Morven MacNeil writes about the Isle of Islay – the island that converted her into loving whisky.
My island-hopping adventure to the Isle of Islay in the southern part of the Inner Hebrides was a truly magical adventure from start to finish.
The aim of our four-day island holiday was to visit some of the many whisky distilleries that Islay has to offer – so we decided to ditch the car and hop on a Citylink bus from Glasgow to Kennacraig. I thought the journey would take forever but it only took just over three hours and we had ample time to catch the CalMac ferry to Port Askaig in Islay – the second leg of the journey was less than two hours.
We did our homework beforehand about the public transport available – there’s a regular bus service from Port Askaig to the main village called Bowmore and we jumped on the bus as soon as we got off the ferry. Thirty minutes later we’d reached our destination and walked along the road to our B&B – Dha Urlar. Our host Jim MacCalman was extremely helpful and gave us lots of information about things to see and do on the island and he even provided us with a lift to the restaurant and to one of our whisky distillery tours. Our room was modern and luxurious and the views outside were spectacular; I could have just sat outside our accommodation for the whole trip and been content.
While staying in Bowmore we had dinner at the Harbour Inn (which is also owned by Bowmore Distillery). If you love seafood this is the perfect restaurant for you – the scallops were amazing. Another night we ate in the Bowmore Hotel – it has a great variety of food. Squid, curries, Italian food; Scottish traditional food; you name it they’ve got it.
And now I’ll go onto the whisky distilleries. I have to admit I wasn’t the biggest whisky fan before my Islay trip – at that point I much preferred a cheeky G&T or a pint of pale ale. But by our fourth and final visit to the distilleries I was converted! The first distillery we visited was Lagavulin – the staff were really informative and we tried a few of their finest whiskies. My favourite was the Lagavulin 16-year-old. Now, I’m no whisky connoisseur but I could taste a distinct peat-smoke flavour to this single malt.
Next up was Ardbeg Distillery – their tour was excellent and we had something to eat in their cafe named the Old Kiln afterwards to soak up the alcohol. I was curious about the haggis and red onion marmalade Panini so I decided to give it a go – yum. Don’t knock it unless you’ve tried it! The Ardbeg 10-years-old was the sample that stood out by far for me; it had a naturally sweet taste and I could still get a strong flavour of peat smoke.
That afternoon we went to Laphroaig Distillery; it’s arguably one of the most famous whisky distilleries in Scotland. We booked this tour in advance and I’m glad we did as it was packed. We were given a grand tour around parts of the distillery and our guide explained the whole distilling process to us. At the end of the tour we were given samples to try – I enjoyed the 10-year-old single malt – and we were given a lovely glass to take away with us. As part of the tour we were made Friends of Laphroaig and also given our own plot number at the distillery – it’s such a great idea to do this.
On another day when our livers were back to normally again we went to Bowmore Distillery and booked this tour in advance. This tour was really interesting too and we watched some videos about the history of the distillery and the making of their whiskies. The 12-year-old sample I tried was far too easy to drink – that’s when I knew I'd had my whisky breakthrough.
There's the annual Islay Festival of Music and Malt (Fèis Ìle) that normally takes place at the end of May. Fèis Ìle features songs, poetry, bagpipes, a distillery programme and even a fly fish competition. It's an ideal time to visit the island. Unfortunately I'd just missed it but I heard first hand from the locals how excellent it was.
It wasn’t all whisky drinking while we were there – we walked to Bridgend one day around the outside of Islay House which was built in the 17th century. We then accidentally found Islay House Community Garden and spent quite a bit of time exploring it. Bridgend Community Centre Committee run the upkeep of the garden with help from volunteers and the local community. They’ve even restored the well and there’s a shop on the grounds. Another day we went to Port Ellen and had a walk through the village and a potter around the shops.
We didn’t have time for a trip to Port Charlotte and also to the Bruichladdich Distillery – the makers of the Botanist gin. Until the next visit!
There's many ways to get to the Isle of Islay. CalMac operate a service from Kennacraig to Post Askaig and Port Ellen. There's also a service from Oban to Port Askaig via Colonsay.
Loganair also offer flights from Glasgow to Islay Airport.
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