Dewar’s is one of the most popular blends in the world, and Aberfeldy is its spiritual home. The distillery is home to the Dewar’s Experience and any tour at the distillery provides a mix of history and drams from Aberfeldy and the Dewar’s brand. Neither have historically been on my radar, but when the wife and I had a few free days to adventure while in Scotland, we decided to visit a friend in the region with stops by Glenturret and Aberfeldy.

The area around Aberfeldy was stunning, especially if you don’t mind narrow winding roads with frequent tight, blind turns. Beyond the adrenaline rush of driving unfamiliar highland roads, the landscape was mesmerizing. There were so many places to stop and take a break from the road (being from an island, anything over a thirty minute drive is long distance to us). We made stops at Glenturret on our way to Aberfeldy, and then Drummond Castle on our way back; each provided much needed coffee, snacks, and a chance to stretch our legs. The of Aberfeldy was picturesque and walkable, and though we had less than a day there all told, we found time to do the wonderful Birks of Aberfeldy walk. It made for a mild hike and we were blessed with a cool, sunny morning.

The distillery was wonderful; the staff friendly and helpful, even though we were there at the end of the day on a Sunday. I wish we had had more time to spend at it, the main visitor room has a large reception area with tables and couches, a cafe, a bar, and of course the distillery shop. We managed to complete our shopping and grab some drams to go from the bar (which had whiskies from all across the Dewar-verse), but did not have the chance to relax in the cozy environs– it felt like it would have been a great place to take lunch and try some whiskies.

Aberfeldy’s house style strikes me as very Spring-like; think meadows and grass with morning dew and plenty of honey. It can be delicate when proofed down, but otherwise has more heft than I had realized. Enough that it can stand up to a variety of different cask maturations (and boy does the distillery love to experiment there– some more successful than others). The staff made it very easy to try some of these different maturations, providing driver’s drams and lovely labels for everything (something not every distillery did). The wife and I were impressed enough that, despite not being big Aberfeldy drinkers, we would return if given the chance.

So here we go, a week dedicated to Aberfeldy (with a few Aberlour snuck in there, because I’ve definitely never confused the two…)

Artwork this week is my own: here we have giant cats at Aberfeldy Distillery. When I shared the image with a friend at the distillery , the replied “I can confirm this happened once.”