I love this quirky touristy shop on Aberlour High Street in the centre of Aberlour town just beside…read morethe piazza. You go in for a snoop around and out you come with a few goodies. HOW come? Well, if and when you visit this shop you will find out why :-) It's the power of persuasion of beautifully displayed items that tempt your consciousness and you won't know what happened until it does. I think they petty much sell everything from typically touristy to every day items like whiskey, tea pots, egg holders, chutney, honey, shortbread, chocolate, cakes, teas , napkins, wine, special beer, gin, fish, sausages, salmon, caviar.......and much more. If you have the time don't miss out and stop there for a bit of browsing.

In the middle of a 3 Speyside distillery tour, we needed lunch! There are a few good sit down /…read morenicer restaurants nearby, but we don't typically have a big meal mid-day, so we found Spey Larder to be a good option for takeaway sandwiches (or "Rolls" as they call them) It's a market with a full deli and a great cheese selection. I'm a vegetarian, so got a Cheese Roll on a seeded roll. They make it on the spot for you, so you can let them know what you want or don't want on it. It's quick service with pre-packaged drinks and snacks available if you want. There's no seating, but it's a couple of minutes' walk around the corner to benches which overlook the Spey River. If you want something quicker and perhaps lighter than a full sit-down meal, Spey Larder will serve you well.

If you only go on one distillery tour while in Speyside, this is the one to go on! You're gonna…read moreneed reservations because it fills up, but it is an in-depth tour of the distillery and their process. The warehouses are fantastic and they have a really good taste after the tour. If you just wanna go to the tasting room because you can't give them a tour, you can spend the lot of money, but you'll have an experience like no other The grounds are amazing and the Balvenie castle ruined is within walking distance and a nice place to have a picnic lunch depending on the time of year. You also walk beside barley fields. Barley that goes in the scotch that you just saw being made or being engaged.

Glenfiddich was one of our three stops during a Speyside whisky tour day. When we originally went…read moreto book a tour (in advance from the States), staff at the distillery informed us our particular date would not be possible as they were in an annual shutdown period when essential maintenance was taking place. We decided to go anyway to sample the goods in the Whisky Lounge since we were touring 2 other distilleries that day. (And how many times do you need to learn the same whisky-making process?) When we arrived, they informed us they WERE doing tours that day, but they were fully booked. We would have liked to tour this one as it was the one larger / bigger name distillery we were visiting, so we were bummed to hear that we may have been misinformed by their staff in advance of our trip. That having been said, we continued with our plan to taste some of their whiskies - asking for guidance from staff on what we should try that would be more difficult to get back in the states. (The same question we asked at every bar throughout Scotland.) We were given a little guidance and selected 3 drams to create our own tasting flight. We liked what we got (perhaps more so than the tastings we had at the other Speyside distilleries that day) There's a huge whisky menu to choose from, including existing flights...so it's a bit overwhelming, but ultimately we were happy we stopped in, even despite the miscommunication about the availability of tours.) Bonus - on the way out, a very friendly cat found its way to us and did its best to convince us to either stay forever or take him with us...ahh, if only it were possible.

If you're a fan of simple, classic cookies done right, Walkers Shortbread is exactly that. These…read moreshortbreads have a rich, buttery flavor that hits you immediately...not overly sweet, but with that perfect balance where the butter and subtle sugar shine through. They literally melt in your mouth with each bite. The texture is what really sets them apart: crisp on the outside, tender and crumbly in the center, with that satisfying little break that just feels right when you snap one open. They aren't fancy or loaded with extras....that's the beauty of them. It's pure, old-school shortbread goodness. Flavor notes you'll notice: Buttery -- deep and authentic, not artificial Mildly sweet -- sweet enough to satisfy without being overwhelming Comforting -- kinda nostalgic, like grandma's kitchen Great with tea or coffee, perfect for snacking, gifting, or anytime you want a little classic treat. If you like buttery, melt in your mouth cookies, these are a go to.

Since I was a kiddo, I've enjoyed and indulged in a good biscuit and Walkers shortbread with a good…read morecuppa. Even enjoyed Walkers crisps and mince pies for Christmas. Love this brand and will always seek them out at a store. I recently visited Epcot and loved the friendliness of staff in the UK Pavilion. They had tea and Mickey shortbread by Walkers!!! A perfect souvenir and a beautiful shop to look around. Great decor and product. No matter who sells it, I'll be buying Walkers Shortbread!

I've been to several whisky tours/tastings in the USA, Canada, and Scotland. This was by far the…read morebest tour. Really fun. Very informative and interesting and their whisky is great. And they don't add color. Love that they would give you little bottles to take home your whisky if you didn't want to finish it during the tasting. It was a pretty generous tasting too. Loved how many we got to try. Amazing that such a big distillery is still family owned. The staff felt a bit like a family too (in a good way). Loved the stories and history and the world's smallest whisky storage warehouse. I know there are a lot of distilleries to choose from when you are touring Scotland and each has its own unique thing to offer, this is one you want to keep on your list though!

Third stop on my whiskey tour…read more  Only  one on the tour that is still family owned. We sampled a 10 year old and 15 year old  single malt. We visited one of the original warehouses and spent some time in their corporate space.  You can see the rails used to move the barrels to the warehouse.  Just outside the corporate hall is a cabinet of bottles dating back to 1950's. That was cool to see.  Posted with the bottles is a sheet displaying how much the each bottle cost now. One interesting fact the guide mentioned  was that they still use gas heating.  Only two other distillaries still use gas heating,  others use a steam coil.

Glen Moray is underrated. First, they have a lovely visitor center with many different types of…read moredifferent whiskys. The gal that served us was very knowledgeable on their different whiskys and they have many different tastings you can choose from. Glen Moray is a Speyside whisky so the tasting notes were sweet with notes of vanilla, caramel, dried fruits. All the whiskys were smooth and enjoyable. This was a great place to come for a tasting and learn about their different whiskys.

My husband and I did a tasting here and really enjoyed ourselves. Ben walked us through each whisky…read moreand was very kind and friendly. Thank you for taking the time to explain and share!

Our Explorer Tour was amazing! We were with Morag, who made the tour so great and memorable. She…read morewas fully of energy, had a great voice that projected, and had a great knowledge base. It was very interesting to learn how Balvenie is unique from other distilleries and how they do things by hand (that has been automated in other places). Despite doing multiple tours prior to Balvenie, I felt like I learned a ton of new information on this tour. The 5 tastings after were well curated, interesting, and well explained by Morag. We loved it!

We unfortunately visited during the silent season and with heavy maintenance so our tour was…read morelimited to the visitor center, cooperage, and tasting. As other reviewers stated you should definitely sign up for Warehouse 24 club before touring for a nice additional sample of whisky. The tour guide was great and the tour was as good as it could have been given the limitations of the maintenance. I wish our visit wasn't during the silent season but oh well. It is one of my favorite whiskies. The parking and signage is as difficult to discern as described. If you are looking for food you should visit glenfiddich next door (also owned by William grant and sons). That is the closest restaurant.

Run, don't walk over to Benriach. This is a beautiful facility and the staff is so friendly! I came…read morehere on a private whisky tour and had a lovely tasting. Benriach truly makes some amazing expressions of whisky. The whisky was smooth and balanced. The tastings were priced reasonably and the staff gave wonderful notes on the available whiskys. I had tea while I was here as well which was lovely. The visitor center had a small gift shop and I was able to purchase small bottles that would fit in my suitcase. My Favorite whisky I tried was the one from 1993. These are Speyside whiskys and are not peated so they have deep fruity notes. I highly recommend stopping here if you are on a Speyside tour.

What a great little store. And to be clear, this is much more than a convenience store. They have…read morefresh produce, fresh baked goods, and beer, cider, and spirits. What's more is it is a co-op and so has members with a common mission of giving back to their community. It's wonderful to see these stores throughout Scotland. This particular store is tidy and organized and has a good selection of groceries. Don't miss it!