What if there was Skyscanner for whisky and distillery tours? A one-stop-shop where you could find, compare and book your next whisky or other alcohol tourism experience?
That's the concept behind Sip Seekers, the brain child of Victoria Miller, aka Scottish Whisky Girl on Instagram.
\"I was up north probably nearly two years ago now,\" Victoria explains, \"and I was sat at breakfast and I thought: 'I want to see a distillery today.' And I started loading different tabs on my phone for different tours even at the same distillery, assessing different kind of tour options; whether I wanted to do the VIP one or the normal...
\"And I realised that we're definitely overcomplicating that search process and that booking process. And I thought if it could all be pulled together on one kind of search platform, it would be much more simple and likely get far more bookings fo the distilleries And so many brands and distilleries have invested a lot in their visitor centres and then they were not actually reaching.
\"So I was actually horrified to learn 79 percent of overnight visitors don't make it to a distillery tour when they visit Scotland. So my kind of goal is to allow people to come on the platform. They can search by availability, location, rating. We're adding kind of accessibility, child-friendly tours and assess the best options for them.\"
Sip Seekers launched in the beginning of December and Victoria has signed up 50 distilleries and other alcohol tourism experiences including three distilleries previously featured on Cask to Glass: Raasay, Nc'Nean and Lindores.
Her target customers are those 79 percent of overnight visitors who don't visit a distillery during their visit, and locals - \"people who are based in Scotland, who when it's on their doorstep, don't take advantage.\"
\"We want to raise awareness to those people,\" Victoria continues, \"and get them visiting and engaging with distilleries, because the real advantage - and there's talk at the moment of tough times in the industry and things - the real advantage of getting people into distilleries is, you know, they engage with brands and they learn abou the stories and they then go home and tell their friends as well, and often buy a bottle.\"
Victoria really got into whisky in 2014 when her father Paul, the founder of Eden Mill Distillery near St Andrews in Fife, took the team to Islay. It was her first serious whisky tasting experience and fuelled a love of peaty whiskies.
So what distilleries does Victoria believe are must visit before the summer of 2026?
It's on her bucket list. \"I'm ashamed to say I've not been to Raasay and I need to go over. It looks absolutely stunning and it's on our platform. So I'll need to get over there and hopefully on a night that they've got space.\"
Other distilleries?
In Edinburgh there's Holyrood Distillery and Summerhall \"that does Pickering's gin\". In Glasgow there's Clydeside. \"And then if you want to do a wee road trip, you've got Galloway Distillery, Sam Heughan's new distillery.\"
And what whisky should you try before the summer?
Ledaig... \"It's got a kind of lighter peat; grassier notes. But I had that in a port finish, which was really interesting because you've got that kind of soft peat notes and then you've also got the kind of juicy port finish. And I think it's good for this time of year, for the kind of colder winter night.\"
So pour yourself a dram and tune in.
Slàinte!
-------
Socials:
Creator & producer: David Holmes
Art work & design: Jess Robertson
Music: Water of Life (Never Going Home)
Vocals: Andrea Cunningham
Guitars: John Beattie
Bass: Alasdair Vann
Drums: Alan Hamilton
Bagpipes: Calum McColl
Accordion: Gary Innes
Music & Lyrics: Andrea Cunningham & John Beattie
Recorded & mixed by Murray Collier at La Chunky Studios, Glasgow, Scotland
Special thanks: The Piper Whisky Bar, 57 Cochrane Street, Glasgow, Scotland
","author_name":"David Holmes"}