Bill MacGregor

Review of MaxAllan

Having visited a few distilleries in my time, I wa...

Having visited a few distilleries in my time, I was wondering why a distillery was an entrant in an Architecture award for the building? On arrival at the Macallan distillery site my questions were answered, the building is quite simply stunning, merging into the landscape and doing so effectively as it is modelled on the surrounding countryside.

Inside the building houses a visitors centre and the full production process, together with a shop and a brasserie for food. Our tour guide Colin was very enthusiastic about both the building and its product and quite knowledgeable on both subjects too.

The layout of the building streamlines the production facility allowing it to be housed in a single room; Gone are the traditional separations between Wash tuns, Mash processes and Distillation, which are the usual hallmarks.of the more traditional setup.

The use of so much computer technology allows the plant to be run by only two people per shift. Technology is at the heart of this tour and allows the presentation to be as slick as it is. There are films explaining the lifestory of the Oak trees that they use, another shows how the casks are produced by the Coopers in Spain and the private tasting in the selected cask store was a nice touch at the end.

This tour was worth doing, even for those that may only ever visit one distillery, you should consider this one, as it lays out the full distillation process, seamlessly under one roof.



A stunning building in a great location, well worth the visit.