A Very Boozy Guide to Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland

Scotland is one of the world’s most prolific producers of alcohol running the gamut from high-end scotch whisky to beer and flavored gin. There is no shortage of places to learn about a variety of boozy Scottish creations and to drink yourself silly.

The Scotch Whisky Experience is like an alcoholic Disneyland. It’s the hokiest alcohol-based experience money can buy, but it was also really fun. It’s right in front of Edinburgh Castle so you can imagine that it has tourist trap written all over it. At the Scotch Whisky Experience, you learn about the process of making scotch whisky and you have an opportunity to try a couple of different whiskies from different regions of Scotland. They have several tours available, but the most basic “Silver tour” begins with an actual barrel ride, narrated by the ghost of Master Blender.

Since this is not an actual distillery, all the information you get about the distilling process is via digital videos and the ride. I was so distracted by the novelty/hilarity of it that I retained very little information, but I did learn about the flavor profiles of different Scottish whiskies. More importantly, I learned that there’s smoky whisky from the Islay region of Scotland that tastes like mezcal. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).