The Glenlivet – The New Visitor Experience!

PR trip / All thoughts and opinions are, of course, my own. 

As The Glenlivet has redone their tour and visitor centre I got the opportunity to travel up with them and check it out!

The Glenlivet Distillery & Visitor Centre

I have had the opportunity to visit The Glenlivet once before when we stayed in an AirBnb in the valley last summer but since the Visitor Centre has been redone I was really excited to see the new look. mediately when you step in you are greeted with a lovely interior design which feels both homely and luxurious at the same time. During our visit the production areas where off-limit as it was quiet season and they were having some additional work done but we did the new tour which takes you through an indoor barley field, inside a wash back and through the tasting room which tied together the history of The Glenlivet along with their vision for the future in a really nice way. The only thing I would note that is good to know in advance is that the drone footage during one of the first stages of the tour can make you a little bit travel sick if you are sensitive like me. In the tasting room we tried the core range 12, 15 and 18 along with guidance from master distiller Alan Winchester who certainly has many incredible stories to tell.

As part of our experience we also got to bottle our own whisky and I chose the 18 year old which I’m really excited about trying when I get back home.

I have also written more about my visit for the Whisky Magazine and you can find my article here.

The Tasting

We were also treated to a tasting hosted by the lovely Caris who is one of the ambassadors for The Glenlivet. The tasting consisted of a 25 year old single cask expression and the 12 year old Illicit Still along with a pairing of Bare Bones chocolate, gourmet cheese popcorn and the renowned and cocktail capsules that went viral last year. The capsules are intriguing indeed and do taste great. Before you try them it’s hard to image what the texture will be like but it’s pretty much like a liquid trapped inside a thin shell that pops when you pressure or bite through it. The 12 year old Illicit Still was also such a lovely whisky and I L O V E popcorn so this pairing just made me so happy.

Whisky Safari with Ghillie Basan x The Glenlivet

Up a windy little track in the middle of the Livet valley lies a wooden house which is the home to chef and food writer Ghillie Basan. Here we got to plate our own food on her Whisky Safari experience which was then enjoyed alongside the selected whiskies from the Glenlivet. In between certain dishes we also got some hot courses that Ghillie also had prepared, like a lovely spicy soup. We sat outside on her terrace and enjoyed the beautiful weather. The salmon with the green dip and the apricots with labneh are outstandingly good! Highly recommend this experience for anyone who is interested in both food and whisky.

One final tasting…

Before it was time to head back home we all walked down to The Packhorse Bridge, which was part of the old logo for The Glenlivet and we had a toast along with Alan Winchester.

We also had the pleasure of seeing some baby coos on the walk and they’re always so charming!

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