May is whisky month in Scotland, an entire month dedicated  to celebrating all things whisky related and next Saturday the 15th of May is World Whisky Day so, in this episode I’m going to talk about three of my favourite whisky distilleries.  In a country full of whisky distilleries, there are actually more than 130 here,  it was quite a challenge to choose just three but here goes. The first distillery I’d like to tell you about is also Scotland’s oldest working distillery, dating back to 1775. It’s Glenturret Distillery in Perthshire.  I love the history here and the very friendly staff. The distillery is now owned by a Frenchluxury lifestyle company so some changes are being made which include a fancy restaurant and there’s also a great visitor centre with a  gift shop where you can bottle your own whisky and find a range of good quality Scottish gifts as well as a lovely cafe with comfortable seats and great coffee. Keep a look out for the distillery cats called perhaps a little unimaginatively, Glen and Turret.  Or even better, get your photo taken next to the statue of a World record breaker cat,  Touser the Mouser, a distillery cat who is said to have caught 28,899 mice during a 24 year reign! Apparently she lived so long as she had a wee dram of whisky added to her milk every night,  Pretty amazing, wouldn’t you say?Moving on,The island of Islay, also known as the  whisky island is the location of another favourite distillery of mine, Laphroaig has got to be one of my all time favourite whisky distilleries and it’s a favourite for many reasons. First of all,   There’s a lovely welcoming and relaxing atmosphere here. It’s also right next to the sea with the waves lapping at the distillery buildings. Inside there’s a free exhibition explaining a bit about the history including the fact that Laphroaig was the first distillery to be owned and run by a woman in the 20th century, Bessie Williamson. Bessie had visited Islay on holiday from Glasgow but ended up applying for a job as a shorthand typist at Laphroaig, she never returned to Glasgow eventually taking over the business in 1954. There are of course distillery tours you can go on and they have a wonderful loyalty programme where you can  become a friend of Laphroaig by buying a bottle which entitles you to a square foot of land across  the road from the distillery. You can print out your certificate showing the co-ordinates of your square foot, choose your country’s flag, borrow a pair of wellies and head off to claim your land.  After all that exertion, you can relax in the comfortable lounge while enjoying the view-  pure bliss! Don’t forget to claim your rental payment too– a miniature bottle of Laphroaig!Finally,I’d like to tell you about one of Scotland’s newer distilleries, Annandale in Dumfrieshire It opened in 2014 and the first ever whisky was released in November 2017.  Although it’s quite new, it has actually been the site of whisky production for many years and was a Johnny Walker distillery from 1886 until 1918.  It has been carefully restored and is well worth a visit. There’s even a special tour occasionally available where you can be taken around by the owner himself, David Thomson as well as the regular distillery tours.  We love the coffee shop with it’s beautiful wood interior and kids will love the Belted Galloway highchairs, The Belted Galloway is a famous black and white cow in this area,  there’s also a great gift shop specialising in “Made in Scotland”produce.So that’s it, my three favourite distilleries. As you can see whisky production has a long and interesting history so I hope that  you get the chance to visit one of our fascinating distilleries one day.  That’s all for this week, thanks for listening, see you next time.