So you’ve probably visited many distilleries… You’re quite familiar with the stories of illegal whisky making, smugglers and angel’s share, the science behind malting, mashing, fermentation & distillation has not secret for you anymore, but once you finally make it to the warehouse stage, there’s always this desire to know more about those beautiful casks that actually have a LOT to do with the flavours of the liquid sunshine in your glass…

I paid a visit to The Speyside Cooperage last year (“seriously, last YEAR?! And you only post this NOW?! Yes, I actually lost those pictures and just found them somewhere in the mess of my computer folders… #BetterLateThanNever.) which I would highly recommend to tour if like me, you’re eager to learn more about casks and other wooden geekeries.

I had the chance to visit for a very special event, the Blackening of two coopers (see my report here for pictures of those two poor guys being covered with all kind of filthy stuff), but the usual tour, allowing you to watch the skilled coopers performing their magic on casks while walking on a gallery with a view from above over the whole workshop would have been perfectly fine on its own – the Blackening was the cherry on the cake, but trust me, the cake itself was already quite tasty!

I’m not going to spoil your visit by disclosing all the bits and pieces we discussed (Spoiler Alert: you’ll be amazed by the charring process and will get to wear those safety goggles that make you look like a crazy scientist, how cool is that?!) – and while I’ve said in a previous article that whisky tourism could be better, smarter, stronger – The Speyside Cooperage is for me a perfect example of a great whisky-related attraction, a real must-do if you find yourself in wonderful Speyside!

 

Without further ado, here are some pictures taken during my tour!