Dower Bay: Atlantic

Explorer Tom Ardbeg’s history has more stops and starts than a ferry queue in bad weather, yet here it is on Islay making fiercely smoky whisky again. The white buildings may look calm from outside; inside, a century of arguments about jobs, ownership and survival has been distilled alongside the barley. If the peat smoke could talk, it would probably claim it saved the place single-handedly. John Macdougall took out a licence in 1815, making Ardbeg a commercial distillery. His son Alexander stayed on after a Glasgow merchant bought it in 1838. When Alexander died in 1853, his sisters Margaret and Flora helped run the works with Colin Hay. Remember their names: the distillery’s own history says the sisters may have been among Scotland’s first female distillers. By 1887, Alfred Barnard recorded an annual output of roughly 1.1 million litres, a remarkable amount for this stretch of coast. Then came the difficult years. Production stopped in 1981 and 18 jobs were lost. Distilling resumed on a small scale later in the decade, stopped again in 1991, and finally returned to full-time work after the Glenmorangie Company bought Ardbeg in 1997. I would be tempted to call that a resurrection, though someone had to clean and run the stills rather than merely roll away a stone. Today you can visit the centre, join a booked tour or tasting, and eat at the Old Kiln Café. The centre has accessible entry, but parts of the old distillery tour are harder to negotiate; ask the team about your route before booking. Opening days change with the season. Come for the famous smoke if you like, but leave room for the story of the people who kept getting this stubborn old place working again.

Explorer Tom Lagavulin has been making smoky whisky on Islay’s south coast since 1816, and I suspect the sea breeze knows exactly what the stills are up to. I arrived pretending I could name every aroma and was humbled by the peat before I reached the door. This is a working place with a very confident character. John Johnston founded the distillery about two miles from Port Ellen, beside Lagavulin Bay and not far from the ruins of Dunyveg Castle. The old fortress watched the coast long before anyone thought to invite visitors for a tasting. Inside the distillery, pear-shaped stills are part of the process behind the strongly peated spirit. The maritime air is part of the story too, though I would ask the guide what the whisky tastes like before making up poetry about the weather. A guided visit shows how the spirit is made and how time in the cask changes it. The shop and Malt Mill Bar can be visited without booking a full production tour, subject to availability. That is handy if the tour is full, or if your curiosity runs shorter than the whisky’s years in wood. The path and cycle route from Port Ellen also make the approach a proper bit of Islay, not just a drive to a doorway. Tours are paid and advance booking is strongly advised. Children under eight cannot join the production tours. The classic route has steep, narrow stairs and is unsuitable for visitors with restricted mobility, though tasting and warehouse visits can be adapted if arranged ahead. Check opening and weather, especially in winter, then let Lagavulin do the talking before you claim to understand every note.