Discovering whisky on Islay
Do you like exploring Scottish Islands? Creating adventures, visiting whisky distilleries and taking in stunning scenery?
Then Islay simply HAS to be on your list and Destination Management Scotland can help you plan your trip.
In 2019, I decided to spend 5 days exploring the magical island of Islay. It is the southernmost of the Inner Hebrides islands, off the West Coast of Scotland and can be reached by Calmac ferry from Oban or Kennacraig or you can fly from Glasgow on Logan Air direct.
I wanted to maximise my time on the island so I flew from Glasgow. There were only 3 people on the flight so instead of putting on the usual jet, they decided to fly their smaller twin otter plane (image below).
The small Twin Otter plane to take me to Islay
Once I landed I didn’t waste any time picking up my car hire and set off up to Port Askaig to jump on the ferry to Jura Distillery. The 1st of 10 distilleries that I had lined up to visit.
Jura has approx 190 inhabitants and traffic doesn't exist apart from the local wildlife on the roads. Being January there was no problem in getting tour times at Jura distillery. It is a rather sleepy island with not much open apart from the small village shop, expected for this time of year.
Back on Islay mainland, I stayed in a luxury cosy self-catering house in Port Ellen which was close to bars, food shops and the beach. The plan was to get around all 9 distilleries on the island. I visited Bunnahabhain, Bruichladdich, Ardnahoe (the newest distillery on the island), Bowmore, Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Caol Ila and Kilchoman.
I would recommend only doing 2 or 3 distillery tours a day. It means you can choose some of the more in-depth tours learning about mashing, distillation, maturation and of course sampling. As I was sharing the driving with my client, I was able to sample some drams on the days I wasn’t driving. The rest of the time I received drivers drams and savoured them sitting bt fire at night, soaking up the smells and memories of each distillery that day.
Islay is renowned for its smokey (peated) whisky but if that is not your think then there is plenty other things to do and visit. This is a list of the other things I found to do on Islay.
Sample some of the local fine ales at Islay Ales
Speed around the island with Wildlife Sea Tours
Visit the historic site of Finlaggan
Play a round of golf at The Machrie
Sample the local seafood at The Seasalt Bistro or The Islay Hotel
Islay Taxis will take you to and from each distillery if you want to sample along the way
I planned my trip ahead of time, several months in fact. I made sure that I visited the distilleries that were close together so I didn’t have too much driving to do. I would recommend doing the south of the island first; Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg. There is a great cafe at Ardbeg when you can grab a soup and sandwich and a dram or 2 of course (as long as you are not the designated driver that day).
Here is a sample itinerary of Day 1:
AM Breakfast
10:00 AM Car to Laphroaig Distillery
10:30 AM Laphroaig Distillery Tour (1 Hour)
12:00 PM Car to next distillery (5 minutes)
12:30 PM Ardbeg Full Range Tour and Tasting (1hr 45 mins)
1:45 PM Lunch @ Ardbeg Distillery, Old Kiln Cafe
2:45 PM Car to next distillery (5 minutes)
3:30 PM Lagavulin Distillery Tour (1 hour)
4:30 PM Short tour of the island or back to the hotel to relax
7:00 PM Pick up from The Machrie Hotel by Islay Taxi
7:30 PM Dinner @ The Lochside Restaurant, Bowmore
Bruichladdich and Kilchoman are closer to each other and then you have Bunnahabain, Ardnahoe and Caol ila at the north of the island overlooking the paps of Jura. Bowmore distillery is situated in the middle of the island and I would recommend doing this towards the end of the day as Bowmore town has great pubs with great whisky collections for that late afternoon dram before dinner. Here is a sample of what you could do on Day 2 of your visit to Islay:
8:30 AM Breakfast
9:30 AM Pick up for Tour of Ardnahoe Distillery
10:00 AM Tour Ardnahoe Distillery (45 mins)
11:30 AM Car to Bunnahabhain Distillery
12:30 PM Premium Tasting at Bunnahabhain Distillery (1 hour)
1:00 PM Car to Bowmore
1:15 PM Lunch at Peatzeria, Bowmore
2:00 PM Tour Bowmore Distillery
5:00 PM Back to hotel
Visiting all of these distilleries will give you a great experience of the peated whisky process and if I was choose my favourite distillery and dram, it has to be Bunnahabhain. Unassuming, less peated than its neighbours and in my view the best warehouse experience on the Island. A real gem!
“Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough.”
Mark Twain once wrote the quote above. I don’t think on Islay you can have bad whisky or enough whisky. If you are a whisky lover, an Islay Whisky Tour is certainly the way to see this magical place. This was my 2nd time visiting the ‘island of whisky’ and I still have more to sample, learn and explore. I will be back.
Slainte, Stay Home and Stay Safe in these uncertain times. Right now we can only dream of visiting Islay, but when this is all over get in touch and I can help make your whisky dream tour come true.
Port Ellen at sunset