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Argyll and Bute

Bunnahabhain Distillery

Islay's unpeated exception, at the end of a long road on the Sound of Islay, looking across to the Paps of Jura.

Welcome

Bunnahabhain stands at the end of a long, winding single-track road on the north-east shore of Islay, beside the Sound of Islay, looking straight across the water to the Paps of Jura.

Visited and photographed by Simon Hird

Built in 1881, it could be reached only by sea until a road came in 1960, and it still feels like a place apart: a little settlement of white warehouses and cottages round a bay, with a pier running out into the sound.

It is also Islay's great exception. Where most of the island's distilleries make smoky, peated whisky, Bunnahabhain's core range is unpeated, natural in colour and not chill-filtered, made with spring water piped in from the Margadale River and run through the tallest stills on Islay, whose long necks give a lighter, more delicate spirit. It makes peated spirit too. The tasting room looks out over the sound, and tastings, among them one straight from the cask in Warehouse 9, can be booked. The distillery opens every day from 10am to 5pm.

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The Daily for 30 October, from Scotland with love. Aerial view of a teal-coloured lochan cupped in a forested hollow, a scree slope rising on one side and autumn-tinged pines ringing the shore.
Before you go

Bunnahabhain opens every day from 10am to 5pm.

Tastings, including the Warehouse 9 tasting, are for groups of up to 12 and are booked in advance. The distillery is at the end of a single-track road north of Port Askaig.

Hours
Daily 10:00 to 17:00.
Tastings
Booked in advance; up to 12 people.
Where
Bunnahabhain, north of Port Askaig, Islay.

Opening hours

Monday
10am–5pm
Tuesday
10am–5pm
Wednesday
10am–5pm
Thursday
10am–5pm
Friday
10am–5pm
Saturday
10am–5pm
Sunday
10am–5pm

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Did you know

Red mooring bollards line a stone pier before distant mountains.
Did you know

By sea until 1960.

When the distillery was built in 1881 there was no road; one was built to it only in 1960.

A metal storage tank with a ladder rises beside distillery buildings.
Did you know

The tallest stills on Islay.

Its stills are the tallest on the island, with unusually long swan necks that give a lighter, more delicate spirit.

A wooden pergola frames a terrace view of the sea and distant mountains.
Did you know

Spring water from Margadale.

The water is piped in from a spring on the Margadale River, which flows close by.

A painted roundel and lettering spell out "Bunnahabhain Distillery" on a gable wall.
Did you know

Unpeated on a peaty island.

The core range is unpeated, natural in colour and not chill-filtered, though the distillery makes peated spirit as well.

A plaque reading "No.5, Duty Free Warehouse, Door 1" is fixed above a wooden door.
Did you know

Warehouse 9.

One of the tastings is held in Warehouse 9, pouring whisky straight from the cask.

A shingle beach curves beneath a hill, a signpost marking the shore.
Did you know

Highland Distilleries, 1887.

Six years after it opened, the distillery was taken over by the Highland Distilleries Company.

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Where it is

Bunnahabhain, north of Port Askaig, Islay.

Close byOn Islay.
  1. Port AskaigPort AskaigIslay's northern ferry port, a tiny white village on the Sound of Islay, half a mile across the water from Jura.4 miles 15 min by road
  2. The long bar at the Ballygrant Inn, stools along the counter and shelves of whisky behind.Ballygrant InnA family-run inn near Port Askaig with rooms, home cooking and an award-winning whisky bar.6 miles 17 min by road
  3. Two crumbling stone gables of a ruined castle rise beside a lochFinlaggan Castle6 miles 19 min by road
  4. FinlagganFinlagganThe loch where the MacDonald Lords of the Isles ruled the western seaboard, with a walkway to their island and its chapel.6 miles 20 min by road
  5. Peatzeria's whitewashed building on Shore Street, Bowmore, with its belfry and pointed windows.PeatzeriaAn Italian restaurant and takeaway on the seafront in Bowmore, with pizzas topped with Islay crab and scallops.13 miles 28 min by road
  6. Carraig Fhada lighthouse on its rocky point under a dark sky.Carraig Fhada LighthouseA square white lighthouse of 1832 at Kilnaughton Bay, built by the Laird of Islay in memory of his wife.23 miles 50 min by road
Directions
Camus an Staca standing alone on the moor above the Sound of Jura.AttractionsCamus an Staca9.9 miles
Shelves of Jura whisky bottles in the distillery shop.AttractionsIsle of Jura Distillery13 miles
ToursJura Guided13 miles
The Jura Hotel's restaurant with its tables laid under a painted ceiling.RestaurantsThe Jura Hotel Restaurant13 miles
Tables and chairs in the wood-panelled room at the Antlers in Craighouse.ShoppingThe Antlers13 miles
The Jura Community Shop, a timber building with a red telephone box beside it in Craighouse.ShoppingJura Community Shop13 miles
Rows of Deer Island rum bottles with turquoise caps.AttractionsDeer Island Distillery13 miles
Tartan and tweed pieces made at Camella Crafts, folded on a table.ShoppingCamella Crafts13 miles
The dark timber Whisky Island Gallery and Studio at the Pier Garage, Craighouse.ShoppingThe Whisky Island Gallery and Studio13 miles

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