Island in Argyll and Bute, Scotland
Islay
A small island that pours some of the smokiest whisky on Earth, once ruled as a medieval kingdom in all but name, and winters tens of thousands of geese.
Key information
- County
- Argyll and Bute
- Nation
- Scotland
- Population
- about 3,200 (2011 Census)
- Area
- about 620 square kilometres
- Known for
- Peaty single malt whisky, wintering geese, Finlaggan and the Lords of the Isles
- What locals are called
- Ileachs (Ìleach in Gaelic)
- Famous people
- John of Islay, Daniel Campbell of Shawfield, Walter Frederick Campbell, Jim McEwan
About Islay
The island that tastes of smoke
Islay has been called the Queen of the Hebrides, but most visitors know it as the home of the smokiest whisky in Scotland. Ardbeg, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila, Kilchoman, Lagavulin, Laphroaig and Ardnahoe were all working by 2019, on an island of only about 3,200 people. The flavour comes from peat. Islay's malting traditions meant barley was dried over smouldering peat fires, and the smoke stayed in the grain. The result is a whisky with notes of seaweed, iodine and bonfire that people either love or can't get near. Some distilleries paint their names in huge white letters on the warehouse walls, so you can read them from the water as the ferry comes in. Kilchoman, opened in 2005, was the first new distillery on the island for well over a century and grows some of its own barley on the farm around it.
A kingdom with its capital on an island in a loch
Long before whisky, Islay was the heart of power in the west. At Finlaggan, a tiny island in a loch near the north-east of Islay, the Lords of the Isles held court. The title belonged to the chiefs of Clan Donald, who ruled much of the Hebrides and western seaboard like independent princes, and a council of the Isles met here until the lordship was forfeited to the Crown in 1493. John of Islay, who died in the 1380s, is the figure most closely linked with the lordship's rise. Ruins and carved gravestones can still be seen at Finlaggan today. Another reminder of Islay's early Christian past is the Kildalton Cross, a carved Celtic cross from the 8th century that still stands in its original spot, as if it were a fresh piece of stonework.
Why Bowmore built a round church
Much of the island's modern look comes from the 18th and 19th centuries, when its lairds reshaped it. Daniel Campbell of Shawfield laid out the planned village of Bowmore in 1768, with a main street running up the hill to a round church finished in 1767. Local legend says the church is round so that the devil would have no corners to hide in. Bowmore's distillery followed in 1779, and is one of the oldest in Scotland. Later, Walter Frederick Campbell founded Port Ellen in 1821 and named it after his wife Eleanor, and Port Charlotte after his mother Charlotte. Many of the white-painted villages you see today come from his era.
Geese, choughs and a very long wintering list
Come winter, Islay fills up with birds. Barnacle geese arrive from Greenland in their tens of thousands and graze the island's fields, and Greenland white-fronted geese join them. Islay is one of the best places in Britain to see this. The red-billed chough, a rare crow that nests in coastal cliffs, also does well on the island. Its cousin the hooded crow strolls about the farmland like a landlord. On a clear day you can see the Paps of Jura rising across the Sound of Islay, with seals hauled out on the rocks below. Islay's highest hill is Beinn Bheigier, at 491 metres.
Shipwrecks, a memorial and a wave machine
Islay's position on the Atlantic edge has cost lives. In 1918, two ships carrying American troops to the First World War were lost close to the island: the Tuscania, torpedoed, and the Otranto, which collided with another ship in a storm. Hundreds died, and the bodies washed up on Islay's shores, where locals helped bury them. The American Memorial, a tower on the Mull of Oa, was raised in 1920 to remember them. Islay's coast has also been a testbed for new energy. In 2000 the LIMPET plant at Portnahaven began feeding electricity to the grid, as the world's first commercial wave power station.
What to eat and when to visit
Islay is surrounded by good seafood. Scallops, langoustines, crab, lobster and oysters come out of local waters, and the island's farms add beef and lamb. Islay Ales brews on the island, and a dram of local malt turns up in everything from cakes to sauces. The best time to taste it all is late May, during Fèis Ìle, the Islay Festival of Malt and Music, when distilleries hold open days, with ceilidhs, piping and special bottlings released for the occasion. The ferry crosses from Kennacraig on the mainland to Port Ellen or Port Askaig, which is half the pleasure. The islanders, the Ileachs, will tell you the pace of life slows the moment you arrive.
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