News Release:

Five stars for exceptional Famous Grouse Experience

Crieff-based distillery and Visitor Experience of the Year, The Famous Grouse Experience, has again been awarded five stars after a recent VisitScotland assessment found Scotland’s oldest working distillery to be ‘exceptional’.

The five-star rating has been awarded after two years of investment at the traditional distillery, which prides itself on being the only place in Scotland to still produce malt whisky using the traditional hand mashing process. In 2014, a £250,000 refurbishment of key visitor areas was given the Royal seal of approval after it was officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. In early 2015, The Famous Grouse Experience achieved its prestigious WorldHost status, a globally recognised training programme for outstanding customer service.

VisitScotland have been conducting Quality Assurance testing on Scottish tourist attractions, accommodation and restaurants since 1995 and covers all areas of a visitor experience, from pre-arrival to catering, retail and toilets. In order to be awarded the highest ranking of five-stars, visitor attractions must score above 85%.

Commenting on the fantastic achievement, The Famous Grouse Experience General Manager, Stuart Cassells, who joined Glenturret Distillery in 2014 and has picked up the accolade of Whisky Experience Manager of the Year along the way, said:

“I’m absolutely delighted that VisitScotland has again officially awarded The Famous Grouse Experience five stars for being outstanding and exceptional in every area of our business. I’m hugely proud of the team here, who go above and beyond on a daily basis to give our visitors the very best experience.

Stuart continued:

“We’ve worked incredibly hard over the last couple of years to make sure our customer experience isn’t just five-star but exceeds our visitor’s expectations. The fact that we were scored so highly in all our offerings, from our distillery tours to our shop, as well as our café-restaurant, really shows that we provide our visitors a really exceptional experience across the board, putting us on the map as one of Scotland’s must-visit tourist attractions.”

It is not just VisitScotland who have recognised The Famous Grouse Experience’s commitment to providing visitors with a world-class experience, having recently been named ASVA Visitor Experience of the Year 2015. With three UK Icons of Whisky Awards, a commendation in the Global Icons of Whisky Awards and a second-year-running TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence, it would seem its five-stars all round for the Perthshire distillery.

For more information or to visit The Famous Grouse Experience visit www.thefamousgrouseexperience.com