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 Huntly Castle |
 One of the Glenfiddich Stillhouses |
 Dufftown |
Dufftown was a planned town, established in 1817, though its story as a settlement can be traced to at least the 700s, when Mortlach Church, one of the earliest religious sites in Scotland, was founded. There are seven working distilleries in and around Dufftown. You can browse books about Scotch Whisky in our Bookshop (this may take a moment to load).
Glenfiddich Distillery Visitors' Centre is at the northern edge of the town and is distinctive for having a bottling plant on the premises, the only Highland distillery to do so. The Glenfiddich Distillery is overlooked by the ruins of the 13th Century Balvenie Castle, whose name also graces a brand of Malt distilled nearby.
Dufftown forms a key link on the Malt Whisky Trail. This is a seventy mile route which links up seven Speyside distilleries plus, at Craigellachie, a cooperage. All have visitor centres and offer guided tours. Cardow Distillery is one of the distilleries on the tour, and lies on the high ground on the north side of the Spey Valley. You can combine a visit with a look at the nearby Knockando Parish Church.
The village of Tomintoul, in an area rich with distilleries, also has a brand of whisky named after it. It lies on the A939 south west of Dufftown, at a height of 345m, and is popular with visitors to the nearby Lecht ski resort. A spur of the long distance footpath, the Speyside Way, also starts here and extends to Buckie and to Aviemore. There is a Visitor Centre in the village and Glenlivet Estate have an Information Centre offering maps of local walks and cycle trails.
The River Spey itself forms a focus for the area. Villages like Aberlour and Carron lie beside the river itself, while the small settlement of Archiestown lies on the northern slopes of the valley. Aberlour is also home to the Aberlour Distillery, which offers visitors highly rated in-depth tours.
Rothes, to the north east, is home to Glen Grant Distillery and Garden. It was founded in 1840 by two Grant brothers and stands in a sheltered glen just outside the town in a beautiful landscaped Victorian garden. Both distillery and garden are open to the public.
Keith stands at the north-eastern tip of the Whisky Trail and is home to Strathisla Distillery. Founded in 1786, Strathisla is the oldest working distilleries in the Highlands and also one of the most architecturally interesting.
East from Dufftown is the town of Huntly, an attractive place of grey stone laid out in a grid pattern. Here you can visit Huntly Castle, with a long and turbulent history.
