Blair Athol Distillery Reviews Summary

Category: Distillery

Address: Perth Rd, Pitlochry, PH16 5LY, United Kingdom

Phone: +441796482003

Rating: 4.8
based on 201 reviews.

Distillery Tour Experience

Pros:

  • "The distillery looked great with the autumnal colours."
  • "We learned a lot about whisky and at the end there was a whisky tasting, which was also very informative and delicious."
  • "Just left a tour of this place and was blown away by the friendliness and hospitality of the staff there."
  • "Enjoyed a tour and tasting with my wife's family who had come over on holiday from Czech Republic. From start to finish the staff made everyone feel very welcome."
  • "The whole tour lasted 45 minutes of sheer information on Scottish Whisky including taste, smell, sight with lots of laughter."
  • "Our tour guide, Andrew was informative, friendly, and had a great sense of humor."
  • "The tour guide was very informative and professional."

Cons:

  • "I was disappointed that the shop was mostly just Diageo whisky and merchandise you can find anywhere, with only a couple of Blair Athol bottlings."
  • "If the customer service does not have any intention of improving, there is a high possibility of losing clients for sure with no customer service intention and arrogant attitude like this."
  • "Not wheelchair friendly or accessible as lots of steps on the tour and to get to the whiskey tasting at the end."
  • "Stopped in as I happened to be passing by. Cute looking place but beware you apparently have to make reservations for tours."
  • "As much as I love Pitlochry i thought i would visit Blair Athol as i love all things whisky. I wasn't too impressed with the tour or should I say the tour guide."
  • "The only downside was the lack of Blair Atholl whiskey to taste as it’s in short supply."
  • "Health and safety a bit over the top (first distillery where electronics had to be turned off for fear of explosions; so no photos)."

Staff and Service

Pros:

  • "Mark was excellent and very knowledgeable of the process."
  • "Ruaridh was our tour guide he was extremely knowledgeable and charismatic."
  • "Miki behind the bar was incredible - super kind, patient, and spent time teaching us a lot about what we didn’t know."
  • "The guide Jill was very informative and a great laugh and answered all of our questions."
  • "Fantastic tour. Booked onto the Allt Dour tour with host David who was excellent."
  • "Our guide Ben was friendly and chatty, clearly spoken and was passionate about the distillery and the product!"
  • "The staff are friendly and informative."

Cons:

  • "If the customer service does not have any intention of improving, there is a high possibility of losing clients for sure with no customer service intention and arrogant attitude like this."
  • "The guy had just not long moved up from England and you could tell he had no interest in what he was doing, and it was just a job."
  • "Walked over to try to book a tour for that day but instead of being greeted by the tour staff, was ignored."
  • "Staff were rude and not even apologetic that they 'couldn't' accommodate an addition to the group."
  • "I don’t feel it is fair to refuse refund even if someone else booked the newly free places on the tour."
  • "I still decided to return the whiskey and buy other brands in Edinburgh since the customer service was like this, and I didn’t feel respected."
  • "We were 10 minutes late for the whisky tasting experience and they didn't allow us in which was slightly disappointing."

Facilities and Accessibility

Pros:

  • "The distillery grounds are beautiful and authentic."
  • "A lovely distillery. Great setting and very picturesque."
  • "The mash tun bar in the visitors center is an absolute must see, it's a one of a kind bar created from a real mash tun!"
  • "Gorgeous facility (the autumn colors and the ivy were exquisite!)"
  • "The bar is well priced and has a good selection of rarer Diageo malts, the distillery shop was fairly priced and had a couple of lesser seen bottlings."
  • "They have all the COVID-19 precautionary measures in place."
  • "The Entrance area had a bar made out of old redundant Pot Still which is unlikely in any other distilleries I've been."

Cons:

  • "Not wheelchair friendly or accessible as lots of steps on the tour and to get to the whiskey tasting at the end."
  • "The only thing this distillery lacks is outdoor seating; the outdoors is very well kept."
  • "There is a lovely large seating area with a bar but no cafe."
  • "Health and safety a bit over the top (first distillery where electronics had to be turned off for fear of explosions; so no photos)."
  • "The visitor center could need a little bit more love for the detail."
  • "There is a drinks machine but at £2.50 a cup and with only 2 choices we were a little disappointed."
  • "Alas, no walking around the barrels, unlike other places, so you can't fully experience the smells of the Angels' share."

Product and Merchandise

Pros:

  • "Tasted 3 different whisky at the new and even bargained a free glass!"
  • "By the way, their souvenir shop has beautiful deep blue outdoor aluminium cups just for 8 pounds."
  • "The shop was well stocked and the prices were reasonable."
  • "If you do a tour, you get a 10% discount at the gift shop."
  • "In the store you get exclusive bottlings and there is always a barrel available that you can fill a bottle yourself."
  • "The whisky is superb, AND you get a discount at the gift shop for taking the tour."
  • "The shop has a wide range of whiskeys to buy and the tour means we get 10% off in the shop too."

Cons:

  • "I was disappointed that the shop was mostly just Diageo whisky and merchandise you can find anywhere, with only a couple of Blair Athol bottlings."
  • "The only downside was the lack of Blair Atholl whiskey to taste as it’s in short supply."
  • "However, the bartender said no, you can only buy it first; try after purchasing all of them."
  • "Interesting but I'm not paying the extortionate UK tax. I'll buy duty free at the airport."
  • "A lovely small distillery and a very interesting tour we learned a lot but don’t expect to find a selection of cheap blended whisky in the shop its all single malts and some are very expensive."
  • "3 Stars only as the whisky tastes ok."
  • "I still decided to return the whiskey and buy other brands in Edinburgh since the customer service was like this, and I didn’t feel respected."

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