We have to say again what a nice place the Bowmore House was. Breakfast was salmon and eggs, and after we finished eating, Andrew, the innkeeper, offered us a wee dram! We did not turn it down. We’ve never been served whisky with our breakfast before. Somehow it seemed just right. After we ate, Andrew gave us some pointers for the day.

Mike going for a wee dram

Since we were in Bowmore, it made sense to visit Bowmore Distillery (Bowmore Darkest is on Mike’s favorites list). Our rule here, since we can’t bring very much back, is to not buy anything we think we can find at home. At Bowmore they had a special offer – fill your own bottle directly from a cask. Mike knew THAT would give him something he wouldn’t be able to find in Seattle! We got taken down into one of the cask warehouses where they had a 15 year old hogshead set aside. Mike got to draw out the whiskey with an old fashioned copper siphon, put it in the bottle, and paste on the label. The rest of us were snapping pictures of every step. Mike seemed to be in his own special heaven. That will be a special treat when we get home.

New hats!

We also stopped at the Islay woolen mill down the road. They weave their own wool cloth there with hundred year old machines. As we approached the building we could hear the load clatter of the looms in operation and we were able to get a tour of the building. Much of the machinery dates from the early 1900’s. They sell some items made from their cloth, so all four of us had to buy flat caps made from Islay wool cloth. Tami got one in the Islay tartan pattern, and Mike got one in the Bowmore distillery pattern.
We stopped for one more distillery visit on the way to the ferry. Caol Ila is a less well known Islay distillery. As we walked up to the distillery we enjoyed one of the special parts of visiting the distilleries that we unfortunately can’t adequately share with readers. That is the wonderful smell as you approach the distillery. It envelopes you in a wonderful cloud of whisky essence. You breathe deep and know that you’re in a special place! At Caol Ila, we all agreed that our favorite was a distiller’s special that was finished in muscato barrels. They had another special festival bottling, but we thought it was overly medicinal.

afternoon’s entertainment

We arrived at the ferry terminal a bit early so wandered around a bit, took lots more pictures, and then found a picnic table to sit at (it was actually sunny today). While sitting there, a group of 5 guys who had been distillery touring together walked by with their farewell beers and all five climbed on a nearby cannon for a group picture. Tami started snapping pictures of them as they one-by-one crammed themselves onto the cannon. They spotted that they were being observed so they came down and asked us where we were from. When we said we were from Seattle they said they had to sing for us. Not sure of the connection there, but they serenaded us with a very special (and off key) rendition of “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”. One of them then did his comedy routine for us, though he had to be reminded of some of the lines by his friends. Many times, many lines. They were quite amusing and obviously had been having a great time. For quite a while, we would say.

Westies supervising the visitors

As we waited for the ferry we also noticed some sweet West Highland Terriers who obviously lived at the pub next to the ferry dock. They sat next to each other on a little rise observing everything and everyone who happened by. They were far too photogenic to ignore, so here are Bonnie and Rory.
The approaching ferry ended the comedy routine of our new friends and we were soon back on a ferry. This ferry was far different from the previous ferry. The interior was quite fancy, almost like a cruise ship. The first ferry was quite minimalist and functional. As we pulled away from the dock we had some great views of both Islay and Jura in the warm sunshine. Not a bad way to spend the day.

After we exited the ferry, we just had a short 40 minute drive up to Kilmartin where we had booked rooms.  As we approached the final turn into town, we knew it was going to be a special place when we saw the old church with rows of terraced gravesites advancing down the hill.  There are a also a number of standing stones and other archeological sites (800 within a 6 mile radius) in the area.  Tami is in heaven.  We had a few minutes to poke around the church yard before losing our light.  A number of interesting older grave stones and stone grave covers had been set aside in special enclosures, going back into the 1200’s.