Helen Ross leads guided tours for visitors to Lindores Abbey Distillery in Newburgh, north-east Fife.
A DISTILLERY TOUR GUIDE
I STARTED working here in 2017, soon after the distillery opened. I came with my husband to see an exhibition and got talking to Helen McKenzie Smith, who works alongside her husband, Drew, the present custodian of Lindores Abbey.
I said that if I was 10 years younger, I’d have applied to be a tour guide.
“You don’t need to be ten years younger,” Helen replied.
The next time I saw her, she said they were doing some training the next week and asked if I would like to join them.
I did the training on the Monday and Tuesday, came home with a uniform and started work the next day.
I didn’t know anything about whisky. I didn’t even drink whisky.
Now, I know a fair bit about it and I also really enjoy a wee dram.
Working here was a big change for me. I was a hairdresser before, and I also worked in an office.
When I arrive in the morning, I check how many people are booked on my first tour, then I have a walk round the distillery to chat with the operators to see if there any issues I should be aware of. Then I pour my drinks.
At Lindores we serve two drinks: our aqua vitae and our core whisky.
The number of people on each tour can vary. I’ve had tours as small as one person and as large as 20 people, but my preference is about 10. Any more than that and I find they tend to wander or go astray!
At the start of the tour, I ask where people have come from, if they like whisky, that kind of thing.
I tell them about our history, which goes from the 12th century through to the 16th, then we go into the distillery and I explain how barley, water and yeast become whisky.
We go into the warehouse, where the new-make spirit is poured into casks and starts the process of becoming whisky.
Most of the tastings are done at the end of the tour in a room called the Apothecary, but sometimes I’ll serve the aqua vitae at the mill. That gives me time to explain
