Updated April 2020

This Access Statement does not contain personal opinions as to our suitability for those with access needs but aims to describe accurately the facilities and services that we offer all our visitors.

Torabhaig Distillery Limited, Teangue, Sleat, Isle of Skye IV44 8RE

Please use our postcode for SAT NAV.

Contents:

General Information:

• About us
• Getting here
• Arriving at our Visitor Centre
• Wheelchair and Mobility Impaired Users
• Buggies

About us:

• Located on the Sleat Peninsula, Isle of Skye.
  
• The Visitor Centre has been open to the public for 2 years.
  
• On-site you will find Torabhaig Kitchen Café.
  
• We have accessible toilets within the Visitor Centre
  
• Open 7 days a week – April – September and 5 days a week October – March.  For seasonal opening times please see our website, torabhaig.com

• On average tours last 45 minutes.

Getting here:

 Directions:

• From Kyle of Lochalsh, and the Skye Bridge:
  The Distillery at Torabhaig is approximately 30 minutes’ drive from the Skye Bridge.  Turn right at the roundabout immediately after the bridge and continue along the A87 for 6 miles.  Then turn left onto the A851 at the junction for Armadale.  Torabhaig is 11 miles from the junction, on the seafront.

• From Mallaig to Armadale Ferry:
  Follow the A851 main road out of the ferry port, towards Broadford for 4 miles.  Torabhaig is the first turning to the right, shortly after you pass the old church on your right.

• From the north of the Isle of Skye:
  From Portree follow the A87 to Broadford.  Drive all the way through Broadford and as you are leaving the village turn right at the Armadale junction onto the A851.  Torabhaig is 11 miles from the junction, on the seafront.

Transport and Parking:

• You can arrive at Torabhaig Distillery Visitor Centre by car, mini-bus, motorcycle, bicycle, taxi or on foot.
• Car Parking is free.  The car park comprises 39 spaces, 5 of which are reserved as dedicated parking for wheelchair users and people with mobility impairments.    These 5 spaces are the nearest to the beginning of the pathway which leads to the entrance to the Visitor Centre.
• There is a drop off and pick-up point at the beginning of the pathway which leads to the entrance to the Visitor Centre.
• There is no parking nor turning space for large coaches within our visitor carpark.

Arriving at our Visitor Centre:

• From the car park, follow the signed pathway down the side of the building, along which we have placed a bench for those who need to rest momentarily, at the end you will come to a viewing platform overlooking Knock Castle and the Sound of Sleat.  
• From the viewing platform, turn right around the corner of the building and follow the pathway along the front of the building until you come to the entrance gate in the wall on your right.
• The distance from the beginning of the pathway at the car park to the entrance gate is approx. 58.5 meters.  
• Turn right through the gate into the courtyard, on your left you will find the Visitor Centre Reception and Shop area with friendly staff waiting to guide you further.  
• In front of you, you will find an outdoor seating area within the courtyard.  
• If you turn right again you will find the Rest-rooms – ladies, gents and disabled toilets in the low-lying building on your left.  A baby changing unit can be found within the disabled toilet closet.  
• Straight ahead, past all the toilets on your right, opposite the reception entrance is the entrance to the Café.  

Wheelchair and Mobility Impaired Users:

• Torabhaig Distillery Visitor Centre is accommodated in a B listed, restored farm steading and as such requires some time and patience to attain accessibility by wheelchair users or those with specific access needs.   With patience, accessibility to all public areas is achievable by manual wheelchair users.  (The width limitation being 750mm.)    Unfortunately, motorised wheelchairs and scooters cannot gain access to the production area.  This is due to the gangways being within the restricted zones. 
• For ease, on arrival it is preferable to know in advance if there are people in a party who will require specific access.  For this and for advice on planning a visit please contact us on +44(0)1471 833 447 or email info@torabhaig.com
• For Health and Safety reasons we will only allow wheelchair users to take the full tour of the Distillery with the accompaniment of a carer who is aged 18 or over.
• To access the full tour wheelchairs should be no wider than 750mm.
• Due to the nature of the gangways around the production area – these comprise metal gridding – we will ask those who require a walking aid (stick) to use the stick(s) kept at reception.   These walking sticks are designed to be used safely on the type of flooring we have in the production area.   
• For those who cannot access the production area due to mobility impairment, we will attempt to provide the production part of the tour verbally and with the use of slides.  You will then be able to join the remainder of your party for the final part of the tour upstairs in our tasting room.

Children and Buggies:

• In compliance with our licencing agreement, we do not allow juveniles under the age of 13 to take the tour of the distillery.  Those aged between 13 and 17 inclusive can take the tour of the distillery on the condition that they are accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over.   
• A baby changing unit can be found within the disabled toilet closet.
• A high-chair is available in the cafe.   Bottle and food warming possible upon request.

Support Dogs and Pet Dogs:

• We are unable to allow support dogs access to our production area for Health and Safety reasons.  We will attempt to provide the production part of the tour verbally and/or with the use of slides where appropriate.  Visitor and support dog will then be able to partake in the final part of the tour upstairs in our tasting room.
• Only support dogs are allowed access to the Café.   
• Other pets can be left outside in the courtyard and will be provided with fresh tap water to drink upon request.   However, you must remain responsible for the behaviour of your pet whilst on the premises and your pet must not impinge on the experience being enjoyed by other visitors.  If the staff feel the dog is causing an undue disturbance you will be asked to remove your dog from the premises.

Pre-arrival:

Our nearest city is Inverness which is approximately 100 miles distant.  There are two distinct routes from Inverness by road.  One via Achnasheen, the other via Drumnadrochit (along Loch Ness side).  

Depending on time of year and volume of traffic this journey can take anywhere upwards of 2hours 10mins by car.    

Inverness Airport is approximately 120 miles distant. 

Mallaig-Armadale Ferry Crossing

Timetable link here

Kyle-of-Lochalsh Railway Station

Timetable link here

Bus 

Timetable link here

Car

For Sat-Nav purposes, our postcode is IV44 8RE.

Bicycle

Please alight from your bicycle in our car-park and walk your bicycle along the entrance pathway from the carpark, down the side of the building to the viewpoint, turn right, along the front of the building until you reach the entrance gate on your right hand side.   You can then leave your bike outside our Reception area, behind the gate or in a convenient place within the courtyard.  Reception Staff will aid you with this if necessary.

On Foot

If you are travelling by bus or on foot and carrying a large bag or rucksack, you are welcome to leave this within our reception area which is always staffed.   However, we are unable to take responsibility for bags or any other items left on our premises and advise that valuables are kept upon your person.

Reception and Ticketing Area:

Having made your way along the pathway from the carpark and come through the gateway into the courtyard, the Reception area is through a glazed, double doorway on your left-hand side.    Unless the weather is particularly inclement, one side of the doorway will be lying open during opening hours.   The Reception Desk is behind the doorway and a member of staff will be on hand to ensure ease of access through the doorway.

For hearing aid(s) users we have a portable loop system at our Reception Desk. This has a 2m radius and can be utilised by setting your hearing aid(s) to T.    

There is some minimal seating available on entry to our reception area. 

There are coat-hooks available for outdoor jackets and coats. 

You will be made welcome at Torabhaig Distillery whether or not you are taking a tour and the reception staff will give you a run-down of where you will find the toilets, the café, the shop and the outdoor seating area in our courtyard.   

Tour: 

Tickets for the Tour – currently £10 per person for a 45-minute tour – can be purchased at the reception desk.   

You may have already booked and paid for your tour through our on-line booking system which can be found on our website:  torabhaig.com, by e-mail on info@torabhaig.com or by telephone on 01471 833447, Option 1.   

If you have already booked, please come to the reception desk in order to make payment if you have not already, pick up your ticket, make sure we have a note of your name and the number of people in your party, confirm the time of your tour and to find out from where your tour is leaving. 

 NB:  To take part in the tasting of alcohol on our tour the recipient requires to be 18 years old or over.

For those taking the tour it is advisable that you bring your passport, driving licence or some form of ID with you to Reception.  Licencing legislation dictates that the staff must request sight of ID from anyone they think appears to be 25 years old or under.    Once an ID request has been made we will not allow that person to partake of the tasting of alcohol on the tour until we have had sight of the ID. i.e. the staff member cannot retract the request.

Our tours leave at roughly 30-minute intervals throughout our opening hours and last for roughly 45-minutes.  The capacity on our tours is a maximum of 8 people.  This is not only for health and safety reasons it is also for the comfort and enjoyment of the tour.  

We do not use microphones on the tour even although there are times when the machinery can be quite noisy.   We like to keep our tours as intimate and authentic as possible.

Language sheets are available in German, French, Italian and Spanish from reception.  

We do have some guides with multiple languages, e.g. German, Dutch, French and Gaelic as well as English but on our regular tours cannot offer languages other than English.

The tour starts from our shop area.

If you are taking a tour and require wheelchair access it is advisable to arrive at least 10 minutes in advance.  Also, it is preferable if we have advance warning of your requirements. 

There are steps from the reception area to the shop area.  To avoid the steps, exit through the reception doorway and follow the pathway ahead almost completely around the outside of the wall within the courtyard as far as the fire door for the shop which will be opened for you upon request to allow entry to the shop.  

The tour is led by a guide and your tour guide will meet you in the shop area and start the tour at the designated time.

After 10-15 minutes the guide will take the participants on the tour upstairs to the production area.  At this point, if any of the participants are wheelchair bound or cannot ascend the stairway another member of staff will accompany them, along with their companion to our lift, take them up in the lift and then accompany them to re-join the other participants.   This will take a few minutes and so the guide will delay the start of the tour upstairs until all participants are assembled once again. 

The tour will proceed through the production area which, as previously indicated does have a metal gridded floor.  This floor is not suited to high-heeled shoes or to walking aids.

We do have a selection of different sizes of black, rubber, crock-type shoes which you can wear in place of your high heeled shoes if you choose to.   After use, these are sprayed with disinfectant and then put through a 40-degree centigrade machine wash.

Through the gridded floor you will be able to see and be aware of the ground floor level of the building below you.   If you find this to be problematic, please let your guide know.   The guide will ask you to return downstairs to the reception area where a member of staff will look after you.  We will do our best to describe the production process to you using our story boards in the shop. We can then reunite you with the participants once they emerge from the production area.  

The production area is a working environment, and you will be for the most part within touching distance of the large vessels, valves etc.   You will be provided with a verbal warning before entering this area to take extra care.  

Once through the production area you will return to a solid, wooden floor for the remainder of the tour.

You will remain indoors for the duration of the tour.   At the end of the tour, you will exit outside into our courtyard.   Once outside you will find the toilet building facing you, the café on your left and the shop, where you started the tour, diagonally opposite on the other side of the courtyard.

Whisky and Gift Shop:

The Gift shop is accessed from the Reception area by three steps and a handrail attached to the wall.  

Signage:

Our general signage in and around the Visitor Centre is in fitting with the premises, brown with white text:

Example Image here

Also, we provide sandwich boards for immediate orientation

Evacuation Chair:

In the event of an evacuation, we have an Evac Chair which trained members of our team will administer.

First Aid:

Most members of our staff are trained in general first aid and there is a designated first aid respondent on duty at all times during the opening hours of the Visitor Centre.   

Smoking:

Smoking is not permitted on-site anywhere beyond the car-parking area. i.e. inside or outside in close proximity of the buildings.   Due to the nature of distilling we have volatile gasses and liquids on the premises.

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