Edradour Distillery, Pitlochry: The Farm-Scale Perthshire Gem

Edradour Distillery, Pitlochry: The Farm-Scale Perthshire Gem

⚠️Currently closed to visitors — Edradour’s own website confirms tours, the shop and the tasting bar are all suspended due to a staff shortage, “until further notice” (checked 2026). Check before planning a trip.

Edradour at a glance

RegionHighland (Pitlochry, Perthshire)
Founded1825
OwnerSignatory Vintage
Visitor centreYes — in the old malt barn
ToursGuided tours & tastings
OpeningMost of the year, reduced winter hours — check the website
Websiteedradour.com

Overview

Edradour, in the hills above Pitlochry, was for many years famous as “the smallest distillery in Scotland” — a tiny, picture-postcard, farm-scale operation working much as it did in Victorian times. It makes a rich, characterful Highland malt, including heavily-sherried and peated (Ballechin) styles.

The history

Edradour was founded in 1825 as a farmers’ co-operative distillery and stayed almost unchanged for well over a century, run by a mere handful of people. Since 2002 it has been owned by the independent bottler Signatory Vintage, who have expanded it modestly while keeping its tiny, traditional charm.

The water & the land

Edradour is made with water from springs on Ben Vrackie, feeding the Edradour Burn.

Edradour had no founding clan — it was a farmers’ venture near Pitlochry, in the Atholl country of Clan Murray and Clan Robertson.

How it’s made

Edradour is famous as one of Scotland’s smallest working distilleries — a single wash still of just 4,200 litres and a spirit still of 2,200 litres, producing about eighteen casks a week and roughly 95,000 litres a year, historically run by a handful of staff. Its standard range avoids caramel colouring and chill-filtration, and two days a week the same stills run a heavily-peated variant, Ballechin, named after a nearby closed distillery. It has been independently owned by Signatory Vintage since 2002.

Visiting

Edradour has a visitor centre in its old malt barn, but as of 2026 tours, the shop and the tasting bar are all closed to the public until further notice due to a staff shortage — check the website before planning a visit. Its tiny scale and pretty Perthshire setting have long made it one of the most-visited small distilleries in Scotland, so this is worth confirming ahead.

Nearby & more whisky

Sources