We bade farewell to Bruichladdich for one last time on this trip and decided to take the remainder of the day off, do some reading in the sunshine and go out for dinner at the Balaclava Byre, not 5 minutes from the Little House, just outside of Port Ellen going North. We had been on Islay for over a week and had not eaten any of the locally produced fresh seafood the island has to offer. A mistake on our side and unquestionably made up for by the restaurant with plates full of fresh crab, squid and langoustines. Well worth a visit and not just for the seafood. The locally grown beef, pork and lamb are not to be despised either.

Well fed, we returned home to prepare for our last days on the island and our trip back to the mainland. Sleeping in, awoken by sheep concertos and the smell of fresh croissants and instant coffee – for some reason, the Little House has no coffee maker in their kitchen. A day filled with some more reading, listening to the rain on the windows, a quick visit to the coop for another homemade dinner, accompanied by a glass or two of homework. It was starting to look like a vacation after all.

Having some more spare time the day after, driving ourselves along the south coast once again on a rainy morning, another early lunch at Ardbeg while (too) briefly chatting with Ardbeg whisky legend Jackie, we suddenly grew an unhealthy amount of what we had sworn never to do again; let FOMO get the better of us and drive around the island to visit all distilleries one more time, to seek out some of the distillery exclusive bottlings to take home for more homework assignments.

You can start in the North of the island, at the end of the winding road at the Bunnahabhain shop for some of their cask strength 20cl bottles, meander back for a cup of coffee with a scone at the Ardnahoe shop where some very nice, non-Ardnahoe hand bottlings are available. Go for a platter of delicious Scottish Tapas at Caol Ila after making the hard choice between the hand bottling or some Diageo exclusives. All three distilleries have a variation of the same amazing vista of the North coast of Islay and the rocky coastline of Jura across the sound of Islay.

If you are more of a soup and sandwich person, Kilchoman cafe has you covered. You can fit in a stroll on the beach of Machir bay, have a hearty lunch and inspect their current selection. Next, head to Bruichladdich distillery for a breath of turquoise and a view across the water of Lochindaal. If your eyesight allows for it, you can spot the Bowmore distillery, where you can stop for some specialty chocolates after browsing their shop.

South of the Island currently has “the Kildalton three”, with a complementary cup of coffee at Laphroaig before or after claiming your square foot of Islay, stop at the gazebo in the Lagavulin yard and visit the ruins of Dunyvaig castle where, on a good day, you can spot the coastline of Northern Ireland. We may have mentioned the exquisite cafe at Ardbeg once or twice already, which is well worth your visit when taking home some of their green bottles. 

Mind you, we have not stopped at every cafe on the same day, these are merely suggestions of what to expect and do along the way to the distilleries. Islay has much more to offer outside of the whisky distilleries which are all worth a visit, including a beer brewery and rum or gin distilleries. You can walk for hours without meeting anyone safe for some birds, sheep, deer or highland coos, visit the golf course for a round of golf or plan a sea adventure to spot some whales, dolphins or the Corryvreckan whirlpool along the North coast of Jura. 

If you want to include the Jura distillery on your trip, calculate some time for the Port Askaig-Feolin ferry and the trip along the single track road. Jura is another hikers’ paradise, so if you are into that, make sure to plan ahead and take a couple of days to explore the island and meet some of the locals. Mostly red deer.

Anyway, we wouldn’t be calling ourselves WhiskySpeller if we wouldn’t point out the whisky related activities, with hiking to the distilleries water sources as the most active up taking we can imagine. The current Islay distilleries with a visitor centre are worth your while and very doable on a single day, even at a leisurely pace snapping the odd picture along the route. There are quite a bit of distilleries being built on the island, so, in the coming years, one day may not be enough to visit all of them. 

We have been on Islay for just shy of two weeks. Captain hindsight would have told us one week was enough, but if he would ask us if we could have done two or even three whole weeks, we probably would answer “sir, yes sir!” within a heartbeat. Maybe we would fit in some of these hikes we were talking about, take up golf or have a swim with the whales.

Our day trip ended with a booth full of bottles and very proper dinner at Sea-salt bistro in the centre of Port Ellen. Time for us to head back to the Little House, finish packing and check if the ferry had actually landed in Port Ellen ready to leave the island early the next morning. 

When we arrived on Islay, we found ourselves wrapped in a warm sheeps wool blanket still smelling of sheep. Everywhere, we were welcomed with open arms, sometimes as if we were family, back on a reunion after so many years. A lot of “How long has it been since you were here?” and “Was that already seven years?” or “Oh, aye, a lot has happened, but not that much has changed, and yet, a lot actually has!”. Our reunion lasted ten days. 

Ten days were enough to refill our hearts with Islay’s natural beauty, remind us of the absurd quality of the roads (not in a good way), remember why we fell in love with Bruichladdich and how Ardbeg still has a special place in our hearts. Smell the briny scent of peat smoke and sea water, eat the seafood, see the vistas, taste the whisky and, most of all, feel the warmth of the Ileach. 

Then, waiting in line for the ferry we sighed: “Another ten days would have been nice… Shall we come back next year?”

Cheers,

Thomas & Ansgar