While I enjoy history more than the average person, which is probably apparent in my posts from Turkey and Greece, my trip to Scotland was for a much different reason. This is by no means a discredit to Stirling Castle, William Wallace or Bonnie Prince Charlie. Its just that Scotland makes Scotch, and I care about that a whole heck of a lot.
A quick Scotch 101: Scotch is a Whisky made from distilling grain alcohol (traditionally barley) and then aging the spirit in an oak or sherry cask. The spirit must be aged for a minimum of three years in Scotland to be considered Scotch. Scotland is broken into five main regions of Scotch distilling with each region having a unique approach to the art of Whisky. These five regions are Highlands, Lowlands. Speyside, Islay and Campbeltown. My personal favorite region is Islay because it is known for making scotch with a strong smokey flavor.
My trip to Scotland would have been woefully incomplete without a visit to the Isle of Islay. Islay is a relatively large island of the western edge of Scotland and is the former seat of power to "The Lord of the Isles". The island lords held court at Finlaggan - but this post isnt a history lesson. To visit, a ferry was necessary. Dad and I caught the ferry departing from Kennacraig for Port Askaig and thus started the adventure.
Islay has eight distilleries - so our eight tourism destinations were established. Right off the boat we raced to and caught a tour at Bunnahabhain. I learned that the distillery is pronounced "Bunna-hav-in" and that they are the most lightly peated of the eight. My favorite dram that I tried from this location was their 18 year old.
Photo: Bunnahabhain Distillery
On our way out of Bunnahabhain, we stopped by Caol Ila (pronounced Cul E-la). This was an unknown distillery to me before my trip to Scotland. This is mostly because they rarely bottle single malts. Most of the production is directed toward blending to create the Jonnie Walker Black Label. We were able to find a few Caol Ila single malt bottlings on Islay which blew me away. Their 12 year old was really smoky without any of the harshness - a great discovery!
Photo: Caol Ila Distillery
The following morning brought on the Bowmore Distillery - oldest on Islay and located in the largest city on the island. Note: This is a very liberal use of the word city. There is only one high school on the island, but it is in Bowmore. The Bowmore (Bo-More) tour was really nice and I was amazed by the number of different bottlings they had for sale. I had only seen Bowmore 12 and 15 year before my visit. I enjoyed the 15 year Bowomore because of its sweet flavor, a result of aging in a Sherry Cask.
Photo: Bowmore Distillery
From there the tours became a blur. Ardbeg was great because their branding uses this unique Celtic "A" and they are the most heavily peated Whisky distiller on the island. The best Ardbeg I found was the Corryvreckan, named for a whirlpool of the coast of the Isle of Jura. My favorite overall Scotch is made by Lagavulin, where we were lucky enough to have a private tour. I picked up a green Lagavulin fleece to display my distiller pride!! Finally, our Whisky adventures ended with Laphroaig, Bruichladdich and Kilchoman. Fun note: Kilchoman is the youngest distiller on Islay and they are completely vertically integrated. They raise their own barley, run a malting and then distill the Whisky.
Photo: Ardbeg Distillery
Photo: Lagavulin Distillery
Photo: Bruichladdich Distillery
Photo: Kilchoman Distillery
Photo: Laphroaig Distillery
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