Whisky-loving care home residents have been amongst the first to experience the recently-transformed Glenkinchie Distillery.
Cramond Residence laid on the visit for its residents as part of a programme of virtual tours around some of Scotland’s best visitor attractions, to help brighten up lockdown.
Dubbed the home’s “Grand Tour of Scotland”, it was kicked off with the armchair tour of Glenkinchie Distillery in East Lothian. It has recently been revamped as part of a £185m investment in Scotch whisky experiences by Johnnie Walker’s parent company, Diageo.
As well as enjoying a specially-recorded video tour of the distillery to watch on the care home’s cinema screen, residents were also presented with glasses and samples of Glenkinchie’s 12-year-old whisky to enjoy.
Christian Daraio, Client Liaison Manager and Registered Nurse at Cramond Residence in Edinburgh, said: “The past few months have been pretty challenging for many of our residents and having the virtual tours arranged gave them something to look forward to.
“During the sampling of whisky, many of our residents claimed it was ‘the best scotch they have ever had’ which is great to hear and tells how much enjoyment everyone got out of the tour, which is what it’s all about.
“Everyone at Cramond Residence appreciated the kind donations from Glenkinchie and it really put a smile on the faces of our residents.”
The Glenkinchie tour is one of eight different virtual visits the care home has laid on after joining forces with the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions, which put out an appeal to its hundreds of members to take part.
Participating attractions have all worked with the home to give its residents as close as possible to the experience of a real visit. Those involved include the National Galleries of Scotland, Rosslyn Chapel in Midlothian and the Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum in Dunfermline.
Since the bulk of the distillery tour was specially pre-recorded for Cramond Residence, it means the home can show the tour whenever it wants, so that future residents can also benefit.
