After 18 months of extensive renovation, The Glenlivet distillery is welcoming back whisky fans to its newly refurbished home.
Offering “innovative technology combined with exclusive bottlings, immersive tours and whisky tastings”, customers can also look forward to tastings and exclusive bottlings as well as the chance to find out more about the brand’s history.
Set over 1000 square metres, the distillery will offer the opportunity to discover aged whiskies from the archives, including rare editions.
Miriam Eceolaza, director of The Glenlivet, said: “The Glenlivet is a symbol of Speyside, and after 18 months of renovations, we can’t wait to open the doors to our local communities and bring whisky lovers into our new visitor experience, as we continue to push boundaries and break tradition within single malt whisky.
“It’s a true immersion into the iconic Speyside region, walking guests through our stunning indoor field of local barley, tasting from our old and rare archives, experimenting with our famous cocktail capsules and taking a unique piece of Speyside home with our straight from the cask personalised bottling.”
Those keen to try the famous Glenlivet Cocktail Capsule Collection, or whisky pods, can also find them as part of the experience. The ‘whisky pods’ or capsule collection went viral back in 2019, are served in a seaweed-extract casing – one of nature’s most renewable resources.
Inspired by the legendary hospitality of its founder, George Smith, as well as its remote glen location, the visitor centre at the home of The Glenlivet boasts a new look after undergoing 18 months of extensive renovations.
The revamp includes an indoor field of barley, harvested and preserved at one of the local farms that supply the distillery, a chandelier made from local dried flowers, a mosaic floor designed by Scottish ceramics artist Helen Miles that pays tribute to Scottish history and completely transformed interiors using the predominant natural colours of the Glenlivet Estate.
Visitors can take home a unique bottle through an exclusive label personalisation and engraving service at its transformed retail space. There is also A new archive wall that features some of the distillery’s rarest bottles.
On display in the new Smugglers’ Hideout room are 83 hand-crafted clay pots, created by Whichford Pottery, to replicate those historically used to smuggle The Glenlivet through the remote hillsides many years ago.
Using innovative technology, the new visitor experiences on offer aim to take guests on an immersive journey through The Glenlivet’s rich history, which brings to life the battle between illicit distillers and excisemen.
“At The Glenlivet we believe in pushing boundaries and breaking tradition, and this is certainly represented throughout this redesign,” said Linda Brown, Visitor Experience Manager.
“I worked at the visitor experience when it was last refurbished 23 years ago, but this is something else! To tell the brand’s story in a truly authentic way, we have reinvigorated the original experience, striving to give whisky lovers the best possible time whilst visiting the distillery. We look forward to welcoming back our loyal fans, as well as new faces.”
To celebrate the reopening, the first 100 bottles of each exclusive hand-filled edition have been signed by master distiller Alan Winchester.
For more information, go to maltwhiskydistilleries.com
