Macallan Distillery

If The Lord of the Rings’ Hobbiton were colonized by aliens, it might look something like the new Macallan distillery and visitors’ center, which opened in June and put the Scottish Highlands on the architectural map. The undulating grass rooftops and stone paths fringed with wildflowers evoke some distant Celtic past, while the 69-ft.-high ceilings, whirring machinery and a hovering UFO-like scotch bar (where you can pony up for the Macallan M or the Macallan ’52, among some 950 other bottles) root you squarely in the 21st century. So do the barrel-nosing stations and a glass-wall display of an archive comprising 398 bottles, nine decanters and nine flasks. Avoid drinking on an empty stomach by grabbing a bite at the on-site restaurant. —Benjamin Kemper