Whisky 101 – An Introduction to Scotch Whisky, Scottish Distilleries and Distilling

A comprehensive introduction to, and overview of, Scotch whisky

This Virtual Tour introduces the different types and styles of whisky, the different whisky regions and the ingredients and production of Scotch. It features a number of distilleries from the different regions, ranging from the very traditional to the modern and innovative.

If you are relatively new to whisky, this will provide you with tips on how to increase your appreciation and suggest avenues of exploration to find the best whiskies for you.

Whisky 101 is one hour and 50 minutes and is followed with open Q&A, so allow two and a half hours if you can. For a much more in-depth production, we have created Outlander Distilled, which is 10 episodes and 11 hours of content on whiskies which is available as a three month rental.

Outlander Distilled was written by Tour Guide Andrew Nicholson who research the subject in depth over many months. Having visited and toured several distilleries, Andrew wanted to expand his knowledge of Scotch. He dedicated his time to learning a great deal more about the subject, not only for himself, but for his tour clients too.

Just in case you’re unfamiliar with what Outlander is, it is a series of books and a very popular TV show. The storyline begins in 18th century Scotland.

There are many websites and video channels which discuss Scotch in depth. However, as Andrew did, you’d literally need to spend hundreds of hours watching and reading to build a good appreciation of Scotch and to understand how it differs from other whiskies and distilled spirits.

Whilst you certainly don’t need to be an Outlander fan in order to greatly benefit from Whisky 101 or Outlander Distilled, both Virtual Tours do feature some Outlander-related distilleries and local history.

Whisky 101 and Outlander Distilled are both efficient, well structured and enjoyable ways to increase your knowledge and appreciation of Scotch. If you decide to watch Whisky 101 as a rental (see the red text directly below) rather than purchasing the live version on this page, then we will give you more than your money back in the form of a discount to rent the full Outlander Distilled 10 Episodes for the usual three month rental period.

We are pleased to announce that this virtual tour is now also available on-demand as a 48 hour rental on our new Virtual Tours of Scotland website here. You choose when you watch it. You can pause and rewind, watch it more than once etc. Please only book when you are ready to watch, as it is available for 48 hours from the time of purchase.

Outlander Distilled was written by tour guide Andrew Nicholson, who lives in Culloden, Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. Andrew used his background in market research together with his appetite for all things Scottish – to research and produce this virtual tour. He also had lots of fun with the practical aspects of learning a lot more about whisky during lockdown!

You can read more about Andrew on our About Us page.

We now have a recorded version of this tour which is available to rent here on our video-on-demand (VoD) channel; please note the the rental is available for 48 hours from time of purchase. So you can watch it at a time that suits you, you can pause, rewind and repeat it, but please do not buy until you are ready to watch.

This live tour takes place at 16:00 which is 4pm UK time. This will be different times in your local time zone.

• For example, the USA can be 3 to 8 hours behind UK time, so the tour will start somewhere between 8am and 1pm local time in the USA.
• Whereas, Australia is between 8 and 10 hours ahead of UK time, so the tour will start somewhere between Midnight and 2am local time.

You can use the following link to view a Time Zone Map of the world, to get an idea of how your local time zone different from the UK.

The tour itself lasts 1 hour 50 minutes and is followed with questions and open discussion, so please allow up to 2.5 hours. It is held in a private Zoom meeting which is hosted live.

The price of ‘Whisky 101’ is £12 GBP (British Pounds Sterling).

The payment is made in £ GBP but your card will convert this into your local currency based on the exchange rate at the time you buy. £12 GBP is approximately €14, $16 USD, $21 CAD, $22 AUD, or $23 NZD.

Full instructions and assistance are provided Here: FAQs, Guidance and Terms & Conditions for our scheduled live Virtual Tours on Zoom. You will require ALL OF THIS INFORMATION to attend this tour, including: confirming your time zone difference, how access to Zoom works, how and when you’ll receive your link to access the tour and the essential part you’ll play in actually being there. Admission to the Virtual Tour will close once the tour officially begins, and tickets are non-refundable or transferable, so please don’t skip reading our guidelines as you may miss the tour if you do.

In summary:

BOOK USING THE CALENDAR BELOW. Click on the date that you want (green square, if it is red it is sold out). Then click on the time you want. Then choose the number of places. Then click BOOK NOW and enter your name, e-mail address, the country you live in and your payment details.

Payments are taken securely via Stripe, our secure payment gateway. You can choose to save your payment details which speed up any future purchases, however, we don’t get to see your credit card details. They are stored securely and hidden from being able to be seen.

You can pay by card using a Visa, Mastercard or American Express. Unfortunately, you cannot use other cards such as JCB, Discover or Diners Club for international purchases.

This live virtual tour is delivered via a private Zoom meeting. You do not need a Zoom account, but it is best to set one up and to use the Zoom app on your computer or smart device (phone or tablet).

For the best results use a large screen, so a computer or cast to a smart TV. It is also best to use a wired connection unless you are sure your wifi is sufficient to stream high-quality video.

This tour takes place at 4pm (16:00) UK/Scottish Time (the UK is all one time zone, also known as GMT or Greenwich Mean Time).

Note: You may see the time shown as UTC (aka Coordinated Universal Time) e.g. on Facebook events; this is a standard worldwide time. UK time is the same as UTC in the winter, but is UTC+1 in summertime (when the clocks have been put forward one hour). To be sure what time this event starts in your local time zone you are best to use the link below in the next section.

This tour next takes place on Thursday 30th December 2021 at 6.30pm UK/SCOTTISH time.

Please use the following link and add your local time zone or add the nearest major city to you that is in the same time zone to find your local time that this tour starts: Time Zone Converter – Time Difference Calculator

If the timing of the live tour doesn’t suit you – we also have a recorded version of this tour which is available to rent here on our video-on-demand (VoD) channel; please note that the rental is available for 48 hours from the time of purchase. So you can watch it at a time that suits you, you can pause, rewind and repeat it, but please do not buy until you are ready to watch.