A Speyside Pilgrimage: Jon Hook’s Journey Through the Heart of Scotch Whisky

In October 2025, MacInnes founder Jonathan “Jon” Hook ventured north to Aberdeenshire and deep into the storied glens of Speyside — the spiritual home of Scotch. Joined by colleague and unofficial tour guide Ben, the pair embarked on a whistle-stop adventure that packed history, heritage, and an unreasonable amount of whisky knowledge into a single dawn-to-dusk dash.

What follows is a snapshot of that journey: a blend of distillery visits, unexpected insights, and a renewed appreciation of the people and places that make Scotch whisky truly world-class.

Dawn in Dufftown — The Whisky Capital of the World

Dufftown greets you in its own particular way: still, quiet streets; a faint ribbon of woodsmoke in the air; and the silhouette of pagodas rising like guardians of the town’s spirit. Jon and Ben rolled in before breakfast, watching the sun creep over the hills and light up their first stop — Mortlach Distillery.

Mortlach: The Beast of Dufftown

Mortlach is a distillery of contradictions: elegant in its Victorian frontage yet famously muscular in its spirit character. The pair wandered through the complex, stopping to admire the traditional Doig-designed pagoda roof and the looming presence of Mortlach’s impressive dunnage-style warehouse behind it.

Mortlach has been making whisky since 1823 and long carried a mystique among blenders — known for adding “backbone” to blended Scotch with its rich, meaty spirit. Even today, its unusual 2.81 distillation is whispered about like alchemy, a quirk Jon never quite gets tired of discussing.

The Singleton of Dufftown

Just across the burn sits The Singleton’s Dufftown Distillery, a study in Speyside elegance and approachability. Jon is especially fond of how The Singleton tells a modern story while rooted in traditional production. The quiet paths, the trees turning gold for autumn, the distillery buildings — all made for a peaceful second stop.

Craigellachie Bridge — Steel, The Spey, and a View for the Ages

From Dufftown, Jon and Ben wound their way to perhaps the most famous piece of engineering in Speyside: Craigellachie Bridge.

Standing on Thomas Telford’s sweeping 1814 cast-iron masterpiece, Jon took in the River Spey roaring below — a reminder that whisky isn’t just industry here; it’s geography, climate, landscape, and centuries of human graft. Photos were taken (many), but sometimes a moment is best stored in memory.

John Dewar & Sons / Craigellachie Distillery — The Rebel of Speyside

Next stop: Craigellachie Distillery, built in 1891 and proudly calling itself “old-fashioned in 1891… and still old-fashioned today.”

This is a distillery with swagger — worm-tub condensers, robust spirit character, and a loyal following that likes its whisky bold. Jon always enjoys visiting distilleries like this: those that haven’t tidied themselves up too much for the modern age, where you can still feel the heat, smell the fermentation, and hear the story in every pipe and valve.

Craftsmanship Up Close — The Speyside Cooperage

No whisky journey is complete without acknowledging the people who literally hold the spirit together. At the Speyside Cooperage, you can watch highly-skilled coopers shape, toast, repair, and rejuvenate casks that will go on to influence the flavour of some of Scotland’s greatest drams.

Fun fact: a cooper’s apprenticeship takes four years, and even experienced coopers can handle and repair up to 20 casks per day — all without a single nail or screw involved. It’s pure craft.

An Encounter with Icons — The Balvenie & Glenfiddich

Moments by The Balvenie Warehouses

The next stop brought Jon to the quietly handsome Balvenie Distillery, famous for maintaining traditional floor maltings and its deep ties to craft. Jon paused for photos beside the iconic warehouses — imposing stone walls that hold some of the most collectible casks in Scotland.

Inside Glenfiddich: A Family Legacy

A short stroll away sits Glenfiddich — not just a distillery, but an institution. Still family-owned by the Grants since 1887, Glenfiddich is one of the world’s most awarded single malts and home to over 40 warehouses filled with slumbering casks.

Jon and Ben enjoyed a full tour and tasting, wandering through the atmospheric bonded warehouses with their thick air of angel’s share, seeing fermentation and distillation up close, and learning more about how a family’s devotion carried Glenfiddich from a lone stillhouse to global prominence.

These distilleries don’t just make whisky — they stitch together memories for visitors. For Jon, this was one of the standout experiences of the trip.

Macallan — A Brief Hello to a Modern Cathedral of Whisky

With the afternoon sun dipping, the pair made their way to The Macallan, whose new distillery is nothing short of architectural theatre — flowing green roofs, sweeping curves, and some of the most advanced production spaces in Scotland.

Time was tight on this trip, but Macallan is a distillery that rewards slow exploration. Jon and Ben agreed to return for a deeper dive into its vast warehouses, pioneering wood policy, and the highly technical artistry behind the brand’s iconic sherry-led style.

Cardhu – A Sunset Finale in the Home of Whisky Heroines

As golden hour settled over Speyside, Jon and Ben arrived at Cardhu, a distillery built on grit, intelligence and the intuition of women who understood whisky better than most men of their era.

Helen Cumming, the formidable farmer’s wife who founded Cardhu, famously flagged warnings to neighbour distillers when excise officers approached. Her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Cumming, turned Cardhu into a commercial powerhouse — and eventually sold it to John Walker & Sons under terms that protected its identity.

Jon posed for a photo beside the Johnnie Walker emblem and the tribute to these trailblazing women, before chatting with the Cardhu team about the role the distillery plays in the Johnnie Walker flavour universe.

And just when they thought the day was done, a surprise: a £250 Mortlach 2023 bottling in the shop. A perfect, poetic callback to the morning’s visit. Speyside has a sense of humour like that.

A Day of Stories, Craft and Spirit

From Dufftown’s dawn warehouses to Cardhu’s sunset glow, the day was a whirlwind of whisky heritage, incredible scenery, generous people and unforgettable flavours.

Jon left with a deeper understanding of Speyside — not just its whiskies, but the history, eccentricity, and humanity that make this region the beating heart of Scotch.

Reflections on the Road Home

By the time Jon and Ben pointed the car back toward Aberdeenshire, they’d packed enough experiences for a week into a single day. Just the thing when time is of the essence for these whisky enthusiasts. What lingered wasn’t just the taste of Speyside’s finest drams, but the gentle reminder that whisky is a living culture — one built on landscapes, families, craftspeople, and centuries of quiet perfection.

For Jon, this trip was more than research. It was a pilgrimage. And like any good pilgrimage, it ended with a promise to return.