📌 Port Ellen, Isle of Islay
★★★★
Lagavulin is the middle of the three distilleries strung along the coast road east from Port Ellen. 2016 saw the distillery celebrate its 200th anniversary since being founded in 1816. Like the other two south coast distilleries, Lagavulin’s whitewashed buildings occupy a picturesque coastal location overlooking one of the Sound of Jura’s many little inlets (it’s well seen from Dunyvaig Castle on the adjacent headland), producing heavily peated whisky as is usual for southern Islay. The distillery seems to emphasise the no-rush, relaxed element of whisky production, and its signature malt is a fairly expensive 16-year old. We ironically found tour 2016 tour a bit hurried and robotic (though only by Islay’s very high standards, and still detailed), with no photography allowed in production areas. Conversely, we received an exceptionally warm welcome in January 2017 when we popped in for a look around the visitor centre: the drams wouldn’t stop coming.
🌍 Location
📌 By the A846 2 mi east of Port Ellen, Isle of Islay
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NR 404457
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 55.635503,-6.126260
🚌 Bus stops at distillery
🚗 Car park
📝 Key info
⌚ Daily, March to October; Monday to Saturday, November to February
🎫 £22+ depending on tour type, £11 child
