Take a private luxury tour of Scotland’s great distilling regions.

Is it whisky or whiskey? Is older whisky better whisky? Ray Pearson, who has spent a lifetime exploring the nuances of whiskies, answers all these questions and more on an exceptional 11-day Luxury Whisky Tour hosted by Thistle Dubh Enterprises, LLC. Even if you know all the answers—in fact, especially if you do—each day will be a little bit of heaven, and not just because of the Mercedes bus transportation that puts the luxury in this luxury tour.

From your first day in Scotland, you will be granted private tours and tastings, including tastings of some cask-strength whiskies not available to the hoi polloi, at distilleries representing the famous names in Scotch whisky. Pearson will be on hand, along with distillery representatives, to point out the interplay of scents and flavors that make each individual malt distinctive and to help you understand the different regional distilling styles.

At Glengoyne, you will taste the results of the slowest distilling process of all Scottish single malts: subtle, complex flavors redolent of the Spanish sherry oak casks in which the spirits mature. At Auchentoshen, expect to be exposed to the luscious results of the distiller’s distinctive triple-distilling process. In Campbeltown, once home to three dozen distilleries and now famous as the home of one celebrated survivor, the iconic Springbank, you will experience true, handmade single malts, all of them exhibiting the merest hint of the briny tang that is the hallmark of the brand. On the island of Islay, at Bowmore, in a warehouse set below sea level, tastings might venture toward special bottlings matured in bourbon and sherry casks; these whiskies are richly gold in hue, beautifully balanced yet also beautifully complex. Nearby Ardbeg, home to the world’s most peaty whisky, is renowned for its muscular, creatively-named Rollercoaster release and the powerful Supernova, scented with peat, chocolate and citrus and tasting of more peat, oak and a bit of ash. Laphroaig, which will be visited on the fourth day of the trip, is the only distillery to be awarded the Prince of Wales’ Royal Warrant. If fortune is with you, there might be the opportunity to sample the Laphroaig 10-Year Cask Strength, a whisky aromatic with peat, sweetness and a tinge of orange, or the prize Double Matured Distiller’s Edition, perfumed with honey, black pepper and fruit, and rife with complex undertones. At Ben Nevis Distillery, located at the foot of the highest mountain in the British Isles, you might pick up a bottle of the expansively flavored, multiple award winning Ben Nevis 10–Year-Old Single West Highland Malt 46 percent, redolent of citrus and oak but with an irresistible sweetness and a long, complex finish. Tobermory Distillery, located in the Highlands subregion known as the Islands, makes a nonpeated malt as well as a peated whisky sold under the name Ledaig, both every bit as enjoyable as the short ride in a Zodiac-like inflatable boat it takes to get there. At Tomatin Distillery, look to taste one of the rich, mellow and delicately flavored expressions and pick up a bottle of the Tomatin 1980, an extremely limited edition matured in oak barrels that once held bourbon, as aromatic as an orchard ready for harvest, full-bodied and creamy, tasting of spice and orange peel, and with a long, satisfying finish.

However, this trip is not all about distilleries. The trip also includes a stop at a cooperage to watch whisky barrels being made and charred, visits to famous historic houses used in movies and television shows, a train ride across the 21-arched Glenfinnan Viaduct and a Loch Ness cruise, not to mention views of the spectacular Scottish scenery, from the Highlands to sea-swept islands and lovely Speyside.

Still, the tastings are what make this tour stand out. At the penultimate stop, the world-famous Quaich Bar at the Craigellachie House in Speyside, 700 whiskies line the walls, presided over by an in-house specialist who conducts nosing and tasting sessions. Here a wee dram goes for anywhere from £2 to a not-so-wee £275. As the grand finale, at a private dinner in the Whisky Room at the Scotch Malt Society Vaults in Leith you will be invited to sample exclusive Society bottlings at cask strength, a more potent form than is usually available for sale. After this trip, you’ll never look at a bottle of Scotch in the same way again.