If you’re reading that as “is”-“lay” then stop it right now and pronounce it “eye”-“la”. Like island without the nd.

The seed of this UK trip was to go on a whisky trail. This is it. Islay is a beautiful island off the west coast of Scotland. Famous for its nine distilleries producing Scotch Whisky with a distinctive smokey taste. I booked the 4 day tour with Scottish Routes.

Edinburgh to Islay

No time for breakfast at the Royal Scots club before checking out as the tour started at 7.45am in the heart of the Royal Mile. We were met by our driver and tour guide, Jamie, wearing a kilt. It wasn’t long before we “were on our way” – yes, with the Proclaimers song blasting out the speakers. There were 15 of us on the tour. Our five, Three American couples, a Father and Son from Ottawa and a Aunt/Nephew combo from Sydney. Everyone was friendly and we got along well.

Jamie was very knowledgeable with Scottish history and geography and gave us some great insights to the brutal history of Scotland. The word brutal was used a lot! As we past landmarks Jamie would tell us a story usually followed up with a song pertinent to the place or historical fact. The music selection was excellent and befitting to the moments. The scenery was stunning despite the overcast and misty weather. There were great views of the lochs and glens as we traversed the highlands.

We stopped in the town of Callandar for a mid morning snack. Many of us had missed breakfast so this was a good opportunity to grab something. I bought a chicken and leek pie – not bad. We also stopped in Inverary for a toilet break before arriving at Kennacraig to catch the ferry to the island. We had some lunch on the two hour ferry journey from Kennacraig to Port Askaig on Islay’s east.

Bunnahabhain and the Whisky Vault

As we docked at Port Askaig we boarded the van and drove off the ferry to our first whisky experience of the tour. A tour and tasting at Bunnahabhain Distillery. The tour was conducted by two young girls. They were very knowledgeable about the whisky making process despite their young age. We had two drams to taste. I bought a whisky glass from the the gift shop. I was later to find out that all the distilleries gave you their tasting glass as a souvenir.

Next stop was The Islay Whisky Vault. This is a shop selling the island’s whisky. We tasted four drams here including Kilchoman Sanaig – which I ended up buying at the Kilchoman distillery itself later. This is a good place to get an unbiased view of the different brands across Islay.

This was day one after a long drive. It was time to check-in to our accommodation in town of Bowmore. The five of us plus the Canadians and one the American couple (Texans) stayed at Bowmore House. The others stayed at other accommodation in Bowmore and other parts of the island.

The hosts of Bowmore House, Andrew and Alison were very friendly and a keen whisky lovers. Andrew provided us with information about Islay and Bowmore specifically. He strongly suggested we make reservations for dinner each night as most of the restaurants get full. We didn’t have reservations for the first night, so we just went for drinks at the Bowmore Hotel and had a few bowls of chips.

We booked dinner at the Bowmore Hotel’s Restaurant for the following night.

Lagavulin, Ardbeg, Laphroaig

After a substantial breakfast the next morning, Andrew brought out a tray of whisky – surely not! “Who’d care for a dram?” he asked. Whisky for breakfast? Yes indeed, just about everyone had one.

Jamie picked us up at 9.30 and we travelled to the south coast of Islay. First stop was the ruins of Kildalton church. A medieval church, graveyard and Christian cross have stood up pretty well for hundreds of years.

Todays distilleries are the big 3 in my book. First on the list is my favourite Lagavulin. If you’re fans of the TV series Parks and Recreation you’ll be familiar with Ron Swanson’s favourite drop. Nick Offerman, who played Ron in the series has become synonymous with the brand and features in in the advertisements. Lagavulin even have special “Offerman” releases. My sons bought me the latest Offerman release for Father’s Day.

We enjoyed the “Warehouse Experience” at Lagavulin, where we sampled four whiskies straight out the casks. Members of the tour group (including John) were invited to draw up, with their mouths, the whisky from the cask. It was then funneled into a bottle and distributed for tasting to the group. What an experience! After the tasting we had some time so I got my drone out and flew it over the bay. I also got some nice footage of Dunvaig Castle ruins on the point of Lagavulin Bay. Dunvaig Castle was the stronghold of Clan MacDonald in the 12th century. Jamie later recounted a story of the feuding MacDonald and Campbell clans, mentioning that castle. Visiting Lagavulin was perhaps my highlight of the Islay tour.

Next stop was lunch at Ardbeg Distillery. Dad and I were still full from breakfast so we shared some Cullen Skink, a fish chowder with potatoes and other veges. I also flew the drone off the coast. There was tasting for four of their products. Ardbeg is owed by Louis Vuitton and you can see their influence in the decor the buildings.

Final stop for the day was perhaps the most best known distillery on Islay, Laphroaig. We had the full distillery production tour here. What’s unique about Laphroaig is that they still dry and smoke the barley onside. We got right up and personal to the barley floor and even threw some peat into the smoking fire. I chose to take-away my tasters in what they call “driver’s drams” as I wanted time to capture the iconic Laphroaig sign with my drone. I took some videos from out in the bay and photos of us standing in front of the big letters.

It wasn’t without mishap though. For my last drone video of the day, I thought I’d try a tricky “quickshot”. These as pre-programmed patterned built into the drone. I thought I’d selected spiral and began the programme. The drone started circling which was expected. What was not expected though, it wasn’t climbing. I saw on the screen the tops on roofs wizz by very close and before I could stop it, it crashed into a big tree. I rushed around the corner to see if I could find it. Luckily one the distillery workers had seen what happened and was quite amused by it all. He showed me where it crashed and to my relief I found it relatively unscathed.

Back to Bowmore for a rest before dinner. We had some beers in Dad and John’s master suite before heading to The Bowmore Hotel for dinner. The food was nice and we all enjoyed. It was pretty pricey for a pub meal though, at £50 ($100 AUD) per head. I guess that’s “island prices”. We booked Peatzeria for the following night.

To be continued.