Torabhaig – A Small Distillery by the Sea in Sleat
A few hours.
The route
Torabhaig is a young distillery in a restored stone farm steading on the shore of Sleat, looking across the Sound of Sleat to the mainland hills, with the ruin of Knock Castle on the point below.
A guided tour goes round the stills and ends with a tasting of its single malt, and the café in the courtyard does scones, rolls and soup. It suits adults who like whisky, and it's a good one for a wet morning in the south of Skye.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Eilean Sionnach Lighthouse Cottage, 3 miles away. Sleeps 8.
Then Kinloch Lodge, 5 miles away.
Book a tour on Torabhaig Distillery's website or on 01471 833447 before you go: only over-18s take part in the tasting (bring photo ID), 13 to 17s may join the tour with an adult, nobody aged 12 or under can go, and from November to March the visitor centre opens only five days a week, so ring before a winter visit.
The day
Sleat
Coffee and a warm scone in the courtyard, a guided tour among the copper stills and washbacks, and a dram or two with the sea outside the window.
About two hours
Torabhaig Distillery
An attraction
Torabhaig is on the shore of the Sound of Sleat, signed off the A851 about four miles north of the Armadale ferry. Parking is free in the distillery's own car park. A signed path leads round the building, past a viewing platform over Knock Castle and the sea, to the courtyard gate. Book a tour on the distillery's website or on 01471 833447. Tours last from 45 minutes to two hours. Only over-18s take part in the tasting, and staff ask for ID from anyone who looks 25 or under, so bring a passport or driving licence. Teenagers of 13 to 17 may come on the tour with an adult, without the dram, and nobody aged 12 or under can go. Ask when you book whether the driver's dram can be taken away. The courtyard café takes its scones out of the oven at 10am and serves rolls all day, with soup and sandwiches from 11.30am on weekdays. It closes at 4pm on weekdays and 2.30pm at weekends; check before a weekend visit that it's open. The visitor centre opens every day from April to October and five days a week from November to March, so ring 01471 833447 before a winter visit. Dogs wait in the courtyard, with water on request; only assistance dogs go inside. Steps lead from reception to the shop, with a way round outside, and the production hall has a metal grid floor.
If it rains
All of it is under a roof but the courtyard and the short path from the car park.