A Guide to Speyside Scotland

Speyside, Scotland is home to The Macallan, and is one of the most recognised and celebrated regions for its whisky production. In fact, Speyside has the highest geographical concentration of distilleries in the world, and almost half of all Scotch malt whisky distilleries are found here. 

The Macallan Estate has been officially established on the banks of the iconic River Spey since 1824, although whisky may have been produced on the property for much longer. Founded by Alexander Reid, the distillery is situated on our 485 acre estate with our historic Easter Elchies House at its heart. 

Speyside whisky has been in production for hundreds of years, and The Macallan was one of the first to be legally licenced; we take great pride in consistently creating some of the world’s most distinguished single malts. There are over fifty scotch whisky distilleries in Speyside. As one of the primary industries in the region, whisky making is a leading source of employment, as well as primary draw for tourism to this distinct region. 

We proudly invest in our community, carrying forward this invaluable expression of Scotland’s history and legacy forward into the future.

The Macallan Estate is found just outside of the town of Craigellachie and up the road from Aberlour, and is approximately halfway in between Aberdeen and Inverness.
Due to the rural setting of our distillery, there is no public transport that serves the distillery directly. The nearest train stations are Aviemore and Elgin, from here you can take a taxi or drive to the distillery. 

While you can use a taxi service, it is recommended to rent a car when visiting, providing both flexibility and freedom to enjoy the area. It is not safe to walk to The Macallan Distillery, as there are no pedestrian paths along the busy roads that the entrance sits on.

Both Aberdeen and Inverness have international airports. If you are flying into Aberdeen it is approximately 1.2 hours from the airport to drive to the distillery. From Inverness Airport it is just over one hour’s drive.