Blair Athol distillery sits on the south edge of Pitlochry, an easy ten-minute walk from the town centre. It is one of the larger distilleries in the area, owned by Diageo and producing the whisky that goes into the Bell's blend as well as its own single malt expressions. The buildings date from 1798, though the distillery was rebuilt in the nineteenth century and again in the twentieth.
Tours run daily and cover the production process from mash tun to still; the distillery is well set up for visitors and the explanation of how blended Scotch is made — which Blair Athol feeds — is genuinely interesting if you haven't encountered it before. The tasting at the end covers both the single malt and the blend.
The 12-year single malt is the entry point: a medium-bodied Highland with honey and fruit notes, pleasantly unchallenging. More interesting for whisky enthusiasts are the limited annual releases and distillery-exclusive cask strength bottlings sold only in the shop. Blair Athol is particularly worth visiting if Edradour is too remote or if you want a more polished visitor experience.