Best Islay Distilleries to Visit

Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg sit within about three miles of each other along the coast road east of Port Ellen, with Port Ellen — reopened in 2024 after four decades silent — in the village itself. This is the densest concentration of heavily peated distilling anywhere, and it is walkable or cyclable between sites.

Laphroaig is the one to book if you want to see working floor maltings; it still malts a share of its own barley and cuts peat from its own beds.

Bruichladdich on the shore of Loch Indaal is the best single stop for understanding how varied Islay whisky can be, since the same site produces unpeated Bruichladdich, peated Port Charlotte and heavily peated Octomore. Further northwest, Kilchoman is a working farm distillery growing barley on site and malting it there — a genuinely different visit from the big coastal names.

Caol Ila has the most dramatic still house view on the island, straight across the Sound of Islay to the Paps of Jura. Bunnahabhain at the end of a long single-track road is the choice for anyone who wants Islay without peat, and Ardnahoe, opened in 2018, has the newest visitor centre of the three.

Bowmore is in the island's main village, which makes it the easiest to fit around other plans, and it is one of the oldest licensed distilleries in Scotland. Nearby, Laggan Bay at Glenegedale opened in April 2026 and is the island's newest working distillery; its own whisky is still maturing.

• Arriving by ferry at Port Ellen: stay on the Kildalton coast. Two of Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg, with lunch in between.
• Arriving at Port Askaig: Caol Ila and Ardnahoe are within a few minutes of the pier.
• Flying into Glenegedale: Bowmore and Bruichladdich are the shortest drives from the airport.

• Tour prices and booking links
• Islay whisky map