Whisky island

Thursday, 19th November 2009

Marcin Miller embarks on a liquid exploration of Islay, an island in Inner Hebrides and one of Scotland’s most important regions for whisky production

Islay may not be the easiest place to get to but it is always worth the journey. The Queen of the Hebrides, an island off the western coast of Scotland, is a deeply spiritual place with a population of 3,200 and eight distilleries, each of which produces distinctive single malt whisky. The island is a rock with a sponge on top; three metres of peat, decomposed vegetal matter, which is the defining characteristic of Islay whiskies.

My preferred time to visit is early June. Feis Ile, a week-long celebration of whisky and music, takes place at the end of May and provides splendid entertainment (with each distillery hosting a day). I like to arrive immediately afterwards when there is less of an emphasis on following the herd, there are fewer northern European whisky zealots around, accommodation is easier to come by and the distillers are all relaxed with a post-festival glow.

Take a ferry from Kennacraig and two and a half hours later, after some breath-taking views, you will be in Port Ellen. From there it is 13 miles to Bowmore, the island’s capital, a journey that Alfred Barnard referred to in the seminal The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom published in 1887 as ‘one of the most uninteresting that we had ever experienced.’ We stayed at the Bowmore Cottages (owned by the distillery and very highly recommended: www.bowmore.co.uk).

Bowmore is the oldest distillery on Islay, having been established in 1779. It is curious that, in spite of the difficulties inherent in island distilling, the distilleries of Islay, Orkney and Mull are amongst the oldest survivors (as per Charles MacLean’s piece on pages 12-13). Bowmore distillery is in the heart of the town of the same name, on the edge of Loch Indaal. Standing in the impressive reception area, my companions and I are thrilled to recognise such rock classics as Smoke on the Water and Eye of the Tiger being played on the bagpipes.

Our guide is Eddie MacAffer, the distillery manager. Bowmore is one of only a handful of distilleries in the whole of Scotland where malting of the barley still takes place. Distillation requires a change in grain structure which is achieved through germination. The barley is first soaked in tanks (called steeps) to trigger this germination.