Location and contact details
Location: Aberlour Distillery, Aberlour, Banffshire, AB38 9PJ
Visit Type: Vistor Centre
Co-ordinates: 57.467280, -3.229995
Telephone: +44 (0) 1340 881 249
Web: http://www.aberlour.com/ 
Twitter: Aberlour VC (@AberlourVC)Facts and figures
| Location | Aberlour Distillery, Aberlour, Banffshire, AB38 9PJ |
| Founded | 1879 |
| Founder | James Fleming |
| Owner | Pernod Ricard |
| Stills | 2 wash stills (21,310 litres) 2 spirit stills (20,000 litres and 15,456 litres) |
Opening Hours
The distillery is open five days a week all year round and seven days a week between March to November. Check http://www.aberlour.com/distillery/ for full details.
It is recommended tours be booked in advance either using the web form or contacting the distillery on the above number.
Tours
The Aberlour Experience Tour
£15
A special treat for the connoisseur, with privileged behind-the-scenes access to how the whisky is made and a tutored sampling of the best of the best.
Following a tutored nosing and tasting of six of the most acclaimed Aberlour expressions in their fabulous tasting room.
The tour lasts approximately 1.5 hours for up to 12 guests.
Duration approximately 1.5 hours.
Casks from the Past
£35
A tutored tasting for serious whisky aficionados
At its magical location alongside the River Spey, the small and intimate Aberlour Distillery holds a special place in the hearts of malt whisky lovers. The expert crafting of spirit and cask has created a range of superlative single malt whiskies with layers of complexity and a velvety richness.
Aberlour is highly regarded by the most experienced experts who discover it on their single malt journey. “Lovers of the richer style of Speyside malt, rightly regard Aberlour as being of the top echelonâ€. Michael Jackson - Malt Whisky Companion.
This tutored tasting for serious whisky aficionados offers a unique opportunity to sample some very special drams indeed – some vintages that aren’t commercially available at any price.
The tutored tasting takes place in the luxurious Fleming Rooms, but does not include a distillery tour.
Duration 1 hour
Max 8 Guests
Friday @ 11:30am – other times may be available by request.
Chronicles of the Cask
£45
Sensory journey from Cask to Glass...
Join them for this unique tasting and learn how your different senses can enhance your whisky tasting experience. Starting with some history and heritage of this beautiful distillery along with an introductory dram in the James Fleming bar you will then move onto exploring different aromas and flavours that you may or may not find within the Aberlour range – everyone’s palate and nose are different.
A visit to the still house is then followed by a visit to Warehouse 1 where you get to nose some very special casks and talk more about the history of Bourbon and Sherry and the impact they have both had on Scotch Whisky.
Back to the James Fleming bar to sample three very exclusive Aberlour’s which are only available to try on this tasting.
The tutored tasting takes place in the luxurious Fleming Rooms, but does not include a distillery tour.
Duration 1 ½ hour
Max 6 Guests
Thurs @ 11:00am – other times may be available by request.

For further details of the events and to make a reservation please contact:
Aberlour Distillery Visitor Centre on 44 [0] 1340 881 249 or aberlour.admin@pernod-ricard.com
Review: The Aberlour Experience Tour (10:00 on 29/09/2019)
Price: £15
I toured the Aberlour at 1000 on a Sunday morning; there was a total of 14 people on the tour which I had booked online.
Arriving a few minutes early, I got checked in and used the rest room which is a short walk into the distillery premises from the visitor centre and main car park; I took the opportunity to take some photos of the distillery on the walk. Photography is allowed on the tour with the exception of the mill room and still room; I got some photos of the Porteus mill through the glass door and of the still house from down by the door.
The tour starts just outside the visitor centre where you walk further into the distillery premises before entering a room inside the main building; in this room you are introduced to the distillery while you have your first dram of whisky, which was the Aberlour 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky (Double Cask Matured)
After this you move to a room with the afore mentioned glass door through which you can see the still. Here you hear about the barley, malting and milling process, along with an opportunity to taste some malted barley.
Then you move onto the room containing the mash tun and wash backs to hear about the processes. I was on the base ABerlour tour so the detail you get on the more in depth tours was missing, but I expected that. You had the time to take a look at the kit and take any photos you wanted. The guide fielded some questions from people on the tour, but these were all conducted as private conversations so only the person asking the tour got to hear the question and response. A better approach would have been to take the question, tell everyone else what was asked and then give the answer. Instead it ended up with a question asked and answered in a private conversation as everyone else stood around.
We then moved onto the still house, where the stills and spirit safe are located. There is a viewing platform at the top where you can see all the stills, but the explanation is given down towards the bottom where the spirit safe is. This isn't the quietest area in a distillery and it was a little hard to hear some of what the guide was saying, especially as there was a lot of talking within the group (not just I found this problematic, as a Dutchman stood next to me asked the group of Germans behind to keep the noise down). There was again some questions asked of the guide, which only the person asking the question heard.
Photography was allowed from next to the exit door looking back up into the still house.
Afetr this we moved to a warehouse which is iron grid down one side and dirty glass windows in from of you where you can view the casks. Then it was around the back of the distillery to see the bio-plant as you walked round to the tasting room.
In the tasting room, there was four whiskies and a sample of new make spirit waiting for us:
- New Make Spirit
- Aberlour 16 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky (Double Cask Matured)
- Aberlour A'Bunadh Cask Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 70 cl (Batch Numbers May Vary)
- Aberlour Casg Annamh Single Malt Scotch Whisky
- Aberlour 13 Year Old Single Cask
- Aberlour 14 Year Old Single Cask
The latter two whiskies are only available to buy from the distillery shop in the visitor centre.
The tour at Aberlour was okay; it is the base tour they do which I was on and the level of information is what I would expect. My main criticism would be what I outlines above about private questions/answers at various points rather than including the whole group on the tour with another criticism that the booking page says maximum 12, but the tour I was on had 14 (7 Germans, 4 Turks, 2 Dutch and I).
History
James Fleming, son of a local tenant farmer built Aberlour Distillery in 1879 after having worked at Dailuiane, Carron for ten years. Producing whisky from 1880 onwards until his death at the age of 65 in 1895. Fleming is buried opposite the distillery in the village cemetery. Robert Thorne & Sons bought the distillery and ran it until 1921. In 1921, Robert Thorne & Sons Ltd sold the distillery to W. H. Holt & Sons, a brewery near Manchester. In 1945 S. Campbell & Sons Ltd bought the distillery. In 1975 Pernod Ricard acquired Campbell Distilleries, and they joined with Chivas Brothers in 2001 forming a portfolio of 14 single malt distilleries and 1 grain distillery in Scotland, and 2 gin distilleries in England. In 2002, a new, modernized visitor centre was opened.
