Islay, which I learned is pronounced “eye-luh”
We drove through many more sheep and took the 2-hour ferry in late afternoon to Islay. It was pretty, but I was viewed out and spent most of it rereading The Shoebox Project (most epic HP fic evar) on my phone.
On Islay we saw the first evidence of agriculture (as in growing plants rather than livestock) that we’d seen in Britain. Turned out to be barley that’s grown to make whisky. There seems to be no shortage of vegetables to eat, but it’s still a mystery to me where they’re actually grown. Drive around the countryside back home and you’ll see tons of planted fields.
That evening, I was almost bested by a steak & ale pie, but I persevered! I still don’t know how you’re supposed to cut puff pastry that’s floating on gravy, though. It’s way too big to put in your mouth at once, and if you try to use a knife it just sinks more and more into the gravy but never reaches the bottom.
We did some research on distilleries and decided to visit Bruichladdich first. It’s the only independent distillery on Islay, owned by a group of local investors. They also happen to be the ones who make Port Charlotte which I now have fic-related feels about.
Their tour was very good and made better by being conducted by a cute guy. They don’t malt their own barley there, they have it done in Inverness, so we didn’t get much about that except smelling the different barleys with different amounts of peat. Bruichladdich is unusual in the fact that they do several different whiskies at different peat levels. They have a lot of old equipment that they still use, and our tour guide said they’re the biggest employer on the island, even though they make less whisky than some of the other distilleries. It’s less automated, and they do their own bottling -- there were at least 8 people working in the bottling room when we went in.
It was fun getting to taste and compare their different varieties. They make Octomore, the peatiest whisky in existence, as well as Port Charlotte which is like a normal Islay and their classic, which is very low peat and light.
In the afternoon we toured Lagavulin. There’s a totally unmarked castle ruin that you can see from the distillery. We walked around it first, having some extra time. I’m still not sure of its historical significance but our tour guide said it was the seat of the ruler of the island at one point. After the other distillery tour, only bits of it were interesting. They had more modern equipment for some parts, although the grinder still looked old, and a lot more automation. They don’t do their own malting either -- no one on Islay does, most use one malting facility that is owned by the company that owns Lagavulin.
On Islay we saw the first evidence of agriculture (as in growing plants rather than livestock) that we’d seen in Britain. Turned out to be barley that’s grown to make whisky. There seems to be no shortage of vegetables to eat, but it’s still a mystery to me where they’re actually grown. Drive around the countryside back home and you’ll see tons of planted fields.
That evening, I was almost bested by a steak & ale pie, but I persevered! I still don’t know how you’re supposed to cut puff pastry that’s floating on gravy, though. It’s way too big to put in your mouth at once, and if you try to use a knife it just sinks more and more into the gravy but never reaches the bottom.
We did some research on distilleries and decided to visit Bruichladdich first. It’s the only independent distillery on Islay, owned by a group of local investors. They also happen to be the ones who make Port Charlotte which I now have fic-related feels about.
Their tour was very good and made better by being conducted by a cute guy. They don’t malt their own barley there, they have it done in Inverness, so we didn’t get much about that except smelling the different barleys with different amounts of peat. Bruichladdich is unusual in the fact that they do several different whiskies at different peat levels. They have a lot of old equipment that they still use, and our tour guide said they’re the biggest employer on the island, even though they make less whisky than some of the other distilleries. It’s less automated, and they do their own bottling -- there were at least 8 people working in the bottling room when we went in.
It was fun getting to taste and compare their different varieties. They make Octomore, the peatiest whisky in existence, as well as Port Charlotte which is like a normal Islay and their classic, which is very low peat and light.
In the afternoon we toured Lagavulin. There’s a totally unmarked castle ruin that you can see from the distillery. We walked around it first, having some extra time. I’m still not sure of its historical significance but our tour guide said it was the seat of the ruler of the island at one point. After the other distillery tour, only bits of it were interesting. They had more modern equipment for some parts, although the grinder still looked old, and a lot more automation. They don’t do their own malting either -- no one on Islay does, most use one malting facility that is owned by the company that owns Lagavulin.