Day 15: Islay
The last full day in Islay, a day of just bits and pieces.
Today was Ardbeg day, so just about everyone here for Feis Ile headed to the south end of the island for that. So we headed west, first stop the no-longer newest distillery on Islay, Kilchoman. This distillery generally produces a peaty, a little oily spirit, for me it works better in bourbon barrels but they do spend a lot of time using sherry. After several full days of whisky, plus cheese and spicy foods, and some ibuprofen, I found myself with a bit of reflux so I passed on doing any tasting. I was content just to see the distillery, and wander around the visitor centre. Kilchoman market themselves as a farm distillery, and grow a bunch of the barley (Sassy and Planet varieties) they use. The western side of Islay is generally flatter, and has more farms and less trees than the east, more sparsely populated. The roads are certainly needing a bit more work, not that the rest of Islay’s roads are spectacularly driveable. Certainly the road to Kilchoman was a bit on the rough, but the distillery was wonderful.
From here the other folks wanted to take a walk along one of the beaches on Islay, so we headed towards Saligo Bay. We found ourselves in front of a locked farm gate, with a small open side gate, that in theory would take us to the beach. There was also a big sign pointing out that it was lambing season, so walkers should keep to the paths. The main path seemed to take us parallel to the beach, though I didn’t mention that Islay had some wonderful fog this morning, floating over its bodies of water like Loch Indaal and the coast. So while we saw many sheep and lambs, and some old military emplacements, now places for sheep to climb over and keep watch, we didn’t actually see any beach.
We headed back east to one of the last unvisited distilleries, Bruichladdich, maker of unpeated whisky (except when wearing their Port Charlotte hat, when it’s then rather peated, or their Octomore hat, when it’s among the most peated whisky around, but Bruichlddich is unpeated). I’ve had some very decent whisky from these fine folks in the past, back when they spent time doing consistent aged expressions. The focus now seems to be on going a bit more boutique, playing with different barleys, other grains, and finishes, and right now it seems the core expressions are two that involve wine casks, and the dependable, decent 8 year old.
Lunch was down the road at the Port Charlotte hotel, a charming and quiet place ( I did mention that everyone was at Ardbeg) that does a decent lunch, I had a BLT with some hand cut chips, very tasty, and probably the first time I can recall having a BLT where the bread wasn’t toasted. Then we had a quick stroll along the Loch Indaal beach.
We headed back via Bowmore to grab some supplies, before a brief stop at the last unvisited distillery, Caol Ila (I’m not counting Adnahoe, as while they are producing spirit presently, they don’t have any commercially available expressions). Caol Ila has a wonderful location on the coast, with stunning views of Jura. I’m a big fan of their whisky, it’s full of peat, smoke, oil, and citrus notes, and it’s easy to see how it forms the malt backbone of several Johnnie Walker blends. The visitor centre staff were very friendly, and we had a welcome dram of this year’s Feis Ile release, a stunning 13 year old full of flavour.
Ardbeg, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila, Kilchoman, Lagavulin, Laphroaig, all eight done (plus neighbouring Jura, just for good measure).
Had a little downtime at the bnb, mostly preparing and packing, it’s an early ferry tomorrow and we need to do some tidying as well as working out how to fit all of Islay’s whisky into an already fairly full car. If I don’t mention G in tomorrow’s entry, it’s because we’ve left him behind. Sorry G. I know you cooked a decent dinner tonight, but whisky is whisky.
It’s the full moon tonight, and there’s a stunning one to be seen from Islay right now. Sadly my phone camera just isn’t up to capturing it. It might also be why all the wonderful neighbourhood dogs are barking. I’ve probably been remiss in not mentioning earlier how dog friendly Scotland is, we’ve met many furry friends, who all tell the same story about how neglected they are, underfed, but somehow all have bright eyes, solid bellies, and shiny coats.
Tomorrow it’s the ferry back to the mainland, then driving up to Fort William via Glencoe. We’re also expecting to rendezvous with a fifth member, A, who is also due a significant birthday this year and has been able to make at least this bit of the trip.