Campbeltown and Islay Distillery Tours 2024

In April we took another trip to visit Springbank distillery and then across to Islay. This time, in order to bring home some bottles for personal consumption, we took the car. We headed up to Belfast on the Sunday evening, where we overnighted to facilitate an early 7am sailing from Belfast to Cairnryan. We had time for a nightcap, and while the Duke of York closed early on a Sunday night, we did get to sample some Friend at Hand bottlings in The Harp Bar.

We landed in Cairnryan a little after 10am and took the long drive north, up around Glasgow and down the Kintyre penninsula. We pulled into Springbank at about 3pm, which gave us ample time to enjoy the relatively new Washback Bar, where we sampled some delicious whiskeys before stocking up in the Distillery Shop before it closed at 6pm. There were restrictions in the shop, where only one bottle of each product could be purchased per person.

The Cadenhead shop is another landmark and a must visit if you are in Campbeltown. We just made it in before closing to see the new blending room and pick a few bottles. On a previous visit to Campbeltown we had the pleasure of visiting the bar in the infamous Ard Sheil Hotel. This time we were fortunate to get a room and overnight there. We had to get up dark and early for a rescheduled 7am ferry to Islay from Kennacraig, 45mins from Campbeltown.

The Calmac ferry was scheduled to land in Port Ellen, but took a right as we approached Islay and docked at Port Askaig instead - due to westernly winds. This suited us as Ardnahoe, Islay's newest distillery, and Bunnabhabhain were our first visits, both located on the north east of the island, near Port Askaig. The road up to Ardnahoe had seen better days, but quickly forgotten when 2 outdoor wormtubs greeted us as we pulled in. Following our tour we had a taste of a bourbon matured Ardnahoe peated sample. Their first release, a near 5 year old, was about to be released - a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry.

After our drop-in tour at Ardnahoe, we headed north for our scheduled 2pm Warehouse No.9 experience at Bunnahabhain distillery. Some of the old, ruined, workers houses had disappeared and a new shop was built since we were here last. We met our fantastic host for the afternoon, David Brodie, who gave us a quick distillery tour before we settled into Warehouse No. 9 for our cask tasting.

TBC