One of the King’s nearest neighbours at Balmoral on Royal Deeside welcomed more than 49,000 whisky tourism visitors during 2023.
The high turnout at Royal Lochnagar Distillery contributed to global drink giant Diageo notching up a million visits to its brand home experiences last year.
Royal Lochnagar offers visitors a variety of tour and tasting experiences.
It is widely recognised for its Royal connections. In 2023 the distillery launched a King’s Birthday Edition 45-year-old single malt in honour of its famous neighbour.
Diageo regional brand home manager Laura Sharp said: “Scotch whisky is well-established as Scotland’s leading export to the world.
“Every bottle is an invitation to visit Scotland and experience its amazing culture, heritage and environment first hand.”
She added: “Scotch whisky tourism creates opportunities all across Scotland, from our capital city to the communities of the highlands and islands, where many of our distilleries are located.”
£185m whisky tourism investment
Diageo has invested about £185 million in its Scotch whisky visitor experiences to date.
According to the most recent industry figures, more than two million people visited Scotch whisky visitor experiences in 2022.
Royal Lochnagar Distillery is about a mile from Balmoral Castle.
Originally called just Lochnagar, after the nearby Lochnagar mountain, it was renamed after a royal visit in 1848.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert dropped in at the invitation of distillery founder John Begg.
Their visit is believed to be the world’s first whisky distillery tour.
According to Scotchwhisky.com, the Queen, her consort and their three eldest children “all took a dram of Begg’s make”.
The Queen would go on to favour mixing her whisky with claret, the website says, adding: “A few weeks later Albert awarded a royal warrant to the distillery.”
The current monarch visited the distillery in 2018, 170 years after his great-great-great grandmother.
Royal Lochnagar is among the smallest distilleries in Scotland. It produces its own single malt and also whisky for well-known blends such as Johnnie Walker Gold Label, Johnnie Walker Blue Label and Dimple.
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