage warehouses, experiencing their dedication to sherry cask maturation.
Back in the visitor centre you will have the opportunity to sample 2 of the whiskies.
The Connoisseur’s Tour
£35
Your host will share with you their rich heritage and traditions in this in depth experience.
Learn about the founder, James Allardice, and how the whisky has been made since the distillery was founded in 1826.
Following your tour of the distillery, you will head deep into one of the dunnage warehouses uncovering how they have become known for the rich sherry matured range of whiskies.
This experience concludes with a tutored tasting of 6 whiskies.
Review: The Connoisseur’s Tour (14:00 on 29/09/2019)
Price: £35
I booked and paid for this distillery tour via their website. There was a total of seven people booked on the tour at 1400 with only a couple and I being on time. The tour was not held for the others to arrive, but started roughly on time.
I booked on The Connoisseur’s Tour which is meant to be a more in depth tour followed by six tastings and take approximately 1.5 hours.
The tour showed the old kiln before moving through the production area covering the mill, mashing, fermentation and distillation before visiting one of the dunnage stores.
About 10 minutes after we started, one of the missing attendees arrived and got a recap of what had been said so far. Three of the final missing four arrived as we were entering the still room and got a recap of what had already been covered.
The repeats for late arrivals didn't help, but the tour was very disjointed and I struggle to place exactly how this was an in depth tour.
The tour from start to end of warehouse took 65 minutes; the tutored tasting at the end was 40 minutes when I left. Like the rest of the tour the tasting was poorly structured with lots of jumping around. I try not to blame the distillery for the other guests, but there are ways for the tour guide to manage a tour to keep on target and not allowing attendees to dominate. That didn't happen here; when I left it was when one of the attendees was, for a second time, telling everyone about their visit to the Irish Whiskey Museum (we'd already heard at least twice about their visit to Deanston).
Photography was not allowed anywhere inside the distillery.
The tour included six tastings; when I arrived they checked if I was driving and provided bottles for all samples.
History
Glendronach distillery is a Scottish whisky distillery located near Forgue, by Huntly, Aberdeenshire, in the Highland whisky district. It is owned by the BenRiach Distillery Company Ltd.
The distillery was founded in 1826 by James Allardes (referred to often as Allardice) as the second distillery to apply for a licence to legally produce whisky under the Excise Act of 1823, which passed three years earlier and which allowed for the distilling of Whisky in Scotland. Other sources credit a consortium of farmers and businessmen for the foundation of the distillery though this could include Allardes. The Glendronach distillery was purchased by Teachers and Sons Ltd around 1960 who increased the number of stills from two to six. In 1996 the distillery was mothballed and reopened again in 2001 by Allied Distillers Limited. In 2006 the distillery passed into the hands of Chivas Brothers Ltd (part of the Pernod Ricard group) and in 2008 it was sold to the BenRiach Distillery Company. Other notable owners include Walter Scott, who acquired it in 1881 and Charles Grant, son of the founder of the Glenfiddich distillery, in 1920.
The distillery draws its water from the Dronac burn within the distillery grounds. It has its own floor maltings and two wash stills in addition to two spirit stills.
The distillery is protected as a category B listed building.
In April 2016 Glendronach Distillery was purchased by the Brown-Foreman Corporation. The deal included BenRiach and Glengassaugh distilleries.
