Tomatin Distillery

📌 Tomatin, Highland
★★★

Just off the A9 between Aviemore and Inverness, Tomatin isn’t particularly well known compared to many Scotch whiskies. Yet until as recently as the 1970s it was the largest (malt) distillery in Scotland. So what happened? Tomatin’s focus has been primarily on blended whisky, so the more recent shift in interest towards single malts hasn’t been good news. Following financial problems in the 80s, the new Japan-based parent company have dramatically reduced production and focused more on making single malts, leaving a cavernous distillery with lots of empty space in places. This generally leaves plenty of room for photos, though the mega-industrial scale and uncompromising architecture doesn’t exactly make this a photogenic place. The on-site cooperage and an old mash tun (which you can walk inside) are a couple of unusual extras on the popular standard tour, which was a bit more detailed than many we’ve been on.