点评:Overall, the reason for my rating is I think we would have preferred the glitz and glam of a larger operation. We felt slightly underwhelmed at Tomatin. Upon booking, I was debating between Tomatin and a larger well known 'D' distillery a little further down the road. We passed that distillery after our Tomatin tour and there was a large brown tourist sign on the road for it, making me think it was a much larger operation and I kind of wished we'd gone there. Anyway, read on for more details about our Tomatin experience...
BOOK AHEAD
We booked a tour at Tomatin at least a month in advance, which was easy to do online. It's recommended you do this to avoid disappointment. There were people from around the world on our tour, about 16 in all.
CHECK-IN
After parking in the free lot, we entered the building where there is a check-in/cash register counter, small bar, small gift shop and toilets. In order to check in, we simply provided our name. I felt the staff were a little lackluster.
SMALL GIFT SHOP
While we waited for the tour to start, we browsed the gift shop where we later purchased a small pack of 3 whiskies as a gift. (Around £26). Unfortunately, they didn't offer any bubble wrap or anything for those of us having to fly with said gift. That would have been helpful.
THE TOUR
Our guide Lois spoke very clearly and slowly on our in-depth, roughly hour long tour. While the tour was interesting about the whisky making process, there was something lacking for me, which I can't put my finger on. It kind of lacked some zest, zeal and atmosphere. It wasn't a bad tour, it just felt a little flat.
THE TASTING ROOM EXPERIENCE
This was the same for the tasting experience at the end of the tour, which takes place in a very bland room -- almost like an office board room. Everyone is on a long [boardroom type] table with the host at one end. You're given 3 pours each. The driver in your party is given a 'driving pack', which is standard in Scotland as there is 'zero tolerance'. We had imagined the driving pack to be 3 'mini bottles' like those you buy at a liquor/beverage store, where they are labeled and look like mini versions of a full size bottle. What we were given (and I'm sure this is standard, not just at Tomatin) were three 'urine sample bottles' (that's what we called them!) in which you poured your given sample into.
My husband later drank the driving pack tastings in different hotel rooms on our trip out of water or wine glasses. While I completely understand and agree with the zero tolerance driving pack idea, it obviously isn't as enjoyable.
Having tasted the whiskies, we both thought they were 'OK'. Some of them are available in our local liquor superstore in the U.S., but I don't think we will be rushing to buy.
See my photos attached for more details.
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翻译:总体来说,我给出这个评分的原因是:我觉得我们原本更希望体验一家规模更大、更豪华的酒厂。参观托马汀酒厂后,我们略感失望。预订时,我曾在托马汀和另一家稍远些的、更为知名的“D”字头酒厂之间犹豫不决。参观完托马汀后我们经过了那家酒厂,路上有一个大型的棕色旅游指示牌,这让我以为那是一家规模大得多的酒厂,于是有点后悔没选择去那里。总之。继续阅读以了解关于我们托马廷酒厂参观体验的更多细节……
提前预订
我们至少提前一个月在线预订了托马廷酒厂的参观行程,操作十分简便。建议各位也提前预订,以免失望。参加我们这一场参观的人来自世界各地,总共有16人左右。
登记手续
把车停在免费停车场后,我们走进了酒厂大楼。楼内设有登记/收银台、小型酒吧、小纪念品店以及洗手间。办理登记手续时,我们只需报上自己的名字即可。我觉得工作人员显得有些缺乏热情。
小礼品店
在等待参观开始期间,我们浏览了礼品店,后来还在那里买了一小包三瓶装威士忌作为礼物(价格约为26英镑)。可惜的是,对于像我们这样需要带着礼物乘飞机的人,店里并没有提供气泡膜之类的包装材料。要是有的话就太好了。
参观过程
导游洛伊斯以清晰且缓慢的语速为我们进行了一次时长约一小时的深入讲解。整个参观过程关于威士忌酿造工艺的介绍确实很有趣。对我来说,有些东西缺失了,但又说不上来具体是什么。整个过程似乎缺少了些活力、热情与氛围。这次游览倒不算糟糕,只是显得有些乏味罢了。
品酒体验
游览结束后的品酒环节也是如此——品酒室极为单调,几乎就像一间办公室里的董事会会议室。所有人都围坐在一张长长的会议桌旁,主持人在桌子的一端。每位参与者都能品尝到三种酒。同行中的司机则会收到一个“驾驶专用包”。在苏格兰,这种做法很常见,因为当地实行“零容忍”政策。我们原以为驾驶测试用的容器会是3个“小瓶子”,就像你在酒类/饮料店买到的那种,上面有标签,看起来就是大瓶装的迷你版。但实际上我们拿到的(我相信这在托马丁酒厂是惯例,而不仅限于此)是三个“尿液样本瓶”(我们就这么称呼它们!),我们需要把采集到的样本倒入这些瓶子中。后来,我丈夫在我们旅途中,在不同的酒店房间里直接用水杯或葡萄酒杯来品尝那些威士忌。虽然我完全理解并赞同对驾车时饮酒采取零容忍的态度,但这样做显然就没那么有趣了。
品尝过这些威士忌后,我们俩都觉得它们“还行”。其中一些在美国当地的酒类专卖店也能买到,不过我觉得我们不会急着去购买。
更多详情请参见我附上的照片。
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