Article: Visiting a Welsh distillery in autumn: what to expect
Visiting a Welsh distillery in autumn: what to expect
The Ceredigion coast in summer is busy and bright and very good at what it does. Autumn is quieter, and it has plenty to recommend it.
The light goes long and low across the fields. The lanes empty out. The sea gets more interesting to look at than to swim in. And a distillery, which in August is one stop on a full day, becomes the reason you came.
If you are thinking about a visit between now and the end of the year, here is what it is actually like.
Why autumn suits a distillery visit
A distillery is a warm building full of copper on a cold day.
Our tours are small all year round. That is not an autumn thing, it is simply how we run them, and it is probably the real difference between coming here and going somewhere with a visitor centre and a turnstile. You get the person showing you round rather than a script, the questions are always good ones, and nobody is moved along.
What autumn adds is the season itself. The evenings draw in, the light goes early, and half an hour in a warm building that smells of barley and juniper is a better idea in October than it has any right to be.
What happens on a tour
Our Distillery Tour runs Monday to Saturday at 10.00 a.m., costs £10, and takes about half an hour.
Someone from the team walks you through the gin lab and the whisky room, opens the door of the botanical room so you can smell what goes into the gin, and explains how the spirit is actually made here rather than in the abstract. It finishes in the shop with samples, and then the only remaining question is which bottle is coming home with you.
Half an hour is deliberately short. It is enough to understand the place and not so long that anyone is checking their watch. If you want longer, there are two ways to get it.
The Gin Tasting Experience runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 2.00 p.m. and costs £30. A welcome gin and tonic, three Welsh gins to taste properly with a card to write on, a tour of the distillery, then a second drink of whichever one you liked best. There is a non alcoholic version for anyone who would rather, and a tour only place at £10 for whoever is driving.
The Gin Making Experience is the full morning, at 11.00 a.m. on the same three days. Two hours, one of our test stills, and a 70cl bottle of gin that is genuinely yours, recipe and all, for £150 for two people sharing.
What is different about the distillery in autumn
This is a working distillery, and the year shows.
By October the barley is long in from the field in front of the distillery, and what happens to it next is the slow part. Our green malt whisky is made from barley grown within ten miles of here, and it goes into the still unkilned, while it is still alive, where most distilleries would have dried theirs weeks earlier. It is the reason our whisky tastes of this specific place rather than of whisky in general, and you can read more about it in our Welsh Origin Whisky story.
What you actually walk into on any given morning depends on where the distillery happens to be in its own year. It is a working building rather than a set, so no two tours are quite the same, and that is most of the pleasure of it.
Half term, the week of 26 October
Half term in Wales is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026, and most of England breaks the same week, though a few counties run a week earlier, so check yours.
We are open as usual through it, 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m., Monday to Saturday. Tours run at 10.00 a.m. and there is room on them, but it is still worth booking so we know to expect you. If you want to come the same day, ring us on 01239 872300 from 9.00 a.m.
Children are welcome on the tour, and they go free. It is half an hour, it is a working building with copper stills in it, and it holds the attention of most children rather better than you would expect. The only thing they cannot do is taste, because the samples at the end are for the over 18s. Grown ups get the drams, everyone gets the rest of it.
Things to do in Ceredigion in autumn, beyond us
We are half an hour from a lot of things worth the drive.
Cardigan is the nearest town, and it is a good one in the rain. The castle, the market, independent shops that stay open out of season, and somewhere to eat that is not a queue.
The coast path. The stretch of the Wales Coast Path along Cardigan Bay is at its best when it is empty, and October is empty. Mwnt and Aberporth are both a short drive, and our own guide to the best west Wales beaches has the rest.
New Quay, twenty minutes up the coast, where the dolphins are still working the bay well into the autumn and the harbour is a better photograph in low light than in high summer.
Cilgerran and the Welsh Wildlife Centre, which is the indoor and outdoor option in one place if the weather cannot make up its mind.
Put a 10.00 a.m. tour at the start of a day and the rest of it opens up.
If it rains
It will. This is the west coast of Wales in October and that is part of the deal.
A distillery is one of the few days out that is genuinely better in bad weather. It is inside, it is warm, it smells extraordinary, and there is a drink at the end of it. Bring a coat for the bit between the car and the door and then stop worrying about it.
Questions people ask
Can children come on a distillery tour?
Yes, and they go free. Under 18s are welcome on the tour. They cannot taste any of the spirits, so the samples at the end are for the adults, but the tour itself is open to all ages.
Do I need to book a distillery tour?
It is worth booking so we know to expect you, though there is usually room. Tours run Monday to Saturday at 10.00 a.m. Book online, or ring 01239 872300 from 9.00 a.m. if it is for today.
How long does a distillery tour take?
About 30 minutes, including samples in the shop. The Gin Tasting Experience takes around an hour and a half, and the Gin Making Experience about two hours.
How much is it?
The tour is £10, and under 18s go free. Gin Tasting is £30, or £10 for a tour only place. Gin Making is £150 for up to two people sharing a still. Groups of ten or more get 10% off tours automatically.
What are your opening hours?
9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m., Monday to Saturday, including through half term.
Is there parking, and is the building accessible?
There is a large car park and it is free. The building has ramp access.
Can I bring my dog?
Not inside, as we are a production facility. Assistance dogs are of course welcome.
Where exactly are you?
On the Ceredigion coast near Cardigan, in west Wales. Full directions are on our visit the distillery page.
Can I buy the whisky at the distillery?
Yes, the full range is in the shop, including whiskies that sell out online. Browse the Welsh whisky collection to see what is currently available.
Come and see us
Autumn is a good time to find us. Book a distillery tour, or if you are buying for somebody else, a distillery experience voucher works for any date and does not expire the week after Christmas.
