King Charles III (74) made a special appointment last Wednesday. According to an Instagram post from the Royal Family’s official account, the king ceremoniously opened the 8 Doors Distillery. The distillery is the most northerly whiskey distillery on mainland Scotland and has been producing the first Scotch whiskey since 1837. The post goes on to say that the distillery has rebuilt all of the stainless steel vessels used in production from other sites and that the waste from the distillation process is collected and turned into biogas.

King Charles III opens whiskey distillery in traditional kilt

During the visit to the whiskey distillery, the monarch wore a traditional Scottish kilt in green and a beige tweed jacket with a matching waistcoat. He also combined a green and red striped tie, green wool socks and black leather shoes. Pictures show Charles in good spirits chatting to distillery staff and local residents who were keen to meet the king.

The distillery also acknowledged the distinguished visit in an Instagram post. “We were delighted to welcome His Majesty the King to officially open 8 Doors Distillery today,” the company said. “We really enjoyed telling him the history of our distillery and giving him the opportunity to taste our whiskey and tour our visitor center and distillery.” The king was also allowed to fill a cask in the distillery warehouse.

Charles III, who was presented with the Scottish crown jewels at a coronation ceremony in early July, is spending his summer holiday in Scotland. As the British nobility expert Rebecca English reports in an article for the “Daily Mail”, the king and his wife Queen Camilla (76) do not live at Balmoral Castle. Instead, the royal couple resides in Birkhall – an estate that is also on the Balmoral site.

It will be the first summer at Balmoral Castle without Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022). She died last year on September 8, 2022 at Balmoral Castle.