Ireland/Scotland, Day 5: Islay

On this morning, we caught the ferry from Ballycastle, Northern Ireland, to Port Ellen, Islay (pr.: "eye-la"), Scotland. The company we used is Kintyre Express, which was sorta difficult to find, but we found it, and we managed to get about halfway before one of the boat motors went kaput!! We were adrift in the ocean for a minute before they got one of them going again and we made it the rest of the way. Phew! For a minute, I thought Dave wouldn't get his scotch.

We went to Islay so that Dave could try his beloved scotches in their native habitat. There are 14 distilleries all over the island (with another one or two being built), but we were only able to rent a bike this time rather than a car, so we hit up the three on the coast - Laphroaig, Lagavulin, and Ardbeg.

We picked up our e-bikes (smart with all the hills) from Islay E-Wheels, right in Port Ellen.

Port Ellen, Islay, Scotland

We spun through town and up on the bike path that links the three distilleries, with lots of beautiful views, as well as new cow and sheep friends.

Islay cows

We hit up Ardbeg first, thinking that we should go farthest and then inward. Dave had a lot of scotch drinking to do, you see, and becoming more inebriated with each stop, it was important to close the distance.

Dave got about five tasters at Ardbeg, then we tried to get into Lagavulin and had to come back because a big party was taking up the tasting room (word to the wise, book a tour in advance for any of these, but especially Lagavulin, if you want to do that). 

So instead, we went to Laphroaig, where we were really impressed with the special whiskies only available there, as well as the guest experience with free water, tea, and coffee.

Dave isn't normally a giddy kind of guy, but he was pretty giddy at this point.

The sheep were really everywhere, and very cute - we thought someday we'd open a bed and breakfast on Islay, give whisky recommendations, and bake tasty scones for visitors.

Happy Islay sheep

Oh, and speaking of wildlife, Laphroaig had some adorable bunnies hanging out in front; one mama and two babies. It was raining a bit by the time we left that distillery, and they were sheltering under a bush.

Bunnies at Laphroaig

The crown jewel was Dave's visit to Lagavulin, which is his favorite scotch whisky. 

Dave's Ron Swanson moment at Lagavulin

He got some very rare tasters, his favorite being the 25-year; pretty wild to think that we were in high school when this was made!

Somehow, I got Dave's drunk ass to the Islay airport, where we flew to Glasgow. The city is known for having the best Indian food in Scotland, so we visited Mother India for a delightful dinner. Ultimately, Dave said it was the perfect day, which is exactly what I was looking for, but we now know enough of Islay to see that we need to go back for a longer visit.