And then mostly everything else on Islay was whiskey-wonderful. Okay, there was one other very cold and very wet ride, from Port Ellen to Bowmore, but that taught us:
1) never, never think you'll be fine without shoe covers.
2) Charlie had never had IronBru; Charlie thinks IronBru is gross.
And we tried a lot of whiskies. Twenty-three single-malts from five of the world's best distilleries, in order of our visits:
1) Lagavulin
Their Double-matured is my new favorite. Never has a drink left me with such a satisfying mineral aftertaste. Their Distillery special edition is also really, really, good. Like honey-smoke. This is the one we brought back with us, since you can only get it there. Clever, that.
2) Ardbeg
Found the whiskies a little harsh for my taste, but their cafe and postcards were good. Also, they gave us a free book of walks around the island, so bonus points there.
3) Laphroaig
Previously my favorite, now slipped down, despite them having all the olden-timey "technology" that they still actually use in their malting and peating processes. (See photos).
4) Bowmore
To be honest, I was so cold when we got to this one that I remember the free cookies more than anything. Though I'm pretty sure we had three or four different drams... .
5) Bruichladdich
Like a fun fair for whisky lovers! We tried thirteen different whiskies here. All sorts of insane and great concoctions. There was a series matured in different types of wine casks (called A-F. D was the best), and Octomore 3 (152), the peatiest whisky in the whole world ever, ever, at 152ppm. 152ppm! Laphroaig, for all it's hyper-peatiness, is 40ppm. Think about that. We also tried the Black Art, which is a secret recipe that nobody except the maker him/herself knows, that was very, very good. And so on. We spent a lot of time in the converted barn of the Bruichladdich tasting room, and it was a very good time.
There are still four more distilleries to visit. Our bed and breakfast served us buttered fish for breakfast. I left my bike glasses by a bunch of rabbits. Supposedly it's not always freezing and drenching. And sleeping on a moving-train bunk-bed is awesome. Can't wait to go back.
3 comments:
Please save some honey-smoke. Will come to taste as soon as possible,
I'm surprised you didn't like the Ardbeg better - it is one of my favourites. That said, there were no slouches on your trip - all great distilleries!
i forgot to tell you how much the bunnies of scotland love sunglasses... they'll be grateful, at least, for your having left those.
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