The Pilgrimage: Planning a Trip to Islay Part 01

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There are few places on earth as magical as the Hebridean island of Isaly. For a whisky drinker this place is like the source. A small island exposed to the North Atlantic featuring picturesque white stone cottage villages along the length of its coastline and just happens to be home too some of the worlds greatest distilleries. Islay is a pilgrimage that every whisky fan should make and this is a guide to what I think is the best that the island has to offer.

Whilst all of Islay's seven distilleries are worth visiting in their own right; what I'm interested in is tasting whisky straight out of the wood. Here i'll list the best tours and the best offers as well as other useful hints and tips.

Lagavulin: Situated on the south shore, two miles down the road from Port Ellen (the second largest township after the capitol Bowmore and home to one of Islay's two ports); Lagavulin sits between Laphroaig and Ardbeg. It is also the first distillery open for business on the south shore and is my recommendation for the first morning. The first tour departs at 09:30 with the island bus service arriving outside the distillery in plenty of time to makle it and have a look around. Being a Diageo distillery, if you've signed up to Friends of Classic Malt's online then you will get the tour for free, along with a Lagavulin sampling glass and healthy dram or two.

Link: Click here to join Friends of Classic Malt's

After the tour there is the main event at 10:30; the Warehouse Demonstration. This costs £17 with Friends of Classic Malt's discount (rather than £20) and is the best example of a warehouse tasting on Islay with five casks laid out ready for you to sample from after you've sipped on your large dram of Lagavulin 8 yr Old 200th Anniversary bottling (in 2016 anyway). These casks range from young whisky right up to fine, aged whisky and is a fantastic way to start of your Islay experience.

Bruichladdich: A taxi back to Port Ellen (if you don't feel like running the two miles) will allow you to catch the Islay bus North to Bruichladdich Pier just in time for the 13:00 distillery tour. The Bruichladdich tour costs £5 but you get a £5 discount in store for buying your whisky (more on that later) as well as a dram or two, and as such I view the tour as effectively free. At 14:00 their is the Warehouse Experience, which involves sampling from three different casks from your newly acquired Bruichladdich branded Copita. In 2016 this comprised of a 27 yr Old Bruichladdich, an 11 yr Old Port Charlotte and a 10 yr Old Octomore. The Port Charlotte was amazing and blew the Octomore out of the water. The cost of the Warehouse Experience is £30.

Once finished with the Warehouse Experience then its back to the Bruichladdich shop which bears a striking resemblance to a bar! Here you can sample the entire range of Bruichladdich; although they aren't keen on serving Black Arts. This includes being able to sample the Feis Ila and distillery only barrels; one Bruichladdich and one Port Charlotte. These are only available until the barrel runs dry and then they select another barrel, barrier filter it and leave it in the corner for you to fill and label yourself. These whisky's are extremely high quality and here is where your £5 voucher from the tour can be used along with  an extra £65.

Laphroaig: For day two I'd recommend heading back to the south shore to Laphroaig. Unfortunately the only time Lagavulin and Laphroaig run tastings from the barrels is at exacxtly the same time! Laphroaig are investing in a new visitors centre and cafe and should be ready by the end of April 2017; however this means that as is usually the case with Laphroaig the price of the Distillers Wares tour has gone up by £10 and now costs £70. While that seems like alot of money from tasting from three different barrels, the quality is excellent and you are able to take a 250ml sample bottle away with you of your favourite (which you bottle yourself). To put that in context I paid £25 for the Bunnahabhain tour and £35 for a 200ml bottle of my favourite cask, so worked out at £60; exactly the same as the 2016 Laphroaig Distillers Wares tour.

Link: Click here to join Friends of Laphroaig

If you've signed up to Friends of Laphroaig (there is a code in every bottle of Laphroaig) then you can collect your annual rent at the distillery (a 50ml bottle of Laphraoig 10) as well put on the wellies provided and go and plant a flag on your plot of land. If you haven't got a code don't worry as you can sign up at the distillery without one.

Link: The Pilgrimage: Planning A Trip to Islay Part 02

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