3 Best Sights in Aberdeen and the Northeast, Scotland

This historic distillery on the northern edge of Rothes has been producing award-winning single malts since 1840, and it's still going strong today. An impressive visitor center provides guided tours of the distillery, revealing its distinctive blend of centuries-old traditions and cutting-edge technology, as well as offering private tastings. There's a shop and café, too. But the biggest draw here is the stunning Victorian gardens; walk along the snaking path and pass pristine lawns, rare blooming flowers, gently flowing streams, and pretty pagodas. On your walk look out for a small cave and a locked safe; these were used to store founder Major Grant's private whisky collection, so he could share a dram with his walking companions.

Beneath a vast, undulating, turf-covered roof that mimics the outlines of the surrounding moorland, the Macallan Estate is now an exciting whisky tourism hub for Speyside. The Discovery Experience tour lasts 2 hours 30 minutes and includes nosing and tasting of some of the distillery's distinctively sherry-tinctured malts.

Situated four miles south of Rothes, this working cooperage is the only place left in the U.K. where you can see coopers hard at work making wooden whisky casks. Since 1947, coopers here have been using American oak, along with traditional tools and methods, to create the casks for distilleries across Scotland and beyond. This visitor center gives you the chance to see the coopers at work and learn more about the life cycle of a cask, with tours throughout the working week. There's also a well-stocked gift shop and barrel-themed café.