Whisky

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Geo: 55.6344, -6.18977

When we went down for breakfast this morning, we stopped by the hotel reception desk and asked about getting a taxi tour to take us to the distilleries. The desk clerk offered to make the arrangements for the first ride for us with Carol of Carol's Cabs. We agreed on an approximate time, and then went in for breakfast. By the time we had finished, the clerk had everything set up for us. She told us that we would just need to let Carol know when we wanted to be picked up either by prearranging with her when we were dropped off or calling her when we were ready. The clerk also reserved our tour time at Ardbeg Distillery for us.

By this time in the trip we are getting low on cash and wanted to get more. We asked the clerk to direct us to an ATM, which she did. We found it in a small shop just a few doors down, but, unfortunately, it would not take our cards. Back to the hotel and asked for another option. She told us where the bank is but wondered aloud if it would be open. "They have odd hours," she told us. Again, no luck there as it is closed all day on Wednesdays. We do have some cash, but thought it would be good to have more not knowing how much the cab would be. We went back to tell the clerk about that and see if she knew of another choice. She didn't have another suggestion, but she actually offered to loan us the money in their tip jar until we could get cash. I couldn't believe that she would do that. We were not in desperate shape yet, so we thanked her and thanked her, but said, "No" we just couldn't do that. What a nice thing to do! We'll find an ATM when we get back on the main island.

Since the distillery tour was going to start late in the morning, we had time to make a visit to the Kildalton High Cross and Old Parish Church. It is only seven miles from the hotel which seemed like a quick trip. As we have learned, it takes a lot longer to get anywhere than we expect. And it has taken us longer than Google maps thinks it will take almost every time, too. The church and cross were easy to find, they were just on what turned out to be a very small road into the country. It started as a narrow two-lane road passing the three distilleries we planned to visit later in the day. However, soon after passing the last one, the road narrowed even more to just one lane. About half of the distance from the hotel to the church was on the one-lane road. There were a few laybys on the road where one car could pull off to give another car a chance to pass. Fortunately, we did not meet any cars on the trip out.

When we arrived at the church, the only other vehicle was a van in the corner of the small car park. No other people were around though. The church is interesting and the cross is the most elaborate and well-preserved that we have seen so far. After walking around and through the church and cemetery, we walked across the street to see an even older cross. About the time we were ready to leave, a couple climbed out of the van. I wonder if they had been camping there and we woke them up. Don't know.

Driving back to Port Ellen, we were not as lucky as we were before in having the road to ourselves. This time we met several cars on the road and had to pull over or wait while they pulled over to be able to get through. I guess there is not much traffic in that area. The road is called a "restricted usage" road on Google maps, but there were no signs indicating any restrictions on the road itself.

After a break for coffee and Coke in the hotel bar, we were ready and waiting for Carol to pick us up for the ride to Ardbeg Distillery. When she dropped us off, she said to have someone from the distillery call her when we were ready to be picked up. She would be able to get there in just a few minutes.

Philip decided in advance that the tour of the Ardbeg Distillery would be the best. It was interesting and thorough and took us through all the processes in making Scotch whisky and explained about the peaty flavor that is unique and so distinct in Islay whiskies. Whisky distilled in Scotland is always spelled "whisky" without the letter e. Irish whiskey is spelled with the letter e.

We had lunch in the cafe at Ardbeg and did a little shopping in their gift shop after the tour and tasting. Then asked the person at the cash register to call Carol for us. We sat outside in the sunshine while we waited about ten minutes for Carol to pick us up. Although, we had originally planned to have her take us to each of three distilleries, Philip decided that he did not want to do tastings at the others so we had her drop us off at the hotel and we drove ourselves back to the others after a little while. We went in to visit at Laphroaig and drove by Lagavulin, but didn't stop there. All three of the distilleries that we saw today sit right on the sea with beautiful views of an arm of the North Atlantic.

We finished the day with dinner in the hotel restaurant and were not disappointed. So far, we have had most of our meals either in hotel restaurants or museum cafes, and they have all been just fine. Some better than others, but all just fine.

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Photos

Kildalton High Cross
You can see another high cross in the distance that is across the street from the church.

The Islay Hotel
We parked on the street without a problem. There was always a spot available and no one bothered the cars.