Why Brand-Agnostic Press Trips Work

Press trips have long been part of how whisky brands introduce journalists to their distilleries. A visit allows guests to see production first-hand, meet the people behind the spirit and experience the landscape that shapes it.

Traditionally, these trips focus on a single distillery or brand. But over the past year I’ve been experimenting with a slightly different model: brand-agnostic press trips.

Instead of one distillery hosting a visit, several collaborate to create a shared journey for journalists across a particular region.

The idea first emerged during a conversation with journalist Alice Lascelles about the practical challenge of organising press visits to remote parts of Scotland. Distilleries in places like the Hebrides or the West Coast often face the same logistical reality: travel takes time, and journalists rarely visit the area for just one stop.

What if, instead of each distillery trying to organise its own trip, they worked together?

A few phone calls later and we had what I believe was the first whisky brand-agnostic press trip.

A broader story for journalists

One of the biggest advantages of this approach is the richness of the story it allows journalists to tell.

Instead of focusing on a single distillery narrative, guests experience an entire region: multiple distilleries, different production philosophies and the landscapes that connect them.

On one recent trip we travelled through the Hebrides visiting Torabhaig, Raasay, Harris and Dornoch. Another took us from Mull (Tobermory) to Morvern (Nc’nean) and on to Ardnamurchan.

What emerges from journeys like these isn’t just a set of distillery visits. It’s a sense of the ecosystem that surrounds whisky: the communities, the coastlines, the differences between producers and the shared challenges of making spirit in remote places.

For journalists, that broader context often leads to much richer stories.

Collaboration makes remote trips possible

Remote distilleries face a practical challenge when organising press visits: cost.

Flights, ferries, accommodation and transport quickly add up. Hosting a journalist for a dedicated visit can be expensive, particularly for smaller producers.

By sharing the cost across several distilleries, the economics change significantly. A trip that might feel difficult to justify for a single brand suddenly becomes far more viable.

In these cases, each distillery contributes a portion of the budget rather than funding an entire visit themselves. The result was a more ambitious journey that none of the participants would necessarily have hosted individually.

A better experience for journalists

For journalists, the appeal is obvious.

Travelling to a remote distillery is exciting, but the opportunity to explore a region and meet multiple producers makes the journey even more worthwhile.

Instead of returning home with a single brand story, they leave with a deeper understanding of the whisky landscape — and often several story angles.

Those experiences also tend to create stronger relationships between journalists and distilleries.

Collaboration reflects the spirit of the industry

One of the more interesting aspects of these trips has been the willingness of distilleries to collaborate.

Whisky is a competitive industry, but it also has a long tradition of cooperation. Producers often share knowledge, support one another and recognise that the reputation of the category benefits everyone.

Brand-agnostic trips reflect that spirit.

Rather than competing for attention, distilleries collectively showcase the strength of their region and the diversity of approaches within it.

A reminder that whisky is about place

Perhaps the most valuable aspect of these trips is that they highlight something fundamental about whisky: it is inseparable from place.

When journalists travel through the Hebrides or along the West Coast, they see how landscape, weather, community and culture shape the whisky being produced there.

That perspective is difficult to convey through a single distillery visit or a press release.

But when you experience a region — its roads, its coastline, its people — the story becomes much clearer.

Looking ahead

So far the response from both journalists and distilleries has been extremely positive.

Brand-agnostic trips offer a way to create richer media experiences while making remote regions more accessible and economically viable for producers.

They also reinforce something that often gets overlooked in communications: the whisky industry is not just a collection of brands, but a network of places, people and ideas.

And sometimes the best way to tell that story is to travel through it.