What are the best tours of single malt distilleries. Our favorite labels include Macallan (Craigellachie) and Oban. Are they worth the drives from Stirling? I assume that Laphroaig (Islay) is out of the question as a day trip from Stirling?

Islay is out of the question as a day tour from Stirling.

Craigellachie is about a four hour drive each way, through breathtakingly beautiful country side that will tempt you to stop at every corner, which is not included in your total eight hour drive, I would not want to do it, and I have been known to make crazy, fast trips across country.

Oban is more reasonable. You would have about a two hour drive each way. Again you will want to stop often, but at least you won't be quite as rushed.

Oban is a lovely town with ferries heading out to the islands. It deserves much more than a day trip. I have never been to the distillery in Oban, so can't say if it is worth the effort.

You might consider Pitlochry instead, it is only about an hour and twenty minutes from Stirling, and has two distilleries to offer, Blair Atholl and Edradour.

Pitlochry would be ideal and the Edradour distillery does an excellent tour.
this link is a review of a short weekend I had there last june.
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUse..._Scotland.html
Craigellachie is only about a 2.5 hour drive from Stirling so can be done in a day.I have driven to Craigellachie from Edinburgh in under 4 hours and that included a 40 minute stop in Pitlochry.
The Macallan tour is ok but it is very "industrial".
I prefered the Glenfarclas tour which is only a few miles away.
Glenfiddich also do an excellent tour,it is totally geared up to the tourist but does it very well.
The following websites should give you lots of info,there is even one to tell you how to pronounce the differentnames.
http://www.scotlandwhisky.com (Distilleries to visit and Whisky Embassies)
http://www.maltwhiskytrail.com/
http://www.whisky.com/
www.whisky-tours.com
http://www.scottishpubs.co.uk/
http://www.scotchwhisky.net/
http://www.whiskycoast.co.uk
http://www.whisky-heritage.co.uk/ ( Edinburgh )
http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/home/jhb/whis... (pronunciation of whisky names)
http://www.wmcadenhead.com/ ( specialist whisky shop)
http://www.royalmilewhiskies.com/defa... (specialist whisky shop)
http://www.whiskyshop.com/ (specialist whisky shop)

For a Lowland whisky tour try the "Edinburgh Whisky" which is another name for Glenkinchie just outside Pencaitland in East Lothian www.discovering-distilleries.com/glenkinchie

Received wisdom is that the best tours are at Strathisla, Glenkinchie, Edradour, Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, Glen Grant, and Cardhu. (that doesn't count the islands which are impractical for you).

I have only done Strathisla, Glenlivet and Glenfiddich of that lot, and I would say that Strathusla and Glenlivet are both very industrial.

The Glenfiddich tour is excellent. I think my choice (excluding the islands) would be Balvenie.

Please note, these are TOUR recommendations, not WHISKY recommendations

I have been on several of the whisky tours, and must say that I liked Edradour the best. It is small and pretty, and their whisky is more to my taste than most of the others.

Thanks to each of you for your excellent suggestions and information. Now I can plan much better!

Any reason you can't overnight in Craigallichie? and do McCallan?

We will indeed stay overnight so that we may visit Macallan. We cannot miss our favorite distillery.