🗺️ NC500 Attractions

Glenmorangie Distillery at Tain is one of Scotland's most celebrated and visited whisky distilleries, famed for its extraordinary pot stills — at 5.14 metres, the tallest in Scotland, said to give the spirit its distinctive light, floral character. Founded in 1843 on the site of a former brewery, Glenmorangie produces a range of single malts that are matured in a var…

Glen Ord Distillery sits in the quiet farming country of Muir of Ord on the Black Isle, one of the oldest continuously operating distilleries in Scotland. Founded in 1838, it was for many years one of Scotland's most important suppliers of malt to the blending industry. Toda…

Dalmore Distillery sits on the southern shore of the Cromarty Firth near Alness, producing one of Scotland's most recognised and prestigious single malts. Founded in 1839, Dalmore is renowned for its unusual 12-sided wash stills — unique in Scotch whisky production — and…

Balblair is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland, with origins in 1790, sitting in the Eddern Valley south of Tain. The distillery produces vintage-dated expressions rather than age-stated releases — meaning each bottling is from a sp…

Clynelish Distillery at Brora in Sutherland is one of the NC500's must-visit whisky destinations. The current distillery dates to 1967, built next to the original 1819 distillery (which operated as "Brora" distillery u…

Old Pulteney Distillery in Wick holds a special place in Scottish whisky — it is the most northerly mainland distillery and bills itself as "The Maritime Malt", a reference to the salt-spray, briny, sea air character that permeates its whisky. Founded in 1826 in the planned fishing town of Pulteneytown (now part of Wick), the distillery uses famously unusual sti…

Wolfburn Distillery on the outskirts of Thurso is the northernmost distillery on the Scottish mainland — a craft operation founded in 2013 on the site of a distillery that operated in the 1820s. Wolfburn is a small independent operation producing whisky in tiny batches, which means every bottle is genuinely limite…

Badachro Distillery is a small craft spirits operation in the remote Badachro community near Gairloch, producing gin using water drawn from the nearby Loch Bad an Sgalaig. The distillery uses locally foraged botanicals alongside traditional ones, giving its gin a distinctively Highland chara…

Dornoch Distillery is one of the most talked-about craft spirits operations in Scotland. Run by brothers Phil and Simon Thompson in a converted Victorian fire station and church hall in the heart of Dornoch, i…

Dunnet Bay Distillers, producers of the award-winning Rock Rose Gin, sit near Dunnet Head — the true most northerly point of mainland Britain — in the dramatic Caithness landscape. Founded in 2014 by Martin and Claire Murray, the distillery uses water drawn from a spring on the Dunnet Head estate and…

North Point Distillery at John o'Groats is Scotland's northernmost rum distillery — and one of very few rum distilleries in the country at all. Situated right at the iconic northeastern tip of mainland Britain, it produces the Pentland Firth Rum range using import…

8 Doors Distillery is one of the newer craft spirits operations on the NC500, established in Wick in 2020 and producing whisky, gin and vodka. The name references the eight doors of a traditional Caithness flagstone cottage — a nod to local vernacular architect…

Stannergill Distillery is a small craft gin producer based in Thurso, adding to the growing cluster of artisan spirits operations in Caithness. Using locally sourced botanicals including heather, bog myrtle and coastal plants from the Caithness landscape, Stannerg…