After our flight from Glasgow, we drove for the Sound of Islay and a view of Jura and the Papas Mountains. Coal Ila was closed for construction. Therefore, Ardnahoe made the cut as our first Distillery. The parking area and approach road to Ardnahoe is pretty good. We took a taxi from the airport and $40 later found ourselves asking to schedule a pick-up for later in the day at Bunnahabhain. Luckily, the driver allowed us to keep our bags in her car until later so we could hike with day packs. Make sure to pack a lunch if you decide to hike.
Ardnahoe Distillery is Open
Ardnahoe is almost as green as we were because Ardnahoe is the newest working distillery on Islay. Founded in 2018, its less than 3 years old. The 3 year mark is important because they can’t sample or sell any Scotch until it has been aged for 3 or more years. The distillery is open with a good-looking restaurant, a better-looking tasting bar and the best sound track of all the distilleries we visited. The other Islay distilleries chipped in some of their spirits for special Ardnahoe Only private label Scarabus. This is available at the bar along with several other selections.
Similar to the Port Ellen distilleries of Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg, the Port Askaig distilleries make a great combined visitation day. Sometime in the future maybe the three will build a bike-hike path as is the case with the Port Ellen distilleries.
We spent about an hour sitting outside on the observation deck of Ardnahoe, looking at the Islay Sound and the Island of Juru. It was the last week of October, yet the sun was out and it was warm. We only stayed for an hour before hitting the road for a hike to Bunnahabhain. I really liked this hike because it went along the coastline. There are plenty of photo opportunities including the lake source water for Ardnahoe.
The Ardnahoe gift shop is large and contained a pretty good selection of items. The most impressive items were the selection of private label scotches. We decided not to buy since this was our first distillery and we were hiking. But, I’m sure that was a mistake and I wish we had a car. I’m also sure we would have spent way too much money on Scotch and US custom taxes.
