The Scottish Whiskey Experience

Excursion: The Scottish Whiskey Experience

Location: Edinburgh, Scotland

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Note: If you don't drink by choice, are not of age or simply do not like whiskey, this experience CAN still be for you. When you get to the tasting room there is a non-alcoholic option for anyone wishing not to participate in liquor-drinking. Also, if you have kids or are worried about them not enjoying the experience, the non-alcoholic drink combined with the start of the tour in an amusement park styled barrel ride, can be fun for the whole family, individuals or groups of friends of all ages to enjoy!

Review:

Halò my fellow adventurers, recently I visited one of the most popular tourist attractions in Edinburgh, 'The Scottish Whiskey Experience'!

Whether or not you have heard of it, no need to fret, I will tell you all about the whiskey experience from the price of the tickets to the whiskey tasting event!

Upon arrival to the Whiskey Experience, I had this idea in my mind that the 'Whiskey Experience' would be just that, a quick tour with some guided notes regarding how Scottish whiskey is made, a tasting or two, take some pictures and then we would be on our way. However, I was wrong!

Now before I explain to you the experience itself, let me first explain to you how the price of the tickets go...

Educational Tours (for groups of 20+) Entry Fee = 13.50 Pounds or 18.86 USD

Silver Tour (what my family and I paid) Entry Fee Per Person = 15.50 Pounds or 21.66 USD

The Gold Tour Entry Fee Per Person = 27.00 Pounds or 37.73 USD

The Platinum Tour Entry Fee Per Person = 38.00 Pounds or 53.10 USD

Morning Masterclass Entry Fee Per Person = 40.00 Pounds or 55.89 USD

The Taste of Scotland Tour Entry Fee Per Person = 73.00 Pounds or 102 USD

As you can see listed above, I ranked the price of the tickets from cheapest to most expensive, because with each tour, the steeper the price gets, the more bells and whistles your experience gets!

(For more details please visit the official Whiskey Experience website for exact tour descriptions).

It really all depends on what you are looking to do, but for my family and I, a standard tour/experience was all we needed, thus purchasing the Silver Tour package, which included a one hour guided tour, the entry barrel ride, whiskey tasting for all three of us (a souvenir glass per person) and a drop off point in extra expense tasting room, where one could choose to spend their evening sampling whiskey still their heart's content!

After we bought our tickets, my parents and I were escorted towards the entry door to the experience, a turnstyle podium similar to those you see at Disney world before you embark on a ride... did I just say ride?! Yes, a whiskey barrel ride! As a way to kick-start the tour (before you have had any whiskey), in groups of up to three (or four if you squish), sit down inside a plastic whiskey barrel replica, and similar to the Winnie The Pooh ride at disney (a slow moving, non-abrasive, visual effect, cruiser), you get to learn all about the whiskey fermentation process, narrated by an animated character who tries to make you feel as though you will know all there is to know about whiskey by the end of the ride! Now I must point out, while I did compare the ride to something you may see at Disney, Universal Studios or any other theme park with a similar description, the barrel ride at the whiskey experience, while very cute and slightly informative, lacks a certain punch, perhaps it would be a good idea for them creators to pump the smell of whiskey through the air vents or make the visuals on the ride a little big bigger so you feel less like a tourist sitting on a ride and more like a bubble floating on top of a whiskey glass! With that being said, since no one could ever compare to the theme parks I previously mentioned, the ride was a cute start to the experience, unique and fun, but could it have been slightly improved, absolutely, but for the price we paid, I suppose this wasn't a bad start.

Following the disembarkment of the ride, my family and I were lead into a small gathering area with walls covered in whiskey fun facts, while we waited for the rest of our tour group to finish their barrel rides for the tasting experience! (note: our tour group session consisted of about 15-18 people). Once the rest of the group arrived, we were all shuttled into an informational video room where we watched a short explanation of the five different kinds of whiskey made in Scotland (from their flavor to fermentation process) that we would be able to select one of in the next tasting room.

From the video, our tour guide led us into the official experience tasting room, a room filled with a semi-circle table line with empty whiskey glasses ready for us to fill. Once sitting down, there was another little video screen in the room, along with an animated whiskey bottle on the center of the table that lit-up (on fire) as an added visual experience for people to look at while the tasting was being served. Now at this point, before I describe my experience any further, the video from the pervious room was good, and quite fascinating, and the tasting room was cute as well, however the space all felt a bit bland and empty, I was surprised that the creators of the experience didn't try to make the tasting room feel a bit more special (like an old bar or speak-easy perhaps, just a thought!)

Now finally the part you have all been waiting for, the tasting experience! Let me just reiterate again, if you do not drink or are not of age, there is a non-alcoholic sweet honey like beverage for you to sample so you can still partake in the tasting! As I had mentioned before about the video room, the video introduced us to five popular different types of whiskey made in Scotland that we would later have a chance to try. From those five options the flavors or body of the whiskies ranged anywhere from smokin hot to a caramelized body, to a hint of sweet vanilla to a citrus fruity flavor whiskey! Now once again let me just make this point, if you look above in the photo attached to this post you will see a glass of whiskey and the amount of whatever substance you choose to have poured. For personal safety and recommendation reasons, DO NOT take your glass of whiskey like a shot of regular liquor, it WILL and CAN burn your throat and stomach, leaving you in pain for a great deal afterwards, so be sure to only take small controlled sips at a time, (no I did not do this in case you were wondering, I just wanted to give you a heads up in case you visit!)

Once all the whiskey options were presented to us again, my family and I chose our respective drinks as the server made his way around the room to accommodate everyone. Now again, something I didn't particularly care for was the way by which the tasting room was directed, once all 15 or so of us in the room had some sort of whiskey in our glasses, moments later we were told to follow our tour guide into the next room (bring your glasses), leaving us almost no time to sample our selections sitting down before we had to get up and bring it with us. However, upon arrival to the next room, the room was FILLED with class cases lined with bottles of whiskey from EVERY year, distillery and generation! (see my photo above, the background is only a small part of the whiskey walls I am talking about)!

Once in this new whiskey wall room, our guide continued to explain to us more details about whiskey, what some of the bottles meant, some more fun facts and of course allowed us to ask any questions we may have had! (note: in the center of the room there was a small table with a jug of water for anyone who needed to wash down their whiskey).

Finally now at the end of the tour, once we left the whiskey bottle room we were all lead into a large seating area with two whiskey bars. There were at least two dozen people already in the room, as the tour guide bid his farewells and explained to us that this was an extra expense tasting room. Of course if you have had enough, hate whiskey (after your tasting at this point) or love it (in that case feel free to stay in the extra tasting room, but remember there is a fee), in order to exit the tour route you have to take the stairs down to the whiskey gift shop where one could expect to find various bottles of whiskey, both sampled on the tour and others from around the world, all listed at various prices (some of which still make me shiver after taking a look at), keychains, glasses and of course chocolate, basically anything you might want to need to commemorate your experience if the burning whiskey hole in your throat wasn't enough of a keepsake memory.

So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, the Scottish Whiskey Experience! Now of course since this is an 'experience review' post, here are my final thoughts regarding my tour...

Did I enjoy the tour? - Yes, but could it have been better, Yes!

At times I felt as though the whole experience was a bit rushed and cheesy at some points. Some of the information that the tour guide told us was stuff one could easily google and find on the first results page of wikipedia without having to pay for someone to read it to you. As I had mentioned before, the barrel ride was lacking a bit of that 'whiskey' experience magic (such as the smell of whiskey) that I think would have improved the ambiance, the tasting room was dull and rushed as well (although it was nice, it was not what I think anyone expected), the information presented was basic at the least, but I suppose if you know absolutely nothing about whiskey or just simply wanted a quick one hour tour (keeping in mind that only about 30 minutes of it was actually narrated by the guide since the rest of the time was spent on a ride or in front of a screen or whiskey tasting), then this is the tour for you.

However, as I previously mentioned, if you are looking for a more indepth experience, there are different priced tickets for different level experiences, and since I did the Silver Tour, perhaps if my description was not pleasing to you then another tour might be worth looking into.

Now with all that being said, I suppose if you don't have the time to make it to an official whiskey distillery factory, then the Scottish Whiskey Experience is perfect for you! It goes into brief detail about the whiskey process and lets you sample a glass, all while staying in the heart of Edinburgh!

So ladies and gentleman I will leave you with this, my rating for this experience is a 3.5/5 stars, meaning I had a good time/ liked the experience, however I wouldn't go back again (seeing as how once is enough), I wouldn't rush to tell anyone its a MUST do experience in Edinburgh as there are plenty of other things I could think of that I would rather spend my money on, but if you only have a few days to spend in the city and need to kill an hour or two, then the Scottish Whiskey Experience just might be for you!

Until next time fellow adventurer....

Cheers,

Meghan Chayka

Excursion: The Scottish Whiskey Experience

Location: Edinburgh, Scotland

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars