Islay

Islay whisky trail

We leave Oban after an early breakfast – today, once again, a fine, traditional fine porridge flavoured with the exquisite gorse honey. We drive south past the junction to Ellenabeich, with its highly recommended Oyster Bar in case the rain should convince us to stop. We are lucky and the weather is getting better and better – so the journey to Tarbert is entertaining and the 50-odd miles are soon behind us.

In Tarbert we have enough time for a hot orange chocolate in The Galley Café & Chef Shop. We are enjoying an attractively presented, full Scottish breakfast, still available shortly after 11 a.m. With our usual punctuality, we board the ferry to Islay. Today we are experiencing a delay because the CalMac ferry carefully rectifies a technical breakdown before casting off. The honesty with which the captain informs us accept the delay patiently. We make ourselves comfortable on deck and are relieved when the captain resolves the issue quickly enough that we can still visit the northern half of Islay at a leisurely pace before it gets dark – and this in November with its noticeably shorter days. We can start on our tour to the island of 11 distilleries, nine of which produce and currently sell their whisky.

Uisge Beathe (Gällisch for ‘water of life’) is what the local distillers have produced for centuries. When taxes were levied on whisky in Scotland in 1644, producers withdrew to distant glens or cellars to escape taxation. On the ‘barbaric’ island of Islay, the first distilleries decided from 1797 that it was both suitable for production of whisky and remote enough to safely avoid the tax authorities. Anyone who travelled to Islay in the late 19th century could already visit the Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Port Ellen, Bowmore, Lochindaal, Bruichladdich, Caol Ila and Bunnabahain distilleries. On our route in 2020 we have planned two additional stops at the Kilchoman and Ardnahoe distilleries – more on that later.

When the captain sounds the foghorn mid-crossing, passengers emerge on deck with binoculars and cameras at the ready to admire the dolphins as they follow us, their joyful leaping set against the backdrop of the already visible coastal tip of Islay.

We drive off the ramp onto a serpentine road leading us up the hill. We quickly gain elevation; the view of the sea becomes wonderfully clear! And there is already the first sign of the distillery to welcome us. It’s Caol Ila, which belongs to the Diageo Group. It occurs to many visitors to drive back down the street to the bank where the buildings of the distillery can be seen. This distillery is rightly a jewel on Islay, with its annual output of 3.4 million litres of whisky.

We would like to approach the whisky topic here, but our plan keeps us moving. After a short stretch past the lookout point, we are headed towards the Bunnahabhain Distillery, the northernmost of Islay’s distilleries – but on the way, there is a special stop.

Ardnahoe Distillery invites us to stop in the late sunshine. The new buildings with their still-gleaming stills and stately visitor centre make good use of their location with a view of the neighbouring island of Jura and the wonderful play of lights over the sound of Islay. This distillery wants to present its own first whisky to the world soon, and it is already an attractive point of interest on the island today. On the distillery tour, you can enjoy the view of the coast, which impresses with its cliffs. We would recommend any guest interested in being initiated into the art of distilling whisky to sign up for a tour. Note: this distillery expects to begin selling its self-distilled and stored whisky at some point in 2021, but none is yet available. We are curious how the quality and taste notes compare to their direct neighbours, Caol Ila and Bunnahabhain.

So, we reach the northernmost distillery, Bunnahabhain, and we quickly notice that the traditional old whisky brands have their own landing stages – the barrel is ready to be rolled down the pier and shipped directly. In the old days, that was the only way to distribute their fine products from the island to the customer. This distillery is true to its age. What became dark on the walls has remained dark to this day. It dizzies the mind to think how many years 800,000 bottles of whisky have left the pier annually. And yet no air of prosperity has established itself. You can see the hard distillery art from back then. Perhaps the weathered old flags that wave at the peer represent a pride in its long history, but it this an intentional marketing concept? It’s possible. Indeed, the smell of the mashed barley flows in elegant clouds of smoke past our noses into the clear evening sky. And yes, that smell is heavenly!

With this wonderful scent still filling our senses, we move on to the last stop of the day: the Islay House. The warmly lit windows, an immaculately tended forecourt and warm, cosy rooms await us. While waiting for the fine dinner to be served, we take advantage of the opportunity to talk to the lady at the bar not only about the whisky and gin of the island, but also to end this beautiful day with a Bowmore 18 and a Nerabus gin and tonic. We can look forward to visiting the other distilleries tomorrow.

Strengthened with a full Scottish breakfast, we take a guided tour of the Kilchoman Distillery in the first slot of the day. We are thrilled that this very distillery can describe in vivid detail the process that begins with the grains of barley and ends with the smoky drop of whisky – and every single step in between. Kilchoman Distillery clearly shows that what goes into the barrel to mature is extremely important. We will remember Kilchoman’s expertise in the whisky process with great pleasure and thank them for a most interesting tour.

We drive contentedly from the yard of the Kilchoman Distillery and head west, past the large and well-known Bruichladdich Distillery to Portnahaven. The last thing we would have expected to see in this picturesque town was a large seal colony in the middle of the natural harbour. We enjoyed this unusual event during our lunch break and happily watched the friendly animals play in the waves. It was only when we continued our journey that we realised that the seals had swum into the bay that day because there were high waves in the open sea. The animals had sought refuge in the port from the waves crashing on the rugged coastline.

Next, we drive to the Bowmore Distillery. The route through the cosy single-track streets is already familiar to us, and it is not uncommon to have to stop and give way to a cow on the street. We enjoy watching the birds that hibernate on the island every year near Bridgend. It now makes sense that barley on Islay can only be harvested once a year. If a second harvest were possible, the barley would in any case be eaten away by the migrating birds faster than it could be collected for whisky production. Unfortunately, we cannot visit Bowmore Distillery this day as it was closed due to the coronavirus. But we pass some wistfully good time in the shop and treat ourselves to a bottle of comforting whisky for when we are back home.

Now is the time to make a short stop at The Square in Bridgend. We buy a bottle of Nerabus gin and admire the slowly emerging shopping square with Islay’s quilter and Mackinnon’s jam. We hope that we can come back soon and visit an even more lively square, it delights the shopper’s heart and is a welcome change on our distillery tour!

After a while we arrive at the Laphroaig Distillery. Rabbits are waiting for us in the garden of the distillery before we enjoy the sight of the over 200-year-old distillery in such an idyllic location. We are again giving credit to the local peat used in the malting process which add the unique peated scents to the single malts produced on Islay.

And if you think that must be it, you are wrong. There is still room for two more distilleries on our program – Lagavulin and Ardbeg cannot not go unmentioned. They are to us like enchanted distilleries, and a walk along the sea and over the property of the distilleries will inspire us to again seek whisky to warm us in the cold early evening hours.

To finish off our visit, we drive along the east coast of Islay. There it is deserted during our visit. We encounter basking seals and deer so familiar that they stop near the car. We have enough time to drive back to Port Askaig and take the evening ferry back to the mainland. We bring some bottles of fine Scotch whisky home in the trunk. But this trip to Islay has allowed us to immerse even more deeply into the whisky culture of Scotland. We will be back!

Useful links to arrange your visit:

Ardbeg | Ardnahoe | Bowmore | Bruichladdich | Bunnahabhain | Caol Ila | Kilchoman | Lagavulin | Laphroaig | Nerabus