However many times I visit this part of the world, it always feels like an adventure, whether it’s blowing a hooley or the seas are at peace, all a-glitter under blue skies.
These isles have produced some of whisky’s biggest names – Ardbeg, Port Ellen, Bowmore, Lagavulin, Laphroaig. More recently, they’ve also witnessed the emergence of an exciting new generation of distilleries, which have banded together to create the Hebridean Whisky Trail.
This self-guided tour takes in Torabhaig (and Talisker) on Skye, the namesake distilleries of Raasay and Harris, plus the tiny Isle of Tiree distillery, and Benbecula and North Uist distilleries on Uist.
I’m always up for a bit of island hopping so recently I paid a visit to three of them. First stop was Torabhaig on the shores of Skye’s expansive Sound of Sleat – a sea loch edged by shingly beaches, sheep-filled hills and distant mountain ranges. The approach to this traditional-style distillery is stunning – its white-washed walls, pillar-box red doors and elegant pagoda popped against the blue. On the headland beyond, the ruins of Knock Castle, a medieval fort, are also visible.
Torabhaig describes its house style as ‘elegantly rugged; an elegant interpretation of heavy peat.’ It marries tarry, maritime smoke with fresh citrus notes and hints of honey and vanilla.
Torabhaig’s first permanent whisky – a 10 year old – won’t be released until 2028. But in the meantime, master distiller Neil Mathieson is documenting its evolution with the ‘Legacy Series,’ a collection of limited-edition malts that have become much sought-after among whisky afficionados (see below for the latest). Once a year, the distillery also gives one of the distilling team free reign to create their own recipe, which is released as part of the Torabhaig Journeyman series.
We spend the night at nearby Kinloch Lodge, a handsome waterside hotel dripping in history. A former hunting lodge, it’s the ancestral home of one of Scotland’s most storied clans, the Macdonalds, some of whom still run it today. It’s all crackling fires, stags’ heads on the walls and drawing rooms full of family portraits. The well-stocked whisky bar is also excellent.
We set off early the next morning, to catch the ferry to Raasay – a drive which takes us across sweeping moors and past the foot of the menacing Cuillin mountain range.
It’s just a 20-minute ferry hop to Raasay, but it feels like another world; the tiny isle’s gentle slopes and lush woodlands are downright cosy compared to what we’ve just left behind. The compact distillery sits a short walk up the hill, looking back across the water at the spent volcanoes of Skye. I’m told they often spot seals, dolphins, orcas and even minke whales from the distillery. The only sign of wildlife on my visit, though, is one very contented Highland cow.
There’s no history of whisky-making on Raasay – no legal one, anyway. So, co-founder and master distiller Alasdair Day was free to invent his own style. “I wanted it to be Hebridean,” he says, “which to me means lightly peated with dark fruits.”
The Raasay recipe is complex; they distil both peated and unpeated malt separately, and then age in three types of casks. Ex rye-whiskey casks provide peppery base notes, chinquapin oak casks add a maple syrup sweetness, and ex red-wine casks from Bordeaux add structural tannin and damson/plum characters. The tactile bottle is imprinted with rocks and fossils – a nod to Raasay’s unique geology.
Raasay’s whisky is delicious. And it’s also a wonderful place to stay – in fact it’s the only place in Scotland where you can stay overnight in an actual working distillery. The distillery’s six-bedroom boutique bed and breakfast, Borodale House, has portholes which look straight into the still room where the whisky is made.
There are also five Scandi-style ‘bothies,’ where you can enjoy the panoramic views of Skye from the comfort of your bed. There’s a convivial bar and restaurant, too, for holing up in when the weather inevitably goes sideways.
The next day we head off to the Isle of Harris, which lies further out, to the north-west. This involves another ferry, this time from Uig in the very north of Skye. Fortified by bacon sandwiches and strong cups of tea, we make our way up on deck, and watch as Harris’s shattered coastline emerges, slightly spookily, from the horizon.
We disembark in a rocky harbor, among hills dotted with white cottages and gorse, and almost immediately come face-to-face with the distillery – a building with a pointy roof and a spartan simplicity reminiscent of a chapel.
The distillery was founded with the aim of making whisky but also creating jobs. “I used to play on the shore here,” says whisky blender Shona Macleod. “Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I’d be making whisky one day.”
Harris launched in 2015 with a sugar kelp-laced gin – which instantly made a splash. This distillery’s flagship whisky is The Hearach (Gaelic for ‘person from Harris’), a honeyed single malt with attractive meadow-y notes and an ethereal, ashy smoke (also available in a more sherried edition).
Shona takes us on a drive around Harris – an isle of two very different, but equally bewitching, parts. The east coast is all gnarly rock outcrops, interspersed with little lochs. It feels secret, almost out-of-time. I’m not surprised to learn that some scenes from 2001 Space Odyssey were filmed here.
Just a mile away, on the west coast, the landscape completely opens up into stunning white-sand beaches lapped by crystalline blue waters worthy of the tropics. The air is more humid; sheep graze sleepily amidst marshes and heather. “There are sapphires in this geology,” says Macleod in her musical Harris accent.
We take a freezing plunge in the Atlantic and toast our efforts with ice-cold Harris gin martinis on the beach, before driving back for a dinner of giant pink langoustines with the Harris distillery team.
The next morning, we take a ferry back to the mainland, landing at the magnificent port of Ullapool. And then set off for the east coast, in search of another exciting young distillery – but that’s another story.
Three Hebridean Whiskies to Taste
Torabhaig Sound of Sleat Batch Strength
The latest in the distillery’s sought-after Legacy Series showcases Torabhaig’s maritime style at its most intense. Enjoy with a drop of water. 60.2% abv. £75 (approx. $100), torabhaig.com
Isle of Raasay Dùn Cana Sherry Quarter Cask Release, Third Edition
A stint in smaller-than-average Oloroso and PX sherry casks dials up the chewy dried fruit notes and spice in this softly smoky malt. 52% abv. £85 (approx. $114), raasaydistillery.com
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Isle of Harris Distillery The Hearach, Decade Edition
A collectable anniversary edition of The Hearach made, uniquely, with peat hand-cut from the Isle of Harris – just 2,357 bottles have been released. 46% abv. £75.00 (approx. $100), harrisdistillery.com