Skip to content

Top Navigation

Food & Wine Food & Wine
  • Recipes & Cooking
  • Drinks
  • Travel
  • Holidays & Events
  • News
  • F&W Classic
  • Video
  • Kitchen & Home
  • F&W Pro

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Wine Club
  • Podcast
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Food & Wine

Food & Wine Food & Wine
  • Explore

    Explore

    • F&W Cooks

      Food and Wine presents a new network of food pros delivering the most cookable recipes and delicious ideas online. Read More Next
    • Our 22 Best Crock Pot and Slow-Cooker Recipes

      Looking to amp up your beef stew but unsure where to start? A slow cooker can can take your comfort food to the next level. Read More Next
    • 50 Affordable Wines You Can Always Trust

      We’ve assembled a list of 50 of the world’s most reliable, inexpensive wines – bottles that offer amazing quality for their price year in and year out. Read More Next
  • Recipes & Cooking

    Recipes & Cooking

    See All Recipes & Cooking
    • Chicken Recipes
    • Comfort Food Recipes
    • Breakfast & Brunch Recipes
    • Salad Recipes
    • Dessert Recipes
    • Vegetable Recipes
    • Pasta & Noodle Recipes
    • Chefs
    • Meat & Poultry Recipes
    • Soup Recipes
    • Appetizer Recipes
    • Side Dishes
    • Fruit Recipes
    • Seafood Recipes
    • Special Diets
    • Cooking Techniques
    • Steal This Trick
  • Drinks

    Drinks

    See All Drinks
    • Wine
    • Cocktails & Spirits
    • Coffee Drinks & Recipes
    • Juices
    • Beer & Brews
    • Champagne & Sparkling Wine
    • Tea Recipes & Ideas
  • Travel

    Travel

    See All Travel
    • Wine Regions
    • Restaurants
  • Holidays & Events

    Holidays & Events

    See All Holidays & Events
    • Valentine's Day
    • Halloween
    • Passover
    • Hanukkah
    • Christmas
    • Gifts
    • Super Bowl
    • Easter
    • Thanksgiving
    • New Year's Eve
    • Holiday Entertaining
  • News
  • F&W Classic
  • Video
  • Kitchen & Home
  • F&W Pro

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Wine Club
  • Podcast
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home Chevron Right
  2. Travel Chevron Right
  3. 7 Stunning Distilleries From Around the World

7 Stunning Distilleries From Around the World

By Food & Wine
Updated July 06, 2017
Skip gallery slides
Save FB Tweet
Credit: © Shane Rees Photography
This piece originally appeared on Liquor.com.Snow-powdered mountains; crystal waters; dense green forests. These sights certainly aren’t required to enjoy a stiff drink, but a little eye appeal sure amplifies the experience.To bring your favorite spirit into blazing Technicolor, you need to imbibe it in its natural habitat. Taste Japanese whisky on a mountain set high above sea level and Venezuelan rum while whizzing past the sugarcane fields. One sip at these stunning distilleries might spoil you for life—but booze tastes better with a view.
Start Slideshow

1 of 7

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Lagavulin Distillery, Port Ellen, Isle of Islay

Credit: © islay.org

No matter how you reach this picturesque distillery—by land, sea or air—you’ll want to take your time and soak up the scenery. Lagavulin is perched by the bay in the South of Islay, Scotland’s famed whisky isle. The distillery opened in 1816, but records suggest that illegal distillation had been in place since 1742. Flanked by a brisk shoreline and jagged cliffs, you can almost witness the flavors of the island seeping into the whisky, leaving telltale traces of smoky peat and sea salt. Plan your visit.

1 of 7

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 7

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Palais Bénédictine, Fécamp, France

Credit: © canalblog.com

Four ordinary walls won’t suffice when you’re shielding a secret recipe from prying eyes. Bénédictine’s legendary infusion of herbs and spices is shrouded by an imposing Gothic palace that houses both a distillery and art museum. First created by a Bénédictine monk in 1505, the recipe for the mysterious herbal liqueur was eventually discovered by Alexandre Le Grand—tucked inside an old book. Le Grand resurrected the medicinal liqueur and began to market it vigorously, constructing the palatial distillery which he filled with historic art collections including books, sculptures and religious artifacts. Today, the contemporary art gallery inside hosts exhibitions from major artists like Salvador Dalí and Andy Warhol. Plan your visit.

2 of 7

3 of 7

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Hakushu Distillery, Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

Credit: © suntory.com

Think you’ve imbibed whisky at every possible elevation? You may have missed this lofty destination: Concealed inside a thick forest at the base of Mt. Kai-Komagatake, Suntory’s Hakushu distillery sits 700 meters above sea level. It’s the most remote distillery in Japan, and its proximity to the Ojira River imbues Hakushu’s whisky with a soft, green quality that sets it apart from other single malts. The distillery’s high elevation ages the whisky more slowly with less wood influence, allowing a fresh, herbal quality to shine. And if the panoramic mountain views aren’t soothing enough, visit the distillery’s on-site bird sanctuary. Plan your visit.

3 of 7

Advertisement

4 of 7

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

La Rojeña Distillery, Tequila, Mexico

Credit: © equilasource.com and panoramio.com

The secret behind the oldest commercial distillery in the Western Hemisphere? Rich volcanic soil. Jose Cuervo’s La Rojeña distillery has been producing tequila since 1795, after the King of Spain granted Don Jose Antonio de Cuervo a fertile plot of land to use for growing agave. Meander through the distillery’s sunny courtyards passing the oversized trademark crow and sprawling murals to uncover the tequila-making process. A tour of the yellow-walled fortress will lead you by brick ovens for roasting agave, copper stills and endless aging barrels. On a lucky day, you might even reach the cellar that houses the brand’s most exclusive tequila, Reserva de la Familia. Plan your visit.

4 of 7

5 of 7

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

High West Distillery & Saloon, Park City, Utah

Credit: © highwest.com

File under “eccentric”: High West is a distillery of many firsts. It’s Utah’s first legal distillery since 1870, but it’s also the world’s first “ski-in gastro-distillery.” Conveniently located at the bottom of the Quittin’ Time ski run next to the Old Town Lift, High West encourages visitors to park their skis on the distillery’s rack before sauntering inside for a drink. The available libations? A ragtag gang of pioneering whiskey blends like the Rendezvous Rye or High West Campfire, possibly the world’s first blend of Scotch, bourbon and rye whiskeys. Time to shake up your après-ski routine. Plan your visit.

5 of 7

6 of 7

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Bombay Sapphire Distillery, Laverstoke Mill, United Kingdom

Credit: © inhabitat.com

From paper to…gin? In its former life, this distillery was a paper mill used to produce banknotes for the British Empire during the 18th century. Once owned by William the Conqueror and Henry VIII, the mill’s story can even be traced back as early as the 1086 Doomsday Book. After years of abandonment, Bombay Sapphire transformed the historic structure into a striking example of environmentally-conscious architecture. The futuristic glass greenhouses nurture the 10 native botanicals used in Bombay Sapphire gins—one side caters to plants from a tropical climate, and the other mimics the Mediterranean. Plan your visit.

6 of 7

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 7

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Hacienda Santa Teresa, Estado Aragua, Venezuela

Credit: © Shane Rees Photography

900 acres of sugarcane encircle the Santa Teresa distillery, which has been crafting rum since 1896. Originally established as a sugarcane plantation 100 years earlier, the Hacienda inhabits the Aragua Valley, one of the most fertile areas in the country. Santa Teresa is Venezuela’s oldest rum producer and has flourished into a formidable agricultural complex, capable of making 18 million liters of rum per year. All harvesting, distillation and bottling is completed on the lush, tree-lined estate, and the brand also grows the coffee and oranges used in its coffee liqueur and Rhum Orange. Plan your visit.

7 of 7

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Food & Wine

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 7 Lagavulin Distillery, Port Ellen, Isle of Islay
2 of 7 Palais Bénédictine, Fécamp, France
3 of 7 Hakushu Distillery, Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan
4 of 7 La Rojeña Distillery, Tequila, Mexico
5 of 7 High West Distillery & Saloon, Park City, Utah
6 of 7 Bombay Sapphire Distillery, Laverstoke Mill, United Kingdom
7 of 7 Hacienda Santa Teresa, Estado Aragua, Venezuela

Share options

Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Login

Food & Wine

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Books from Food & Wine
  • Contact Us
  • Media Kit
  • Content Licensing

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
  • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
Food & Wine is part of the Meredith Corporation Allrecipes Food Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.foodandwine.com

View image

7 Stunning Distilleries From Around the World
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.