Our tour starts in Perthshire…
Evan and Ally MacRae, of Tomatin Whisky Distillery, are the force behind this blend of whisky. If ever there were kindred spirits, it’s these two. Between them they have an incredible 63 years’ service at Tomatin, keeping it in the family, the MacRae brothers. They come from a long line of MacRaes working at the distillery, Evan:
“Our father worked in the distillery, as the warehouse foreman – that’s what got us into the industry – before him, our grandfather and our great grandfather before that.”
The family link goes even further; the MacRae brothers are cousins of Head Mashman, Martin Hendry and their uncle, used to run the haulage company that managed our deliveries.
The MacRae brothers at Tomatin distillery in the Scottish highlands
Growing up on site, they lived at Number 10 distillery cottage and have memories of playing by the Alt-na-Frith burn with several of the local children they have since worked with. It is growing up in these surrounding that gives Ally his understanding of what makes Tomatin whisky the softer side of the Highlands:
“The harsh side of the Highlands is the weather, it can be quite rough at times, so I guess it’s the contrast with the landscape; the rolling hills, soft whisky and soft taste. There are no sharp features here and that’s reflected in our whisky.”
A dedicated team
Evan is now Head Stillman and Assistant Site Manager, running the stills and ensuring health and safety on site at all times, whilst Ally is the Lab Technician, overseeing quality control ensuring every batch of whisky is of true Tomatin quality. Having grown up and worked at Tomatin for such a long time, these boys certainly know the locals.
“They are a committed, loyal and hardworking lot. There are a lot of characters in and about here, some real personalities.”
And if they were to describe the whisky, “That’s easy, a good dram!”
Tomatin distillery’s golden nectar – well worth a taste!
So we bet you, now you just can’t wait to visit the distillery!
Well wait no longer, we can assist you with an exceptional tour of Tomatin along with many other Scottish distilleries as a part of your next (or first) Scottish whisky tour. Just ask Liz how it’s done liz@mcleanscotland.com In fact we had a wee group there not so long ago, Americans who loved every minute of it .Their full tour took them to Glen Moray, the Cooperage, Glenlivet, the Macallan 6 pillars and of course Tomatin.
Photographs courtesy of Tomatin Distillery.
