Ardbeg Distillery, located on the iconic whisky island of Islay, has been named as the 'best whisky experience in Scotland', according to a new Whisky Travel Index used to rank over 50 whisky tourism experiences across the country.
Ardbeg Distillery scored 92.2 out of 100 and fought off stiff competition from 49 other distilleries and experiences.
The Whisky Travel Index by London’s original whisky specialists, Milroy’s of Soho, is a first-of-its-kind tool for whisky lovers planning a trip to Scotland, ranking over 50 whisky experiences to provide an unrivalled tool for planning trips.
The Whisky Travel Index uses metrics including the cost of tours and tastings, the variety of experiences offered, visitor feedback, nearby amenities and the quality of the whisky they produce.
Each whisky experience was scored across 15 areas, with over 80,000 visitor reviews analysed to provide a comprehensive score from 0 to 100, ranking the best whisky experiences that Scotland has to offer.
Milroy’s note that Ardbeg’s win comes down to achieving top-five finishes across several categories, including average whisky review score, number of reviews, total tour and tasting experiences on offer and recent industry award wins; propelling Ardbeg to the number one spot on The Milroy’s Whisky Travel Index for 2024.
Ardbeg prides itself on being the ultimate Islay Malt Whisky, established in 1815 and revered by connoisseurs around the world as the peatiest, smokiest and most complex of all Islay malts, with a passionate following who visit the distillery year-on-year.
Jackie Thomson, Visitor Centre Manager, said: “We’re really proud to have ranked as the best whisky experiences in Scotland. We welcome thousands of visitors from all over the world each year and the entire team works so hard to ensure every visit is unforgettable.
“We’d like to thank Milroy’s for praising the quality of our tours and tastings, as there really is no better way to learn about our whisky or sample some of our incredible portfolio of peaty drams.”
Ardbeg Distillery experiences can be booked via the Ardbeg website.
Second to Ardbeg was the purpose built Johnnie Walker Princes Street, which technically isn’t a whisky distillery.
Glenkinchie Distillery, also known as Lowlands home of Johnnie Walker, finished in third place with a score of 83.97 out of 100.
The best three sustainable distilleries were: Nc’Nean, Bruichladdich and Arbikie.
Established in 2017, Nc'nean is a small independent distillery with a focus on crafting organic and sustainable whisky.
Nc’nean has been recognised with multiple industry awards for its sustainable process and is a registered B-Corp - meaning that they have been independently verified to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.
Second place in our sustainability category is Bruichladdich. While Bruichladdich is also registered as a B-Corp, it earned a slightly lower score from the independent body with an impact score of 100.7 compared to 135.6.
While the third-place Arbikie Distillery may not be a B-Corp, it has been recognised with multiple industry awards for its sustainable practices.
Find out more about the index here.
