Location and contact details
Location: Glen Moray Distillery, Bruceland Road, Elgin, IV30 1YE
Visit Type: Vistor Centre
Co-ordinates: 57.643513, -3.345130
Telephone: +44 (0) 1343 550 900
Email: visitor.centre@glen-moray.co.uk
Web: http://www.glenmoray.com/ 
Twitter: Glen Moray (@GlenMorayDist)Facts and figures
| Location | Glen Moray Distillery, Bruceland Road, Elgin, IV30 1YE |
| Founded | 1897 |
| Owner | La Martiniquaise |
| Water Source | River Lossie |
| Stills | 3 wash stills 3 spirit stills |
Opening Hours
Opening hours vary through the year with tours running every hour and a half; check for details of opening hours
Tours
Standard Tour
£5
Includes optional complimentary tasting of two whiskies.
Intermediate Tour
£35
An in-depth tour and tasting with a manager. Wednesdays at 13:00.
Subject to availability, booking required. To make an Intermediate Tour reservation, please contact the distillery.
Chocolate and Whiksy Tasting Tour
£20
A detailed guided tour around the distillery followed by a tasting of four Glen Moray whiskies paired with chocolates by Iain Burnett, Highland Chocolatier. Fridays at 12:00.
Subject to availability, booking required. To make a reservation, please contact the distillery to make a reservation.
Review: Intermediate Tour (13:00 on 25/09/2019)
Price: £35
I booked on the Intermediate Tour by phone a few weeks in advance; I had tried emailing a few days before calling, but didn't hear back, which was I then called. I arrived a few minutes before the tour was scheduled to begin; there was a second person booked on the tour so the start was delayed 10 minutes to give them to time arrive. They didn't, so the tour was just myself and the guide, Emma, who is manager of the visitor centre.
I've been the standard tour at Glen Moray before, but there have been changes to the distillery since I was last here. On the tour toy see the grain silos and the conveyors from them to the mill, but not the mil itself; you then move to a large room containing the mash tun and wash stills, which are of a unique design, for Scotland, which is explained; you step outside to view the wash backs before moving on.
We went through the old part of the distillery, which is no longer in operation, where the old mash tun and wash backs are. Finally we moved onto the still house which contains the spirit stills, some of which were converted from wash stills. Emma explained how the old wash stills were converted into spirit stills.
The final part of the tour, is the tasting which takes place in the visitor centre cafe. There are four tasting as part of the Intermediate Tour:
- Glen Moray Rhum Agricole Finish (46.3% ABV)
- Glen Moray 21 Year Old Portwood Finish (46.3% ABV)
- Glen Moray 1998 PX Finish (45.5% ABV)
- Glen Moray Peated PX Finish (55.8% ABV)
Emma said to speak to her or one of the other people if there was any of the other whiskies I anted to try; I asked about the new one in the core range: Glen Moray 10 Year Old Fired Oak Single Malt Scotch Whisky.
They sell a drivers pack for £2, but was given one of these as part of the tour which meant, as a driver, I was able to bring all of the samples away with me to taste later.
History
Glen Moray started life as West Brewery in Elgin run by Robert Thorne & Sons, and was converted to a distillery with 2 stills in 1897. Following a fire and extensive rebuilding program at their Aberlour Distillery, the company focused on production of Aberlour whisky, allowing the Glen Moray distillery to run down. It was closed in 1910. The distillery was purchased by the owners of the Glenmorangie Distillery, the MacDonald and Muir families at some time during the 1920s. The distillery received 2 additional stills in 1958 and at present has an annual capacity of around 2,000,000 litres.
The company now belongs to La Martiniquaise which uses part of its production in their blended Whisky Label 5. The distillery was expanded in 2012 to produce 3,300,000 litres annually from 3 wash stills and 3 spirit stills. 2016 has seen further expansion and development of the site with a growth in production to around 5,500,000 litres annually predicted.
