GregD

We also stopped for lunch in Inverary. It's a cute little town and worth a stop. We ate at the Inverary Inn, and the food was fantastic.

The next morning we woke up for the drive back to Edinburgh. As we were driving through Inverary, we crossed a cute bridge and saw a castle in the distance. It was so picturesque that even the freeloaders wanted to stop! We quickly turned around and headed back. So this is Inverary and it is one of the earliest examples of gothic revival architecture. It has been the seat of the Dukes of Argyll, chiefs of Clan Campbell since the 18th Century. The family still resides there. For some more realistic context. The Duke is married to a member of the Cadbury (Chocolate) family. Inside the castle is beautiful, and it's obvious that the family lives here. There are photos of the family all around. This is a view of the castle from the rear. Even the freeloaders were happy we stopped.

Our return trip to the mainland, and our final cruise departed from port Askaig. There isn't much here, but this cute hotel and bar. There was a group of vintage men that rode over to Islay with us, and made the same return trip. They were dressed very nicely in three piece suits etc. They spent the entire day at this bar. I was curious as to what they were meeting/celebrating about, but I didn't get a change to ask. The port itself is very small too. Mainly crab boats. The ferry we rode back on, was a much newer ferry, and much more well appointed. The kids all remarked that it "was like a cruise ship" The menu was better too....

We still had a few hours to kill before our return ferry. We found an Indian restaurant that we had dinner in. It was okay, nothing great like in Edinburgh. This was in the town of Bowmore, so we also walked around. Everything here was closed as well at this time. We made it to the beach. discovered we needed some leads.... and took some more pictures.

The next stop was what I was really looking forward to. We headed to Lagavulin. I had the tour booked. TheBoss and freeloaders were not able to get into their own tour, so they got to wait for me in their bar/lounge area. They had plenty of snacks and wifi to keep them occupied. I hung out in this lounge for a bit before my tour started. Once my tour started, we got to see how the whiskey is produced. Offsite, because of how much they now need, the barley is malted (soaked in water and allowed to germinate) and then dried using burning peat. These are pieces of that peat. This is one of the original ovens that was originally used. This is where the distillery gets its water from. It began its journey about 5 miles away from one of the lochs on the island. The dried, peated barley is then trucked in, and stored in a big hopper. Once needed, it comes down to this grain mill, where it is ground into a mix of the husks, pieces if barley, and flour. Together, this is called grist. From here, it's stored in the big hopper on the right and then fed into the mashtun, the round thing with the window. Here, hot water is added and the mixture is stirred (mashing). A sugary liquid called Wort is formed ready for fermentation. This liquid is transferred to the fermentation vessels. The remaining solids are trucked to nearby farms and used as feed for livestock. In the fermentation room, the wort is cooled and yeast is added. Fermentation will happen over the next few days. The sugars are converted to alcohol. At the end of this process, the liquid is called wash, and has an 8-9% alcohol concentration. These wooden vessels are about 60 feet tall and hold about 21,000 liters. From here, the wash moves to the distillation vessels. Here the wash is heated, allowing the alcohol to evaporate and condense. The first set of stills will get the spirit to about 25% The second set will further increase it to a little over 69% Here you can sorta make out the distillate being separated out. We couldn't take great pictures of this because it's SUPER flammable in that area. On the left side, the first distillate is coming out, the middle is where technicians can take measurements of the alcohol percentage. The right is the finished product that will be put into the barrels for aging. The final product is the high percentage, because some is lost during the aging process. This is known as the angels share. When it's done aging and bottled, the final percentage is 50-55% range that we see on the bottles. Barreling and bottling also happens off site now due to the sheer volume they make. (2,300,000 litres) Now the really fun part, the tasting...sorta. Since I was driving, I got to take my home for sampling later. Left to right IIRC The clear one is the new make spirit. This is what comes off the stills at 69.3% and is pure rocket fuel. I did try this because you cant take that with you. Then we have their 26y/o, then a few of their Feis Ile editions that coincide with the Islay Festival. Lastly all the way on the right, is what we got to bottle and take home. This is an 8 y/o straight from the cask. Here are my samples ready to go home. I may have drank the taste of the one we got to bottle....whoops First we filled out a logbook of our bottles. This was the cask that we filled from. All of my goodies ready to go home. The tasting glass was part of the package. Not pictured is a nice crystal Glencairn glass that I bought earlier. This was the beautiful room we had our tasting experience in. Outside, I got the required touristy photo... and one overlooking the sea. This was a great visit, and I am very glad I did it.

Once back in the car we headed off to our first stop, Laphroaig. A fun thing about this one is if you buy a bottle, you can join their program, and become an "owner" where you get a 1 sq ft of land. If you visit the distillery you are paid your rent, and you can go find your plot of land. I did get to have a taste here. They were serving their Cairdeas series. Their nice pouring area. I collected rent for myself and my father We then went and found my plot of land. We were quite disappointed to find that they did not build me a castle.....

The next morning, was all about me! We hopped in the car and headed to the ferry for the crossing to Islay. We can say this was "cruise #4" Our ride approaches. Ready to take on the cars The accommodations are pretty utilitarian, but they work. There is a cafe serving food, which was pretty good. Here is the menu and other offerings We found a decent lounge area to sit in for the ride, which was a little over 2hrs. Here we are pulling into Islay. Islay is to the left, Jura to the right.

We had successfully killed enough time so we headed to our Airbnb. Once there, we hopped over to the local pub, The Horseshoe Inn, for dinner. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, the place was hopping, probably because they are the only place. Thankfully the proprietor was amazing and squeezed us in. They have quite an interesting menu, with a wide variety of choices. Apparently, we only got a picture of my meal. TheBoss ended up with a Tagliatelle Bolognese, freeloaders a burger and macaroni and cheese, I had salmon, and a beer

After our lunch break, we haded further south. We ended up in Campbletown. We went here for one reason only. To visit this distillery. So the story behind this. The village that I live in is Scotia, NY. It was founded by Alexander Lindsay Glen who named the village Scotia after his beloved Scotland. The town was then later named Glenville after him. So this visit is kinda an homage so to speak. It certainly helps that the scotch is pretty good too. We are coming home with this. While there, the person running the shop mentioned that US distribution is now picking up, So I should soon be able to find more in the states. We walked around a bit after. Only a few shops were still open since everything closes at 4.... But the views were nice.

The next morning, we woke up and headed south. We were headed to a part of Scotland that was all for me. I do love scotch, so we were headed south so that we can catch a ferry to Islay to sample some of my favorites. On the way we passed through the town of Oban. This is a seaside city where there happens to also be the location were a good scotch is made. We had some lunch, and walked a bit Johnny spotted this massive cow, he remained in the store. The city is quite beautiful in itself. Of course we stopped here, Sadly I didn't do any tasting, as I was driving. The laws here are pretty strict, and there was no need to test the limits. We did leave with some merchandise though.

So back to the other day, Once we watched the train going over the bridge, it was our turn to ride the train. You can book tickets here. The train cars are older "restored" Mk1 and Mk11 cars. Be warned though, if it's hot, there is no AC, and due to updated safety requirements, windows don't open, so they can get quite stifling..... We booked first class fares. The "compartment" carriages that you saw in the movies were not available, as they are only on the morning trip, and we were the afternoon. Our ride. I know my job is pretty cool, but I think his might be cooler, despite the heat of the coal fire. That's a lot of coal to shovel.... These are what the first class seats look like. They are pretty comfortable for the ride. The journey is an out and back trip. The train leaves from the Ft William Station, travels to Mallaig, where you can get off the train and wander for a bit. It then returns to Ft William. When you book, they do their best to group families together. Do not worry about what side of the train you are sitting on. Your seats will be on the opposite side of the train on the return. You won't be in the same seats, you will physically move. Included in your fist class ticket is a coffee or tea, and a shortbread cookie for each direction. There are other snacks etc available for purchase on board. They take cards and cash. You also have the option of pre-booking an afternoon tea box, and other "enhancements." You can take food/drink on the train with you as well, which is what we did. Here is the on board menu. Soon enough we were off. One neat thing we go past is Neptunes Staircase. This is a series of 8 locks that allow access to the southern end of the Caledonia canal. It raises/lowers ships 62 feet in 90 minutes. It was constructed began in 1803, and was completed in 1822 We had a quick stop at the Glenfinnan station where you can get off and look around for about 15 minutes. There is a small train museum, cafe and other things to see. They have an old manual signal box where you can operate the levers. Once back on the train we headed towards the viaduct. The train does "slow a bit when going over. You can see how crowded the hillside gets. We also passed the filming site for Dumbledores grave as well as other dramatic scenery We arrived in Mallaig, and wandered around, got some coffee and other snacks. You can see Skye in the distance. For the return trip, the locomotive detaches, and moves to the rear/now front of the train and heads in reverse. All in all, it was a fun trip. The whole thing is a 6hr investment in time, so be sure you want to do it before booking.

Son of a………… Now you tell me

The next morning, we got up early. We had two goals. TheBoss really wanted to see the train cross the viaduct, and then in the afternoon we had tickets ourselves to ride the train. The visitor center opened at 9:30 so we aimed at getting there before then to make sure we had a place to park to watch the train. We got there at 9:15 (the train itself doesn't depart for another hour from Ft William) And the lot was already filling up! There are numerous crossings as the train ride is an out and back trip. The best times are the first two as the train heads out to Mallaig. As you can see we got there quite early this morning. Parking is VERY limited so if you do want to do this, very early is key. The walk to the view point is easy, and very obvious. You follow this walkway... Head over this bridge which crossed the river Finn... and you get your first look at the Viaduct. This is the longest stone viaduct in Scotland. you will keep following the river. Pass a few signs that tell you about the viaduct You pass this stump where you can hammer a coin into it...we didn't have any You will then cross under the viaduct. The path turns left and you go through this gate... It then it becomes up to you where to go. The hillside has been trampled a bit, and you will see why later, but you pick a spot to stand and wait. You can see that it had been raining. It's best to wear waterproof shoes, or hiking boots. Bring rain gear and bug spray too. We made our way up the hill to wait.....We got a decent spot under some trees to help block any new rain (we really didn't get any). Some of us were better at waiting than others..... But we had a nice view of the viaduct and then eventually........ Once the train goes by, everyone left. It's a lot of work for a very quick photo op, but still fun. The people on the train are waving and having a good time, and for the Potter fans, it really is cool to see. You will notice that the train is not the same as in the movie, and that's because that one is in the studio tour at London.

After lunch we were trying to figure out what to do. Our Airbnb wast going to be ready until 4. We had mused about doing the gondola ride up Ben Nevis, but we had a mini mutiny from the freeloaders stating something about being afraid of heights yadayadayada, so we ended up walking around Ft William a bit doing some window shopping. We called it an early night, and made a mini charcuterie board for dinner.

what, no slobbery had kisses from cows for you?