Tag: Scotch Whisky Experience

Three New Tour Areas revealed at The Scotch Whisky Experience

The Scotch Whisky Experience has revealed three new immersive tour areas which will open to the public in mid-July.

Visitors will be transported to a peaceful Highland glen, leaving the bustle of Edinburgh’s vibrant Royal Mile behind them. Beautiful immersive technology creates a tranquil introduction to the elements and ingredients that shape the spirit.

This is “Origins”. Famous for our “four seasons in one day” visitors can discover the secret of how the landscape enriches the soft Scottish water and undulating barley fields turn from green to gold before the grains are harvested.

From the Origins we move to “The Art of Whisky Making”, where visitors will discover how single malt Scotch whisky is made.  Mixing an enchanting kinetic sculpture with fascinating media, the distilling process can be seen from inside and out. The process is visualised in a way never seen before, embodying the art of whisky making.

The pure new spirit moves to “Maturation”.  Seated inside the cask visitors will witness the charring, firing and filling, allowing for a unique and magical view of how the cask changes the character of the whisky as the years tick past.

The three new immersive areas form part of the full tour experience. Setting the scene for how single malt Scotch is produced, before discovering the whisky producing regions, the art of blending, and tasting a dram in one of the world’s largest Scotch whisky collections.

Susan Morrison, Chief Executive of The Scotch Whisky Experience, said “We are so excited to share the new experience with our visitors. This is the culmination of three year’s hard work by our passionate team.

“The immersive storytelling and brilliant technology within the tour will offer visitors a real insight into Scotch whisky.”

Following three years of careful planning, the new experiences have replaced the “barrel ride”. The Scotch Whisky Experience has combined technologies in an exciting new way, not yet seen at a visitor attraction in the UK.

The story of whisky production has been brought to life. It will entertain and enchant new generations of whisky lovers discovering whisky for the first time. 

The July launch of the new tour at The Scotch Whisky Experience will ensure even more visitors learn about the extraordinary world of Scotland’s whisky heritage.

“The maturation process is highly complex but this portrays it perfectly.” – Richard Paterson, Master Blender, Whyte and Mackay

“There is nowhere you can see how whisky matures like this.” – Sandy Hyslop, Master Blender, Pernod Ricard

“This newest addition to Edinburgh’s tourist attractions continues our mission of showcasing Scotland’s national drink in a very contemporary, modern way.” – Malcolm Leask, Managing Director, International Beverage and Chairman of The Scotch Whisky Experience

Edinburgh’s Scotch Whisky Experience invests in the future

This year will see a major investment, anticipated to be in the region of £3 million, in one of Scotland’s premier visitor destinations. The Scotch Whisky Experience is a five-star attraction operating from the top of Edinburgh’s busy Royal Mile.

The Experience has been educating and enthusing visitors about Scotch whisky for over 30 years already welcoming more than 8.5 million visitors from around the globe, in addition the Amber Restaurant and Whisky Bar accommodate corporate events and private dinners.

The Scotch Whisky Experience brings the joys of Scotland’s whisky heritage to a worldwide audience. The substantial investment of £3 million will enhance the visitor experience, with work already underway, this will reflect the premium nature of Scotch whisky. 

With tour options to suit both whisky lovers and those with a passing interest, the new tour experience will include technology not yet seen at a visitor experience in the UK.

Susan Morrison, Chief Executive of The Scotch Whisky Experience, said: “We’ll be creating a theatrical and magical experience to tell the story of Scotch whisky production, blended with technologies which we believe have never before been used in a visitor experience.

“Our team have been nurturing this vision since well before the pandemic, and excitement is building. We can’t tell you more yet, but we promise that what we have in store will be breathtaking and truly unique.”

The Scotch Whisky Experience was first created when 19 individual Scotch whisky companies jointly invested in showcasing the industry to international visitors. The Scotch Whisky Experience remains a key partner for the industry. Representing a significant proportion of the Scotch whisky distillers companies, the experience has new distillers joining all the time as more and more distilleries are built all across Scotland.   

The Scotch whisky industry is a very considerable player in both Scotland and the UK representing £5.5 billion in gross value added (GVA) to the economy with 11,000 people directly employed in Scotland, 7,000 of those jobs in rural areas. In 2021, Scotch Whisky accounted for a remarkable 22% of all UK food & drink exports.

(Source: Scotch Whisky Association, Jan-Dec 2021 data)

Education is a key ingredient in the success of Scotch whisky with its unique and complex heritage. The product of the distillation of water, barley and yeast it encompasses a huge range of possible expressions based on differences of age, source of ingredients, region, type of maturation and the production process itself.

The industry offer includes many varieties of single malts, product of just one distillery, and a huge range of blended whiskies made by the highly-skilled Master Blenders. The Scotch Whisky Experience’s new investment is destined to bring even more visitors into this extraordinary world of Scotland’s whisky heritage.

Work commenced in early January and will be completed by Summer 2023. Any disruptive work will be undertaken outside opening hours and will not impact on tour experiences, Amber restaurant or private events.