THE drinks giant says Glenkinchie will marry the story of the whisky with the story of its East Lothian setting, the aromas that make up its flavour and key aspects of its development such as its place as a 1930s hit in the history of cocktail making.
Diageo says the seeds of future regeneration for whisky tourism in Scotland are being sown with what it describes as a unique new multi-million pound distillery and garden visitor attraction at the site near Edinburgh.
The single malt distillery, nestled beneath the Lammermuir hills in the region famed as the garden of Scotland for its quality food and drink produce, will open its gates to the public again this week after a major transformation of the visitor attraction as part of a £185 million investment in Scotch whisky experiences by Diageo.
READ MORE: Diageo executive says diversity and inclusion must be a ‘business imperative’
Glenkinchie will be the Lowland Home of Johnnie Walker, the first of four corner distilleries around Scotland that will form an incredible network of visitor experiences linked to the world’s number one Scotch whisky and the new global centrepiece Johnnie Walker Princes Street attraction in Edinburgh, planned to open next summer.
The Glenkinchie Distillery attraction is centred around a landscaped garden, curated to reflect the local rural environment, and an immersive guest experience in the distillery’s traditional Victorian red brick warehouses.
Barbara Smith, managing director of brand homes for Diageo in Scotland, officially declared the new visitor experience open with the ceremonial planting of a tree to complete the garden yesterday.
The move was also aimed at representing the future growth of Scotch whisky and tourism ahead of the planned public opening on Thursday, subject to government guidance on coronavirus.
She said: “The opening of the wonderful new visitor experience and garden at Glenkinchie is the first step in our long-term £185m investment in whisky tourism in Scotland.
“We are acutely aware of the difficult times many people are going through, particularly our colleagues in the tourism and hospitality sector across Scotland.
“We know there’s a long way to go and a lot of uncertainty ahead. Still, we believe in the resilience of our business and our communities, and we will be doing all we can through our investment to sow the seeds of recovery and future growth.”
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Diageo says European lockdown is having ‘significant impact’ on business
Ramsay Borthwick, Glenkinchie distillery manager, said that site “will give people a thrilling first taste of the new visitor experiences we are creating across Scotland”.
He said: “We will be offering people an experience like no other distillery in Scotland at Glenkinchie and that will be followed as we transform Clynelish, Cardhu and Caol Ila over the coming months, and as we build towards the opening of our global Johnnie Walker Princes Street attraction in Edinburgh next summer.”
Along with Diageo’s network of distillery visitor experiences across Scotland, tours operate according to strict Covid protocols to protect guests, employees and the local community, it said.
Created by BRC Imagination Arts, a global design and production agency, renowned for its work on major visitor experiences including the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, the Glenkinchie brand home “allows visitors to immerse themselves in the history, craft and flavour of whisky”.
The new look brand home features “an abundant garden area with an orchard and specially selected plants native to the East Lothian region and planted to create year-round seasonal variations”.
The new visitor experience has been created in the distillery’s warehouses, in which guests are taken “on a journey through Glenkinchie’s heritage”.
The facility has tasting rooms to allow guests to sample whisky and discover the credentials of Glenkinchie, as well as bar area serving tasting platters and drinks including cocktails.
It will offer a range of specialist tours and events including a Glenkinchie Flavour Journey, Whisky in the Wild tour, Warehouse and Cask Tour, Flowers and Cocktails Class and a Behind the Scenes Tour and Tasting. Glenkinchie has also been designed to operate to the highest standards of sustainably and was recently presented with a Gold Award by Green Tourism, said Diageo, adding Johnnie Walker is the world’s most popular Scotch whisky.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel