Okay. Slow down a bit. We were now only a couple of days on the Island and had to force ourselves not to do everything, everywhere all at once*, and deliberately tried to stay on the North end of Islay, with the smallest of the Bowmore Cottages as our place of rest and the most southern part of our stay – initially and planned. We managed this for a full three days, but, after sleeping in for a bit because it is still our vacation, we snuck into our little car at some point and drove to the three Kildalton distilleries; Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg.

At Laphroaig, preparations were well underway for Feis Ile, which would be in a couple of weeks time. Walls got a fresh coat of white paint, bushes neatly trimmed and the shop was nice and tidy – which we remember it to be from our previous visits anyway. No pre-made booking, so no tour for us this time, and a thank-you-for-visiting sample bottle and a complimentary cup of coffee later, we magically appear at the neighbouring distillery a couple of minutes later.

With Lagavulin, said neighbours, they could squeeze us in with a tour, but we had to go, like, now. “It is about one hour fifteen”. Should give us ample time to get to Ardbeg for lunch and yet another re-tour which we did pre-book, so let’s go! It was a rather large group of people on the tour. No complaints, but many people can ask many questions. With a fairly chatty tour guide with a lot of details at the ready and having an answer to any of those questions, the one hour fifteen turned into little over two hours.

“Lunch at Ardbeg” became a quick sugary dessert. Still chewing, we joined our tour guide at Ardbeg distillery with a slightly smaller group, but as much interest as the previous group. Ardbeg, being Thomas’ first whisky-love, just is a must do when we are on Islay, especially when you know they have changed the distillery from one set of stills to two sets, with all the added washbacks and piping involved. No regrets. The wooden washbacks were there – doubled from eight to sixteen, split in three different buildings of which we only got to see the bigger one with the six new washbacks. All wood, as the previous set of washbacks also had been.

The old stillroom, of which we initially thought / wrongfully remembered to be still operational, was still there, with the old stills still in place, but it was no longer operational. The wash still, having to run twice as fast as the spirit still, had neigh but collapsed on itself in the beginning of Covid. Three large X-es in the side of the still, successfully trying to enforce the weakened still, remember of the still’s last runs, early 2020, when the new stills were not in place yet. We would not be surprised if there will be a distillery exclusive called “XXX” or something similar in a few years time, created with the last wash that ran this still. It is here that you’ve heard it first.

Anyway, what we really came to Ardbeg for, except for being on Holy ground once again, was to see the new stillhouse. And what a sight it was. Two sets of shiny new copper stills, the same size and shape as the previous set, in a brand new building with – again – one of the most stunning views from a stillhouse within the whole of Scotland – the list of contestants grows. The side of the stillhouse (or is it the front?) opens as a huge glass garage door if weather allows it. Our luck was with us and weather permitted that day, so we were treated with a view of Campbeltown and, further away, Northern Ireland – if one’s eyes were good enough. Stunning. Wouldn’t have missed it. Time for a really late lunch now…

*This could be a great movie title as well.