Ballater Tasting Room Update | Whisky Tastings & Private Hire in Royal Deeside

It’s been three months since we opened the doors to our Ballater shop, and it’s been fantastic welcoming both locals and visitors to Royal Deeside. There’s a real buzz around Ballater at the moment, with an incredible mix of independent shops, restaurants, and cafés that rival many larger towns in Scotland.

Since before we even opened, one question has come up time and time again:

“When are you going to start whisky tastings in Ballater?”

The answer is: very soon.

Following our soft opening, we invited a small group of friends, regular customers, and suppliers to enjoy the space before the official launch. It gave us the chance to finally take in the atmosphere — and enjoy a glass of Gusbourne — after months of hard work bringing the shop together.

The result exceeded all expectations. The warm underlighting, glowing whisky shelves and relaxed atmosphere created the perfect setting to enjoy a dram. Guy’s vision for the space, inspired by years of refining and improving our Banchory shop, finally came to life in Ballater.

At the centre of the shop sits a colossal tasting table, offering even more room for whisky events and guided tastings than our Banchory location. A huge thank you goes to the team at Sheridan’s for helping manoeuvre the table into place — it eventually took eight of us to get it across the threshold.

Ballater Whisky Tastings Now Launching

We’re excited to host our inaugural whisky tasting event on the 27th, which sold out quickly. There are still a limited number of tickets available for our next tasting on 6th March.

Our Ballater whisky tastings will showcase a wide range of Scotch whiskies, from approachable drams to rare and unusual bottlings, all in an intimate setting in the heart of Royal Deeside.

The Ballater Whisky Tasting Room

Many people have also been asking about the dedicated tasting room — and we can confirm the best is still to come.

The tasting room project involved far more work than expected, including rebuilding much of the original lean-to structure following years of decay caused by Storm Frank. As with any restoration project in an older building, there were a few surprises along the way. Thankfully, a fantastic team of local contractors helped us get everything over the line.

Now that the structural work and licensing requirements are complete, we can move on to the exciting part: filling the room with whisky.

Private Whisky Tastings in Ballater

Our new Ballater tasting room will soon be available for private whisky tastings and group hire. Designed as an intimate whisky space in Royal Deeside, it will offer guests the opportunity to explore carefully curated whisky flights with as much — or as little — guidance as they like.

Whether you want to compare:

• Single cask Scotch whiskies
• Rare and collectible bottles
• Silent distilleries
• Regional whisky styles
• Older and unusual drams
• Independent bottlings

We’ll tailor the experience to your group.

Guests will also have the opportunity to continue exploring whisky by the dram throughout the evening, moving into older, rarer, or contrasting styles depending on preference. Think of it as a private whisky speakeasy in Ballater, built for whisky lovers.

A Unique Whisky Space in Royal Deeside

The room itself is beginning to look incredible. The calming blue tones of Coat Paint’s “Establishment”, combined with exposed granite walls and sparkling quartz details, create the perfect atmosphere for enjoying Scotch whisky.

The custom “Wall of Whisky” shelving is currently being built, while a stunning live-edge Fife maple table is being handcrafted by our friends at Edinburgh Cabinet Makers, including local legend Ruaraidh Stewart — better known in the village as “Big Hugh’s son”.

Visit Our Ballater & Banchory Whisky Shops

We’ll continue sharing updates as the tasting room nears completion and look forward to welcoming everyone very soon.

If you’d like to enquire about private whisky tastings, group bookings or upcoming tasting events in Ballater, feel free to contact us via WhatsApp or visit us in-store at either of our Royal Deeside locations.

• The Strong Water Co. Banchory – 78 High Street, Banchory, AB31 5SS
• The Strong Water Co. Ballater – 2 Bridge Street, Ballater, AB35 5QP

Join Our Whisky Subscription Club

You can also explore our Single Cask Club Whisky Subscription, featuring hand-selected Scotch whisky drams, exclusive releases, early access ballots, and member discounts from our Banchory and Ballater whisky shops.