Perched on the edge of Islay’s rocky coast, the Ardbeg Visitors Centre offers eight different experiences ranging from £20 to £90 per person ($25 to $114), including an outdoor tasting and picnic.
Multiple top-five finishes across several categories, including average whisky review score, number of reviews, total tour and tasting experiences on offer, and recent industry award wins, helped propel Ardbeg to the number one spot on The Milroy’s Whisky Travel Index with a score of 92.24 out of 100.
Technically a purpose-built attraction rather than a distillery, Johnnie Walker’s award-winning Princess Street Visitors Centre came second in our top 50 whisky tour and tasting experiences, while the Glenkinchie Distillery, also known as Lowlands home of Johnnie Walker, finished in third place with a score of 83.97 out of 100.
Top 10 best whisky distillery experiences
- Ardbeg Distillery – 92.24
- Johnnie Walker Princes Street – 88.97
- Glenkinchie Distillery – 83.97
- Springbank Distillery – 83.84
- Bruichladdich Distillery – 83.50
- Glengoyne Distillery – 81.17
- Nc’nean Distillery – 79.45
- Deanston Distillery – 78.39
- Laphroaig Distillery – 78.34
- Glen Moray Distillery – 78.28
See the Top 50 best Scottish distillery tour and tasting experiences, here.
The distilleries producing great whisky while reducing their environmental impact
Established in 2017, Nc’nean is a small independent distillery with a focus on crafting organic and sustainable whisky.
Nc’nean has been recognised with multiple industry awards for its sustainable process and is a registered B-Corp – meaning that they have been independently verified to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.
Second place in our sustainability category is Bruichladdich. While Bruichladdich is also registered as a B-Corp, it earned a slightly lower score from the independent body with an impact score of 100.7 compared to 135.6.
While the third-place Arbikie Distillery may not be a B-Corp, it has been recognised with multiple industry awards for its sustainable practices.
You can find more information, including the best value distillery tours, the best premium experiences, and the distilleries producing the best-reviewed whisky, here.
This information was provided by Milroy’s of Soho, to find out more on this research, go to The Milroy’s Whisky Travel Index.
