Whisky tour with Speyside Executive Hire

Today we have a guest writer on the website, Hayley Fraser from Speyside Executive Hire. Hayley runs the business with her father Mark, providing luxury whisky tours and special occasion car hire (including weddings) in Scotland at affordable prices.

Hayley and Mark have a wealth of knowledge on the local area and the best distilleries to tour in Speyside. They offer a first-class service for all your whisky tour requirements. Their current fleet comprises of:

• 2 x Mercedes Vito 8 seaters
• 1 x Mercedes S class
• 1 x Mercedes ML.

Over now to Hayley who will go through an example tour with Speyside Executive Hire.

A two-day tour with Speyside Executive Hire

First and foremost, at Speyside Executive Hire our main goal is to provide a luxurious and unique experience for each of our guests, no matter the number in the party or the duration of the time they spend with us. We have set tours available to browse on our website, however, typically, we like to work with clients in order to create a bespoke itinerary for them.

Recently, we worked with a Southampton based guest who was setting up a multiple-day tour for her husband as a surprise for his 50th birthday. Through a number of secret phone calls and emails, we were able to determine what his most desired distilleries to visit would be and what other activities he might want to undertake while being in the Speyside area.

I also gave the guest recommendations for distilleries, accommodation and restaurants to consider, and from there we were able to create a tailored experience suited to the couple.

Day one - collection in Edinburgh

The first day began with a collection from the couple’s hotel in Edinburgh, where they were picked up in our Mercedes S Class L. Luckily, the weather was beautiful for their trip up to Speyside and on their stop at Victoria’s in Pitlochry for lunch that I had reserved for them, the sun shone down on them.

After a lovely meal, they were taken to Dalwhinnie Distillery, where they enjoyed a whisky tour that the lead guest had booked herself. Once they departed the distillery, I arranged for the driver to take the couple past the packhorse bridge at Glenlivet. We try to incorporate this stop into a number of our tours where feasible. It allows our guests a glimpse into Scotland’s past, as although no one knows exactly how old the bridge is, people believe the remaining arches have stood strong since the 16th century. The couple was then dropped off at their accommodation Aberlour; The Dowans Hotel.

Day two - Distilleries and Craigellachie Bridge

Day two started with a morning tour at Glenfiddich Distillery that I had booked for them, alongside lunch at Glenfiddich’s outdoor cafe. After their lunch, the guests were taken to the Craigellachie Bridge which spans over the renowned river Spey.

Tutored tasting

Once there, they were led to the banks of the river, where they were taken for a tutored tasting by our company owner, Mark Fraser, allowing them to sample his unique personal collection. This was incorporated into this particular day as it was in celebration of one of the guest’s birthdays and we wanted to create a special moment for him by offering him the chance to sample some unique malts he may not have the opportunity to sample elsewhere.

The guests thoroughly enjoyed a number of drams in the sunshine and then headed over to Strathisla Distillery for the Discovery tasting which I had also reserved for them.

After they had enjoyed a few more drams at one of Speyside’s most beautiful distilleries, we transferred them back to The Dowans Hotel for them to freshen up, and then collected them again to take them to The Station Hotel in Rothes, where they were having dinner for her husband’s birthday. Afterwards, we then returned them to The Dowans Hotel for the evening.

Day 3 & 4 - Customisation and advice

During our calls, our lead guest had expressed wanting to have a couple of days of exploring the area with her husband so as she would not need our services. So, for these days, we gave her various recommendations based on his interests, such as Linn Falls and The Spey Larder, both in Aberlour, cycling the Speyside Way or the Winding Walks in Fochabers, Sporting Scotland, North 58 Sea Adventures and Spirit of the Spey.

I personally went up to visit them and say hello in person on one of their days of exploring, as I feel it is important to meet face to face with our guests.

On their final day in Speyside, we collected the guests and transferred them to Inverness airport for their flight home. But on their visit they had bought a number of bottles of whisky and had asked if it were possible for us to ship it down to their home, so we held onto the bottles and shipped them down in the following week.

Conclusion

At Speyside Executive Hire, we make an effort to make our guests feel at ease and happy in their time with us and are always willing to go the extra mile to ensure they have the best experience possible.

Please view the Speyside Executive Hire website.  Many thanks to Hayley for her contribution to the website.