Week 243: Islay

A week of friendly islanders, beautiful coastlines, dolphin spotting, castle stays, a few wee drams, and a lot of distilleries.

Posted on by Rowan Manning.
Tagged with HolidayFoodWalking

  • I’m on Islay staying in Port Ellen and it’s beautiful. It’s a really small town of ~800 people and everyone’s very friendly. We’re here with Charlotte’s brother and his girlfriend.

  • We flew up to Glasgow on Thursday, picked up a car and drove to Stonefield Castle where we stayed for the night. We went for a short walk around the grounds and had an excellent dinner overlooking Loch Fyne. A few whiskies and then bed.

  • Friday was Charlotte’s birthday, we caught the ferry over to Islay. On the journey we saw some dolphins leaping alongside the boat. A great birthday treat. Once there we went for a tour and tasting of Islay’s only rum distillery to make up for the fact that the rest of the holiday was going to be quite whisky-focused. A little merrier we checked into our Airbnb and went for dinner and several drinks.

  • On Saturday we checked off one of my bucket list items - walking the three distilleries pathway from Port Ellen. We stopped off at Laphraoig, Lagavulin, and Ardbeg distilleries and had a few drams. The staff in the last one invited us to a 70s night. Everyone’s very friendly and I’m so glad we decided to visit (see distillery rankings below).

  • Today we switched up the pace and drove across most of the island. We visited Bowmore, Bunnahabhain, and Port Charlotte with a few distillery stop-offs. They cater very well for drivers, bottling up my tasters for later.

  • I know it’s easy to say this when you’re in holiday mode, but I think I could actually live here. Tomorrow we’ll be doing a long walk up Glas Bheinn and Beinn Bheigier, the highest point on the island, weather permitting.

Charlotte, her brother, and his girlfriend looking out over a clear loch on a sunny day
Port Ellen viewed from the ferry on the way in. A thin strip of white houses lines the bay where fishing boats are moored, green hills tower behind the town
An orange sky lighting a sandy beach, with a factory – the maltings – spewing a streak of smoke across the setting sun
The Laphroig sign, painted black on white brick, viewed from the beach
A view of the white brick Laphraoig distillery and visitor's centre
A view of the Lagavulin distillery from the coast, white brick buildings with a painted black sign and a bright red chimney
A view from the road down to the Ardbeg distillery complex. It's a sprawl of white buildings with a rocky bay beyond
A stag and a doe looking towards the camera, they seem surprised to see us
Charlotte walking along a grassy coastline with a large rocky outcrop in the background
A view from the bunnahabhain pier, the white brick distillery is painted with large black letters announcing its name
A view through a doorway of several large copper stills for distilling whisky
A view of Port Charlotte, a little collection of white houses on a rugged coast

Distillery rankings

We visited four so far and the rankings are as follows.

On the quality of the whisky:

  1. Lagavulin
  2. Ardbeg
  3. Laphraoig
  4. Bunnahabhain

On the vibe and friendliness of staff:

  1. Ardbeg - fun staff, free dram, party invite
  2. Bunnahabhain - great tour, big drams, nothing free
  3. Laphraoig - free dram, best dog
  4. Lagavulin - nothing free, early bar closing

On the beauty of the setting (in the bar):

  1. Laphraoig - seats on the bay, nice decor
  2. Bunnahabhain - fantastic view of the paps, bit corporate
  3. Ardbeg - excellent facilities, no view
  4. Lagavulin - no view, great manager’s office

On the quality of toilets (as voted by Charlotte and Harry):

  1. Ardbeg
  2. Lagavulin
  3. Laphraoig
  4. Bunnahabhain