Islay Overview

I've put together an image map so you can see where all of the Islay distilleries lie and find all of my Islay distillery posts more easily.

ardbeg | lagavulin | laphroaig | bruichladdich | kilchoman | bowmore | caol ila | bunnahabhain | jura

This map was produced using
http://www.image-maps.com/

Image sourced from:
http://www.islayinfo.com/map.html

The two that got away

As mentioned in my summary post, unfortunately the two northerly distilleries were closed for our visit.

Caol Ila from the Jura ferry

Caol Ila has been having a refit over the last year. With a capacity of 4.7 million litres a year it was already the bigegst player on the island, this refit will enable it to produce a whopping 6.2million litres. It should now be reopened, so pop along to check if you're on the island.

Most of their whisky is tankered off of the island for use in blends and is peated at about 40ppm like its sister distillery Lagavulin. They also produce a small amount of unpeated malt. Very little of their whisky is aged on the island, the space instead used by Lagavulin.

The unpeated variety is interesting, unlike other unpeated Islay drams Bruichladdich and Bunnahabhain there's still some vegetal notes in there that can only come from the water as there's no peat used in the production of the malt. Its quite subtle in flavour and doesn't need any water adding in my opinion.

From the Bunnahabhain website

The 12 y/o Bunnahabhain on the other hand is a product of the sea. Still aged on the island it has briny and seaweed notes with the finish of old ropes. Its quite harsh as it comes and I preferred it with a splash of water to open up the sweeter flavours hidden within. 

They were closed on my visit for their Easter holidays! Well, we all need a break from work; so I don't blame them. Its the most remote of the distilleries; so is a trek down a bumpy track to reach it.

Both of these will be first on my "to visit" list for future Islay visits.

You'll be pleased to here that concludes my write-ups of distillery visits for the time being, but as they've been fairly well received I can't promise there won't  be further whisky related posts in the future. Consider yourself warned!

7 Distilleries, 7 Days

www.islayinfo.com/islay_whisky_distilleries

Well it was actually 8 distilleries in four days, but that doesn't quite have the same ring to it. I've just returned from a wonderful week spent on the west coast of Scotland including a visit to the islands of Islay and Jura.

To be honest I never used to be a fan of any Islay whiskys (or so I thought) because to my palate they were all phenolic peat-bombs with not much other flavour. However through trying whisky-cask aged beers such as Brewdog's Paradox range and Black Isle's Black Islay I came to appreciate that perhaps I had been unfair to them. Indeed not all Islay whiskys are peated and Bruichladdich is now among my favourite malts.

This post is more of a summary of where I went to, a brief overview if you will and I plan to write more in depth pieces on those distilleries I toured.

On Easter Sunday my whisky week began in Oban. Unfortunately they were fully booked for tours. A disappointing start to the week exacerbated by the rain outside,

The order of the day on Tuesday was an early start and two ferries to get from the mainland to Jura. As a long time favourite tipple I was very much looking forward to this distillery and wasn't disappointed.

A ferry back to Islay brought us into Port Askaig, home of Caol Ila - unfortunately closed for rennovation until a week after-bad timing! Bunnahabhain further up the coast were on holiday too, so no visit there either I'm afraid.

Wednesday morning I awoke to find myself in Bowmore (planned) with the eponymous distillery but a stone's throw from our door. That afternoon also saw a tour of Bruichladdich and Kilchoman on the west of the island.

Thursday meant visits to the the south coast "peat monster" distilleries, Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg. Being within a few miles of each other it makes for a great walk, and the sea air certainly clears out the cobwebs!

Not a bad haul!

It wasn't just about the drinking however, I also learnt a lot more about the whisky making process, got to try wash (beer) and new make spirit and chat to like-minded people. I also returned acertain beer to its spiritual home and shared it around with anyone interested. Further postings to come!

All in all a very whisky week, but beer didn't escape completely un-noticed with beverages supped from Ayr, Islay, Oban Bay, Isle of Mull and Fyne Ales. More on these and the whiskys later. I'd definitely recommend a visit to this area of Scotland because not only is it beautiful, so are the drinks.