Beautiful distillery with whisky and gin. Stopped for a look and a tasting. Whiskies are named…read moreafter their employees.

Given how old the existing reviews are, I thought it's time to add and update!…read more We signed up for the distillery tour. Easy parking and we met the tour guide in the tour center/shop. We lucked out with the tour guide as she is an awesome story teller - and Bruichladdich has an amazing story to share! As it was rather weekend, the distillation was off,but that allowed us to see a rare sight inside a Mash Tun. After the tour the guide took us back to the shop where the staff was pretty generous with the tastings. We landed up buying a self-fill cask strength bottle! Highly recommend.

Just did a quick tasting in the Visitor center. Good scotch and friendly staff. Good selection to…read morechoose from.

We walked a LONG way to get to Lagavulin Distillery!…read more On the island of Islay lies three distilleries that are within walking distance of each other via walking trail - Laphroaig, Lagavulin, and Ardbeg. On a related note, we accidentally discovered that Whisky Week was taking place at the same time as our visit to Islay, so we decided to pay a visit to all three distilleries in one day. Lagavulin, however, ended up being the only distillery we had time to visit that day, upon learning that Laphroaig was closed and Ardbeg was closing at 5:00, alongside Lagavulin. I'm not a big scotch person by all means, but I was genuinely curious to try out their selections. My mom advised me to go slow on the scotch at first, since they have about 56% alcohol in it, WAY more than what I'm used to. Their scotch was available in flights, along with a small glass of water that you can take to cleanse your palate, in which we chose. My mom and I also ordered a Peat & Plum Highball Cocktail, one each for both of us. The cocktail was one of the strongest cocktails I've ever had in my life, with all that scotch and plum liqueur present inside. Yes, I love drinking cocktails, but I could not finish the entire thing because the alcohol volume was ridiculously strong. Our scotch flight included the 12-years-old 2019 (56.5% ALC VOL), 12-years-old 2022 (57.3% ALC VOL), and 12-years-old 2023 (56.4% ALC VOL). I think the only scotch that I ended up trying was the 12-years-old 2023, and I only took a very tiny sip of it. Yeah, that was MUCH too strong for my taste! Good thing the glass of water was present with our scotch flight. Everyone there was super nice and helpful, the restrooms were clean (while very small and old school), and they even have a little gift shop in front of the distillery the moment you enter. When you see a big White House over the hill after passing Laphroaig, you know you've stumbled upon Lagavulin.

Top notch distillery on Islay. Tour was great. Staff super friendly and the scotch is top notch…read more Would love to visit again.

An exceptional visit. Instead of being located along the water to facilitate transport of their…read morewhisky, Kilchoman is located on a farm in the hills of Islay. The five mile drive on a single lane road through pastures with sheep and cattle is reason enough to visit. The staff have a strong sense of pride in their 100% Islay orientation. There also is a small cafe with surprisingly good sandwiches.

We came for the tour and left with a new appreciation for how whiskey is made! Bushmills has been…read morearound since before the Pilgrims and their slogan "We're not the best because we're the oldest, we're the oldest because we're the best" definitely shows. Tours are the main attraction here and take a little over an hour. You're treated to a walk around the grounds, through the production buildings, storehouses and then get a taste of something that's been around as long as my car! (the 12 and 14 year whiskeys were great!) It's super informal and the tour guide was very nice. The tasting room was lovely and the gift shop had some great options including some whiskeys that were born in the 1900s! The only bummer is that there's no restaurant here, so plan accordingly. Luckily there are plenty of options in the area. Come out here for the Giants Causeway and drive in for the Bushmill! You'll be happy you did.

We only stopped here for a bathroom break so no time for a tour of the actual distillery. The only…read morereason why I have a lot of pictures is because I walked around and took pictures of the gift shop, restaurant and outside areas. I was only there for 20 minutes lol. I didn't eat any food there.

On a tour of Islay, we booked a tasting at Bunnahabhain Distillery. We chose two Premium tastings…read moreand two Cask Tastings. When we arrived, we were greeted by a friendly face who welcomed us to have a look around and when we were ready, have a sit at the table reserved for our tastings. The shop is really nicely organized. They have a nice amount of merchandise for the fan who wants to display their love of Bunnahabhain Whisky. They also had a very diverse selection of bottles for purchase, in various sizes as well. Every one I asked to try, was available for sampling and given with a smile :) Our tasting was explained by Mark, who was super knowledgeable and fun. He had hand-selected all of our pours and did a terrific job of giving us a diverse set of whiskies. Bunnahabhain is known for not having peated whisky, a rare thing on Islay, and most of our pours held true to that. If you're on Islay, make sure to get over to visit these kind people who make s a great product.

This northernmost distillery on Islay is known for its unleaded whisky. However, in recent years…read morethey have started to re introduce peat into their whisky and have come up with several limited releases that resemble a bonfire on the palate. I highly recommend their warehouse 9 tour because you get to try and purchase a special release only available for participants on that tour.

This is a great day out on Arran, especially if it is a rainy day!…read more Very knowledgeable staff and great drinks. I love their whisky, they do some amazing top notch ones, but I love the Arran Gold more. This is many many many times more superior than baileys liqueur. Arran gold is their mighty fine whisky with honey and cream, that's it and its damn tuppy tasty :0) Nice cafe in the distillery, nice grounds and beautiful location, it is a must visit on the Island

Well done, Arran! When it comes to the cherry on top of a stellar visit to a spectacular island, a…read moredistillery tour was just the ticket for me. First of all, the location of the Isle of Arran Distillery is hard to beat, even for me as I visited on a typically chilly and overcast day in February. Nestled right in amongst scenic mountains at the edge of Lochranza, you can easily reach the distillery by bus (or by hoofing it from a lovely walk with a potential for some lazy seals nearby). As soon as I walked in the door of the place I was impressed. This is obviously a new(er) distillery, which means that it's clean and shiny like a new penny, and also features some pretty dern cool waterfallage right where the distillery tours set off. Awesome! There's also a sizeable gift shop where in the low season you can buy your tickets and do some perusing. For me, I arrived breathless having overshot my seal-watching a bit, and despite it being a few minutes past the set-off time our whisky spirit guide was happy enough to take one more. Extra points! Shortly after your initial welcome you'll be taken in to watch a video (also very techno-savvy and modern) where you can sample your first dram of the Arran 10-year-old. Naturally after this comes examing all the stills and casks while your spirit guide explains the ins and outs of the trade. I've been to at least four distillery tours now and never fail to enjoy this bit, especially with all the smells and sights. This one was no different, especially with our very well-versed (and well-accented!) guide. He was seriously the nicest chap! After the tour you leave the building to head back to a bar for the rest of the tasting, but a pause may take place to see if you can spot some of the eagles that are featured so prominently on the Arran labeling. Any place that digs their local fauna as much as the Isle of Arran distillery does gets some extra points in this one's book. Following that, you're plopped down in an very charming bar area, where either your tasting continues with more drams if you went for a more serious tasting experience, or for those on the lesser end with a wee spot of some mouth-wateringly delicious whisky liqueur. I may have savoured that one for as long as humanly possible before I had to dash out the door for my bus back to Brodick. If you're visiting the Isle of Arran and are a whisky fanatic, to my mind this distillery is a must-visit. Or even if you're visiting and -aren't- a whisky fanatic, you should go because come on, you're in Scotland so it's time to do as the Romans (er, Scots) do--and I don't think anyone could dislike that sweet sweet cream liqueur! So go forth, learn about all things whisky, and sample some delicious wares! And, if you proceed to get a wee bit too blootered then you can pop by their cafe for some grub to help sober up--either way, you're totally sorted! (Extra perk: maybe you'll even see an eagle nearby!)

My husband and I spent a couple of days on Islay a few weeks ago. We booked Islay Taxis well in…read moreadvance for airport pick-up and drop off, as well as an eight hour booking for a day of distillery tours. I communicated with Isabel online to book everything and Stuart and David were our drivers during our stay. Their service was excellent. Isabel was quick with her responses to my inquiries and Stuart and David were ever so pleasant and accommodating in their service. We have already recommended Islay Taxis to others and will continue to do so. We will definitely use this service on any future trips to Islay. Anyone heading to Islay should book their transportation needs with Islay Taxis.

We rented Islay Taxi for 2 days total for the day. Both our drivers, Kevin and Kenneth were…read morefantastic as drivers, tour guides and just exemplary human beings. We could not have been in better hands. We saw some tourists being winched out of the peat on a soft shoulder in their rental car. So glad we had our drivers who were Islay natives to navigate the rough roads so we could relax and enjoy the stunning scenery.

New distillery on the Isle of Harris . Situated in the heart of Tarbert by the ferry terminal ,…read moreit's an impressive new build . Inside is imposing but tasteful at the same time . Tours operate 3 times a day and best to book ahead . The distillery at present is only producing gin , their whisky doesn't, come on stream till 2020 . Harris gin is very smooth and can be drunk neat like The Botanist from Islay . It is infused with sugar kelp and the shop sells small bottles of sugar kelp aromatic water which you can add according to taste . The distillers recommend adding a wedge of pink or red grapefruit or lime . The tour costs 10 pounds which is slightly expensive . Their gin is sold only direct from their website or distillery . It is also available in pubs and clubs pubs . It retails at 35 pounds thus placing it in the premium gin bracket . It is currently available in a single 70cl size only . Their is a lovely cafe attached to the distillery which is worth a visit , good food and nice staff .

The experience here is truly reflective of Irish hospitality. Greeted on entrance to this old and…read moreauthentic Irish building by good drinks and the smell of beautiful food. I had the smoked salmon to start followed by amazing seabass thermidor. Both were beautifully prepared and presented. This is a hidden gem on the north coast, buried in historic Bushmills, The distillers arms is somewhere to hunt out.

This is a great place to stop for a bite before or after a tour of the neighbouring Bushmills…read moredistillery. The meals are generous and really tasty. The atmosphere was comfortable and warm. The service is warm and friendly. My only complaint was that it was a bit slow. BF and I made it in just at the edge of the Sunday brunch price break. We didn't have anything to drink besides water, but even that was classy, served with triple citrus wedges. The soup was warming and lovely, and my lamb shank was falling-off-the-bone tender. Served on a bed of champ, with extra potatoes on the side. We finished with a Baileys creme brulee which was spot on. BF's coffee was served with a minty chocolate. Prices were very reasonable for the quality and quantity of food we got. It was a chilly Sunday and they had every reason to take their time; as soon as we told them we were in a bit of a rush at the end, the servers got us the bill quickly and we were able to be out of there fast. If you like potatoes with your potatoes, lovely food, a warm atmosphere with art and jazz, and a crackling wood fire while you wait for a table, choose the Distiller's Arms.