Bird Watching (Glenturret)
Ruffling a few feathers? The Whisky Magazine Mystery Visitor tries out the Famous
Grouse Experience
Glenturret Distillery has the distinction of being the first visitor centre to be reviewed by the Mystery Visitor, right back in the launch issue of Whisky Magazine. But things have moved on at Glenturret, with the creation of the £2.5 million ‘Famous Grouse Experience’, so a return visit was definitely called for.
Some things remain unchanged at this charming little distillery. It’s still right on the tourist trail (the car park was full to overflowing when we arrived); there’s still a great restaurant and you still get a tour round Glenturret, allegedly Scotland’s oldest distillery.
Apart from that, it’s all change. The emphasis now is on The Famous Grouse, a well-known blended whisky, which, if we were told once we were told a hundred times, is the best-selling whisky in Scotland.
The tour is pretty aggressively priced at £5.95 (or £10.50 for the tasting tour), with no discount coupon in the shop, unlike some other competitor centres that charge for admission.
Your guide gives a straightforward tour round the tiny distillery, covering the essentials of the distilling process and aided by some strong graphics illustrated by an endearing cartoon grouse. It’s simple stuff, though, targeted at the large number of coach tours and first-time visitors
that seem to make up the audience.
The corporate heart really isn’t in it, as the prime object is to move you into the blending room and the ‘House of Grouse’, the achingly modern brand centre for the Fam.....
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By Mystery Visitor
Section : Mystery Visitor
Page number : 24
