Wine has long been a draw for travelers the world over, and we’ve all seen the recent rise in craft-beer tourism. However, now travel in search of supreme spirits is booming, and with good reason.
To truly appreciate a peaty whisky or honey-smooth tawny port, you must taste them at the source—shaken or stirred with a splash of history and a squeeze of local culture. From pisco sours in Peru to gin infused with hand-foraged botanicals in Wales, get ready to raise a glass to our pick of the distillery crop.
Whisky on Islay, Scotland
Ask a Scot to rattle off their top whiskies, and those produced on Islay (eye-lah) in the Inner Hebrides invariably make the grade. Although Islay may have mellower beauty than, say, Skye or Mull, the real drama lies in its distilleries, marked with bold, black letters on whitewash, gazing out at a brooding sea.
The powerfully peaty, multi-award-winning single malts made at Ardbeg are legendary, particularly their smoky, complex Ten Years Old. This southerly distillery features an exceptional visitor center, tours, and tastings that include hikes and historical storytelling. Much newer to the scene is farm distillery Kilchoman, showcasing the entire production process from growing and malting barley to bottling by hand. Additionally, award-winning Laphroaig, revered for its richly flavored whiskies, offers highly immersive tours; their 4½-hour ‘Water to Whisky’ experience takes you from peat cutting to picnic, before whisking you off to a distillery tour and tasting.
If possible, time your visit for the Fèis Ìle in May, a grand celebration of music and malt featuring tastings, open-door distillery visits, ceilidhs, and pipe-band performances.
Tequila in Jalisco, Mexico
Ay, tequila! Few spirits come with such a notorious reputation as tequila, but there’s more to this drink than the usual shot-slamming, mouth-twisting, lemon-licking, headache-inducing madness. True tequila is made from the fermented juice of the blue agave plant that grows in rocky volcanic soils in Mexico’s Jalisco state, and is best enjoyed in small sips from larger glasses that allow the flavors to open properly.
Tequila aficionados will know that there are three stages of aging: blanco (pure, crisp, and unaged), reposado (softer, rested in oak barrels for a short period), and añejo (aged and complex). To dive into the world of tequila, join a distillery tour in Mexico’s eponymous town or in the state capital Guadalajara, which takes visitors to small-batch producers in the sunbaked countryside.
Gin in Snowdonia, Wales
The global thirst for gin shows no sign of waning, with distilleries popping up all the time. Moreover, they feature increasingly creative botanicals and bottle designs that deserve pride of place on the mantelpiece. Gin has been much loved by the Brits for centuries, reaching its zenith during the ‘Gin Craze’ in the early 18th century, which brought London to its drunken knees.
Times have dramatically changed; gin is no longer a cheap and cheerful staple but a carefully crafted, classy spirit. A perfect example is the recently launched gin venture at Palé Hall, a lavish Victorian mansion on the fringes of Snowdonia National Park. Enjoy a weekend of fine dining, foraging for ingredients like heather, gorse, and juniper on the slopes of Mount Snowdon, and indulging in a tasting courtesy of the innovative Snowdonia Distillery.
Pisco in Ica, Peru
On the fringes of the desert in southern Peru, Ica is both the country’s finest wine producer and arguably the true birthplace of pisco. This feisty, colorless spirit—essentially an unaged brandy distilled from grape must and juice—hails back to the early days of the Spanish colony in the 16th century. It was distilled on private haciendas and sold to sailors heading through the nearby port of Pisco. Back then, it was cheap firewater guzzled in excess, often leading to severe hangovers.
Today, it’s much more sophisticated in its frothy cocktail form: pisco sour (with lime, sugar, and egg white). Numerous hacienda distilleries open their doors for visitors in the vine-striped Ica region, notably the much-lauded and award-winning Tacama. In Cuzco, the Museo del Pisco extols the virtues of the national drink, offering an encyclopedic list of piscos.
Port Wine in Porto, Portugal
If your idea of port wine is a sickly-sweet, after-dinner tipple wheeled out by your grandparents at Christmas, you clearly haven’t yet tried the good stuff. For that, you need to head to the port wine lodges that rise high above the Douro River in the Vila Nova de Gaia district of Porto. Here, you’ll be transported back to the 17th-century origins of this fortified wine on guided cellar tours, usually followed by a tasting of three different ports.
The choice is overwhelming, but top choices include British-run Taylor’s, founded in 1692, and Graham’s, whose aged tawnies are pure nectar. Both lodges offer staggering views over Porto from their hilltop perches. For an expertly mixed port-tonic, Diogo at Prova in downtown Porto is your go-to expert.
Absinthe in Val-de-Travers, Switzerland
‘Brain-warming, idea-changing liquid alchemy’ is how Hemingway described absinthe, and who are we to disagree? Once dubbed the ‘Green Fairy’ by the literati in the early 20th century, absinthe was banned for a century because of its supposed hallucinogenic properties. Nowadays, this lurid-green, anise-flavored spirit, infused with botanicals including native wormwood, is back en vogue in Val-de-Travers, the forested valley where it was invented, adjacent to the French border in northwest Switzerland.
For insights into absinthe, visit the Maison de l’Absinthe, an interactive museum dedicated to the history and heritage of this potent spirit.
Jenever in Amsterdam, Holland
While jenever is often referred to as ‘Dutch gin’, both spirits deserve individual recognition. They share similarities as juniper-based, flavored with botanicals, and containing malt wine; however, jenever is the original spirit from which gin was derived. It comes in two styles: oude (old-style, with a higher percentage of malt wine) and jonge (new-style, lighter, with a lower percentage).
In the late 16th century, jenever was sold as a medicine, and over the years has been concocted with various ingredients from grains to molasses. You can learn about the origins and distilling process of this Dutch tipple at the House of Bols in Amsterdam and enjoy a complimentary cocktail post-tour. For a more intimate experience, visit Wynand Fockink, which has a variety of jenevers to try, including the house special boswandeling (secret of the forest)—a tangy blend of young jenever, herb bitters, and orange liqueur.
Rum in Barbados
Barbados attracts visitors with superb sandy beaches, colorful cuisine, and laidback locals. However, they leave talking (in between hiccups) about the rum! Home to one of the world’s oldest commercial distilleries, Barbados is heralded as the birthplace of rum and continually celebrates the delights of its syrupy golden nectar. Interestingly, its ‘Story of Sugar and Rum’—which encompasses the island’s historic sugar plantations and distilleries—now features on Unesco’s tentative list of cultural heritage sites.
Initially distilled in the 17th century by slaves who fermented molasses, a byproduct of the sugar-refining process, rum remains a staple spirit worldwide. For purists, however, the real deal is produced in its homeland. Join a distillery tour at Mount Gay, whose aged rums are among the best in Barbados, or visit the hyper-traditional St Nicholas Abbey plantation house, a striking Jacobean-style mansion overlooking a lush valley.
