21st of October
Susie and I had scouting trip to Islay last week. The ferry takes a couple of hours from Kintyre and we had fabulous weather, which was really far too good to be in any way representative! The Island of Jura (on the right) lies just north of Islay (on the left) and is more mountainous, forming a great back-drop to Islay’s gentler landscape.
Ruins on the island in Finlaggan Loch, where the Lords of the Isles held their councils during the highpoint of the Clan MacDonald. The hills behind are the Paps (or breasts) of Jura. It is a magical spot.
Islay is dominated by whisky distilleries. It is the most important whisky region outwith Speyside and is the mecca for peated malts. These barrel tops are filled with rainwater from the previous days relentless rain and stand outside the Ardbeg Distillery. Ardbeg is probably the most extremely peated whisky and challenges even the likes of me. My advice is start with Lagavullin…
