Location and contact details
Location: Blair Athol Distillery, Perth Road, Pitlochry, Perthshire, PH16 5LY
Visit Type: Vistor Centre
Co-ordinates: 56.697689, -3.721554
Telephone: +44 (0) 1796 482 003
Email: blair.athol.distillery[at]diageo.com
Web: https://www.discovering-distilleries.com/blairathol/ 
Twitter: DiscoverDistilleries (@12distilleries)Facts and figures
| Location | Perthshire |
| Founded | 1798 |
| Owner | Diageo |
| Water Source | Alt Dour Burn |
| Stills | 2 wash stills (13,000 litres) 2 spirit stills (12,000 litres) |
Opening Hours
Opening hours vary through the year; check for details of opening hours. Tours run every hour on the hour.
Tours
Blair Athol Standard Tour
£9.50
A guided tour of the Blair Athol distillery that stands at the gateway to the Scottish Highlands in the picturesque town of Pitlochry, Perthshire. Includes a dram of Blair Athol Single Malt Whisky and tasting glass. (45 mins)
Blair Athol Signature Tour
£16
A public or private tour of the Blair Athol distillery. This includes a tasting of the 12 year old Blair Athol Single Malt, the Blair Athol Distillery Exclusive Bottling plus 1 Single Malt from the extensive range and a tasting glass. (Private Tour from 4 guests)
Blair Athol Allt Dour
£40
A tour and tutored tasting of the Blair Athol 12 Year Old Single Malt, the Blair Athol Distillery Exclusive Bottling and a Cask Strenght Blair Athol, drawn direct from the cask along with 3 further Drams from the Whisky Treasure Trove (private from 4 people). Includes a Blending Glass and a certificate of completion. (approximately 2 hours).
Blair Athol Manager's Tasting
£75
Experience a tutored tasting of 5 Blair Athol Single Malts . 2 drams of Cask Strength Blair Athol drawn direct from the cask, 1 dram of the 12 year old Blair Athol Single Malt, 1 dram of the Blair Athol Distillery Exclusive Bottling and a dram of the 23 Year old Blair Athol Single Malt. This private tasting must be booked in advance. (Minimum 2 people ). Includes Certificate of Completion and a gift box with 4 glasses.
Tutored Tasting
£20
A tutored tasting at the Mash Tun Bar with one of the Guides who will dram for you 3 different whiskies, 1 dram of the Distillery Exclusive Bottling plus 2 further drams to chose between Single Malt Whisky, Blended Whisky or Grain whisky
Review: Blair Athol Standard Tour (19:12 on 23/09/2019)
Price: Free
You can book a tour of Blair Athol distillery online or by ringing (if you're a Friend of the Classic Malt you have to ring), but I wasn't sure when I would be finished at Edradour so didn't boook a tour. Blair Athol is located just off the main North/South road so can get very busy in peak periods, so I would generally recommend booking a tour, especially if you're visiting in peak season which runs approximately mid-June to mid-September. When I arrived at Blair Athol, I popped in and enquired about next availability.
There was a tour just about to start, but this was full so I readily agreed to a 60 minute wait for the next one as I was in no rush (this was 1200 and my next booked tour was Royal Lochanagar at 1600 which is just over an hour drive away. However, they decided to split the full tour into two and put me on the first part to go, which was a group of five (including myself).
The tour starts with a brief history of Blair Athol, including why the name differs from the local village of Blair Atholl (which I had always wondered about, but not heard before). You then move into the production area where you hear about the malting and milling, an old no longer used Porteus mill is on display. The mash tun is a closed lid one with a heavily condensated window so it was difficult to see what was happening inside.
As you progress through you see the wash backs, stills and spirit safe. Each part of the production process was well covered. If you're new to touring ditislleries, you'll be able to understand the process used to make the whisky.
You're then taken to one of the warehouses, but unfortunately, there is a viewing area sealed off from the warehouse by glass screens. This means you don;t really get to experience the warehouse; at other distilleries where you get to go into a warehouse, such as Edradour, you get to smell the aging whisky which has evaporated into the air.
The end of the distillery is in the distillery shop where we got to sample the Blair Athol 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whiskey.
History
Blair Athol is one of Diageo's Classic Malts.
Blair Athol Distillery is a distillery in Scotland that distills Blair Athol single malt whisky. It is used in Bell's whisky, and is also normally available in a 12-year-old bottling. The distillery is located near Pitlochry in Perthshire.
The distillery was founded in 1798 by John Steward and Robert Robertson, originally named 'Aldour', after the Allt Dour burn the distillery draws it water from, but closed soon[when?] after opening. The distillery opened again and changed ownership to John Robertson in 1825.
It was sold several times in the period after, going from John Robertson to Alexander Conacher & Co., then to John Conacher & Co, which was inherited by Elizabeth Conacher in 1860. It was sold again to Peter Fraser & Co, and again again to Peter Mackenzie of P. McKenzie & Co Distillers Limited in 1882.
The distillery closed down in 1932. The mothballed distillery was bought by Arthur Bell and Sons, but didn't open again until it was rebuilt in 1949. In 1973 the distillery expanded, adding two stills to the existing two.
