1. The Country Boy is a huge fan of whiskey in general – and Scotch from the tiny distillery of Jura in particular. So when trying to come up with something to do for his 31st birthday that would rival the surprise party we threw last year, I decided to take him on a surprise road trip.
2. We flew into Glasgow and visited the distillery of Glengoyne (more on that later this week!) and then stayed in the town of Balloch, in Loch Lomond National Park for one night, before beginning our long (gorgeous) drive the next morning. It was nearly three hours to our first ferry, but luckily, there’s nothing but country roads to get you there, and it seemed like everywhere we drove, there was something to look at.
3. Of course, before getting on the road, we built up our strength with a real Scottish breakfast (TCB was a huge fan of black pudding – less so of beans in tomato sauce). We had stayed at the Valhalla Bed and Breakfast, which I highly recommend: it’s just across from the Balloch train station, in case you’re traveling by train, the rooms are cozy, and the owner is delightful. Plus, the breakfast is awesome (and she does up a vegan option, if that’s your thing).
4. We took the two-hour ferry from Kennacraig to Islay, the larger of the islands where much of the world’s most famous peated Scotch is made. Since TCB is not a huge fan of peat (and since it was Sunday), we decided to spend the day driving along the coast instead of visiting a distillery – it was a very good choice.
5. We were staying in the tiny town of Port Askaig to make our early morning departure a little bit easier to swallow, but we drove as far as the gorgeous Port Charlotte.
6. The views pretty much everywhere we stopped were just breathtaking. (Including the view of the bar at our last stop, the Ballygrant Inn, where I think TCB would have remained forever if we hadn’t had plans to visit Jura the next day.)
7. Our tasting was at 10am, so early the next morning, we got on the tiny ferry guiding us the five minutes across to Jura, whose name comes from “island of deer.” Seriously, there are a lot of deer on this island (and burly little guys too). For the first few minutes of the drive, the deer seem like the only inhabitants of the island, until you get to the village of Craighouse, which is where the distillery is.
8. And… that’s about all there is, aside from the hotel (which is also home to the only restaurant and the only bar on the island – both of which are lovely… but more on that later). The town is also home to palm trees, which one certainly doesn’t expect to see in Scotland. The bartender explained that the microclimate here supports them. It just makes the town seem even more like paradise.
9. After our tasting, we took advantage of the sunny day to go for a drive. Some of the houses on the island are so remote it’s impossible to drive to them – which was true in the case of George Orwell’s home here.
10. Too soon, it was time for the drive back to Glasgow – richer by four bottles of Scotch and a whole lot of memories.