Islay: whisky galore!

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Islay Whisky Tours

Islay has nine whisky distilleries – already two more than when we last visited thirty years ago, and soon to be ten when Port Ellen reopens next year. There was no way we were going to visit without sampling a few drams, and driving was therefore not an attractive option. Step forward Islay Whisky Tours, operated by Bowmore Taxis. We chose a one day tour at a cost of £260, which included the services of a driver/guide from 9am to 5pm and tours of two distilleries selected by us. We booked about 6 weeks ahead – the longer the better, the company is deservedly busy and popular – and received a detailed itinerary based around our choices well in advance of our trip. This included short visits to several other distilleries and some general sight-seeing. We had a very enjoyable day, as you will see below, and highly recommend this company.

Kilchoman

We chose two contrasting distilleries for our tours – one small and privately owned, the other large and owned by a multi-national. Our lovely driver, Donald, appeared at our accommodation exactly at the time arranged, and we set off immediately for our first destination. Kilchoman, the small distillery we chose, began production in 2005 and is Islay’s second-newest distillery, at the time the first to be built for over 120 years. It’s the only farm distillery on the island and we saw the whole process from the barley growing in the surrounding fields to the small bottling plant. It initially felt a bit weird to be sampling whisky at 10 in the morning – but we got over it!

The distillery also has a small café which looked very good, but we didn’t have time to try it. We did have time to look at the Visitor Centre displays before our tour started and were amused to find four Sinclairs in the list of persons contravening The Excise Act, 1801, i.e. they were probably distilling illegally. Shocking, they can’t be related to me. Nor shall I claim kinship with John Sinclair who established the short-lived Mulindry Distillery in 1826. According to the local Excise Officer, he liked his own product a little too much, went bankrupt in 1831, and emigrated to America. I’m sure any Sinclairs I am related to were fine, upstanding citizens.

Bruichladdich

Our next stop was Bruichladdich Distillery, on the shore of Loch Indaal ( a sea loch) just outside the pretty village of Port Charlotte. We didn’t have a tour here, but we had a quick look around and came out with a bottle of gin! As well as whisky, Bruichladdich also produces The Botanist Islay Dry Gin, and very good it was too (note past tense).

Shore at Bruichladdich
Bruichladdich Distillery
Bruichladdich Distillery
Bruichladdich Distillery
Botanist Gin van
Bruichladdich Distillery

By the way, if you are pronouncing the ch sounds in these names as in church, then that’s not right. Ch is a guttural, back-of-the-throat, Germanic sound – usually. Just to fool you, Bruichladdich has two chs. The first is pronounced as expected – the other isn’t pronounced at all, hence the name of the Laddie Shop.

Bowmore

Next, we had a couple of hours in Bowmore, the island’s main settlement, to have lunch, look around the distillery (no tour) and explore the unusual Kilarrow Parish Church (1767), otherwise known as the Round Church for obvious reasons. That’s it at the top of the hill, above. There was a great view over the distillery roofs from its upper windows.

Round Church, Bowmore
Bowmore Distillery from Round Church

We visited Bowmore Distillery, Islay’s oldest (1779) in 1989. From what I can remember, it was the only one offering commercial tours at the time. It hasn’t changed much, though I don’t remember the mermaid.

Again, it’s set right on the shore, almost directly opposite Bruichladdich on Loch Indaal. The sea was an important form of transport – Kilchoman is the exception being inland.

Loch Indaal
Bowmore harbour
Bowmore harbour

Ardbeg

At 2pm we met Donald again and set off for our afternoon visits. The morning had been spent in the north of the island, now we were heading back south where three distilleries lie in close proximity to each other. The furthest away is Ardbeg which dates from 1815, though hasn’t had a continuous history. We liked its green bus, and the views along the coast to Dunyvaig Castle and the neighbouring distillery, Lagavulin.

Ardbeg Distillery
Ardbeg Distillery
Ardbeg Distillery
Lagavulin from Ardbeg
Dunyvaig Castle

Laphroaig

We didn’t visit Lagavulin next – we drove past it because we had a 3pm tour booked at Laphroaig (pronounced Lafroyg, it means ‘broad hollow by the bay’). Donald and Alexander Johnston founded the distillery in 1815, and it remained in family hands for the next 139 years. These days it’s a multinational, owned by Beam Suntory. Laphroaig is arguably the best known Islay malt: it was certainly the first one I tried and is still my favourite – if you like your drink to taste of peat, smoke, and iodine then its for you (check out the marketing slogans in the gallery below). One person who certainly likes it is Prince Charles who gave the distillery his Royal Warrant in 1994 – his coat of arms (three feathers) appears on every bottle. In the gallery below it’s on the wall in one of the photographs. You can also see a cairn unveiled by the Prince in 2015 for Laphroaig’s bicentenary.

I haven’t bothered with the technical details of making whisky because I’d probably get them wrong, and you can very easily look them up anyway. As you know, it’s the human element that catches my eye and women’s history in particular. Here we have a splendid example in Bessie Williamson who arrived as a temporary shorthand typist in 1934 but remained for nearly 50 years, eventually becoming the first female distiller and distillery owner in the 20th century. Bravo Bessie!

Laphroaig cairn

Lagavulin

After our tour at Laphroaig, we backtracked to Lagavulin for a quick look at its grounds. Like many distilleries, its site was originally used for illegal stills, in this case becoming licensed around 1810. It’s now part of the Diageo group. From here we could once again see Dunyvaig Castle, this time from the other side. That’s me with Donald, our driver, in the final photo below.

Dunyvaig Castle
Donald and Anabel

Port Ellen

Port Ellen distillery
Ship at Port Ellen

On our way back to our accommodation we made one last stop at Port Ellen where we spied this beautiful ship in the bay. The distillery here closed in 1983, but its owners, Diageo again, are set to re-open it next year. You can still buy its single malt whisky, though it’s becoming increasingly rare and therefore expensive. We bought a bottle at a Scotch Malt Whisky Society tasting about 25 years ago, and five of us demolished it the following night. I seem to remember the tasting notes involved sailors’ pigtails …

Donald dropped us off at the end of our tour after a wonderful day during which the sun even shone for us! Many thanks to him and to Lamont who made all the arrangements so splendidly (though possibly he had nothing to do with the sunshine). Once again, a hearty (and completely unsolicited) recommendation for Islay Whisky Tours. Total stars!

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93 Comments »

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  2. As I could not find it on our recent trip, I might try and get (a bottle of) Bunnahabhain here. But I need to find someone who can pronounce it for me! 😀

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  3. It sounds like you had a very interesting day with some great scenery thrown in. The round church looks very intriguing, I wouldn’t have been able to resist having a look in if I’d been there 🙂

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  6. Hi Anabel – loved hitching a ride with ‘your Donald’ … but they did you proud and must have been fun, as well as interesting – you saw lots, yet had a little time off … good to see you and John enjoying yourselves without the worry of driving – cheers Hilary

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  8. I think my husband would die of happiness there. I’m not a whisky drinker but we both like gin and The Botanist is our absolute favourite. Thanks for another adventure.

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  12. Sounds like a lovely trip. I’ve not visited Islay (or any of the Scottish islands, bar Skye, which is a huge oversight on my part).
    I do enjoy a whiskey tour, but purely for the chemistry/process side, as I cant stand the stuff. I’m convinced uisge beatha actually translates as “burning and death” rather than “water of life”. I’ll stick to my soft drinks I think. It’s great to hear Bessie Williamson’s story.

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    • We went to Skye for the day when we were staying in Dornie earlier in the summer – first time in 30 years. I remember being disappointed then that it didn’t feel that different from the mainland (the Highlands anyway) and I still prefer the smaller, less busy islands. Definitely an oversight you’ll have to correct – and there’s more to do than whisky!

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  13. Islay whisky and Islay Malt are deservedly famous – however I am quite happy with my Single Malt Glenmorangie. Don’t mind a G & T but mostly wine (Shiraz). Yes Islay is lovely and I was there once, but only for a very quick visit. As for the Round Church, I believe the theory is that there are no corners for the devil to hide in. Hangover – there’s a word I haven’t heard in many years. I think I must have a sheltered life :o)

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  14. what a fabulous tour . . . although I would have to miss out on the tastings. I just don’t like whisky 😦 (I know a dreadful thing to own up to!)

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  16. Anabel – What a great tasting tour, I’m sure the drink was fine, but the locale was wonderful! I do love trying to figure out how to pronounce all those words. I don’t know a lot about whisky, but I think we spell it with an ‘e’ over here? Whiskey? Weird thing, spelling :)) – Susan

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  17. Some lovely photos there and interesting places. Funnily enough, for a Scot, I’ve never liked the taste or smell of Whisky much and rarely try it, which is just as well for my wallet as supermarket cheap vodka is often half the price. Happily, I don’t drink at all now which saves me even more money and I don’t miss it at all, especially the hangovers. I’d rather have soft drinks these days, cheese selections or new exotic fruits as a treat.

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    • Islay is beautiful, it’s hard not to have lovely photos. Other than water, I’ve never really found a soft drink I like – all too sweet. My alcohol tastes are limited to wine, beer, whisky and gin (not all at once – I don’t like hangovers either 😀).

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  18. What a great day out and what an amazing tour. Weather looked amazing but you got round so many different distilleries didn’t you? Fascinating trip.

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  21. Hi Anabel, Excellent idea about the whisky tours. It sounds like this specific tour company has a great reputation for a reason. You definitely made me smile on how you “got over it” with sampling at 10 in the morning. I enjoyed all the humour weaving throughout your post. A very interesting and informative post. I love the photos. Spectacular views!

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  23. I’m not a fan of spirits, but I always enjoy those tours. We toured a rum distillery in Cuba and a Mezcal distillery in Oaxaca, Mexico, both were fascinating. I really wish I enjoyed the taste… I love the idea of sipping my way through a drink. Thanks for taking us along!

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  24. I had a Laphroaig last night here in Anchorage! More about all that when I’m back home and blogging again. Just now: it was ever so good, really smoky.

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  27. These all look lovely. I probably would have for tastings at more than two, though. Particularly given a chauffeur! Thanks for pointing out that Scotch is whisky. (Does “small broom” make it into the tasting notes?)😉

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  28. Whiskey is not my favourite at all but what a way to spend a day and enjoy the samplings! It looks like you saw quite a bit and enjoyed every minute

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  29. Nice tour and it is interesting to find out that Laphroaig is your favourite as many people don’t like it as it is way too peaty but it is one of my favourite as well. In fact, I pretty much like all of the Islays though they are now way too expensive (here in Canada) so we rarely buy them.

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  30. Definitely my sort of day out but I’d sample more of the whisky than you did – just to be able to give an objective report on it you understand. And yes, whisky Scottish, whiskey Irish. When I saw your title it took me back to that marvellous film “Whisky Galore” and now I shall have to go Google it to remind myself of who starred in it.

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  34. Wow, what a fun day! Being chauffeured around and sampling whiskeys doesn’t sound bad at all. 🙂 The day seemed to start out a bit overcast but brightened beautifully, in tandem with your moods, I’m sure. It’s nice to know all your ancestors are fine upstanding citizens and never bootleggers or distillers! I don’t know if I could drink beginning at 10:00 a.m. When I was younger, surely, but nowadays, I don’t think I could handle it. 🙂

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    • The sky did get bluer and bluer which was great. Drinking at 10am is not something I’d like to do every day, but the samples are quite small so I womanfully slugged them down. Btw, it’s probably everyone’s autocorrect, but Scotch is always whisky, never whiskey.

      I probably would find out my ancestors all had illicit stills if I troubled to find out. It’s nicer (and easier) just to imagine!

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  36. Tasting notes of sailor’s pigtails? That’s not an overwhelming endorsement 😉

    Good choice in getting a driving tour. On the few occasions we’ve done that, it was worth every penny!

    I do think rows of barrels are very photogenic and I like the signs they’ve made with them. It seems quite appropriate, but my favourite are the barrel chairs … literally made of barrels. How cool is that? I’ve never seen any like this before.

    A whiskey day is a day well spent 🙂

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  37. MMmm….

    I didnt realise there were so many distilleries on the island. I’m not a huge fan of Laphroig, though will drink it if offered. I think Ardbeg was the one I gave to my Polish colleagues when we met, part as a sample of Islay, which we proposed using as a case study, and partly to welcome them into the EU, so you can date that pretty well!

    If I was related to a Sinclair, it would probably be those ones. I know I’m related to some lead miners in the Borders, but the rumour of relation to Flora MacDonald is problem just a rumour.

    The fields of barley reminded me that we have a distillery in Norfolk (as well as fields of barley, now being harvested). I must go on a tour.

    And Donald looks just like he should!

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