I’m not quite sure why people get so worked up about whisky distilleries; there are more than 150 of them in Scotland, divided into five regions: Speyside, Highland, Islay, Lowland and Campbeltown.
This of course excludes distilleries of other products, e.g., gin which adds at least another 100 distilleries, so let’s just concentrate on the whisky ones.
Distilleries are big employers in Scotland with over 41,000 employed in the industry, but you don’t need that many people to actually make the stuff. There are people involved in the marketing, transport, bottling, admin (of course), but the tourist trade is big in Scotland and not far from anywhere you will find a whisky distillery (even in the middle of nowhere) and it will surely have a visitor centre with tasting rooms and helpful guides ready to take you on a tour. They are nice people.
One of the features of whisky is that it is generally made in really scenic locations, ideal for some serious sketching. I happened to be a guest on a yacht sailing out of Oban; after a couple of days I met up with Head Office and we headed off to the Island of Islay, home of my favourite peat-smoked whiskies, did some drawing, and then finished off with a trip to Campbeltown (mostly to wander round Machrihanish air base which I used to know well) to get a couple more drawings in.
The Laggan Bay Distillery on the Island of Islay is what a modern distillery should really look like, i.e., a small factory. But that wouldn’t be any fun, so the rest of the drawings are all the world’s idea of what a Scottish Whisky Distillery should look like! There are six drawings from Islay (Caol Ila, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Laggan Bay, Lagavulin, and Laphroaig) and two from Campbeltown (Glen Scotia and Springbank). It would be invidious of me to say which is my favourite whisky, but with the exception of Laggan Bay (which doesn’t actually have any whisky for sale yet - but has a very good brewery next door), I liked them all.
Enjoy the sketches as you (hopefully) enjoy a wee dram at the same time.