The Isle of Islay in the Southern Hebrides, Scotland, only has 3000 permanent residents but is home to a wealth of wildlife, eight whisky distilleries, a world-class woollen mill and dramatic landscapes. Based just off Scotland's west coast, Islay is surprising accessible with daily flights from Glasgow. Alternatively, there is a bus ride through the highlands, from Glasgow to Kennacraig, offering the perfect experience of Scotland's scenery.
Once at Kennacraig travellers can then catch a ferry to Islay. Historically, the island has been recognised for its creativity. Gordon Covell, who runs the Islay Woollen Mill, uses two Victorian looms to design and produce some of the world's finest woven fabrics.
Many of the fabrics Gordon has created end up on high-fashion runways and the sets of Hollywood blockbusters including Forest Gump, Braveheart and the Spiderwick Chronicles. Creativity on the island also comes from its literary history. George Orwell based himself in a cottage, a five minute ferry ride away on the Isle of Jura, to write his famous novel '1984'.
Islay is particularly famous for peated whisky — a smokey whisky created by drying malted barley over a peat-heated fire. Eight distilleries are currently located on Islay, most of which offer both tours and tastings of the whisky. One distillery, Bruichladdich, has stepped slightly away from Islay tradition by creating the island's only unpeated single malt and the most heavily peated whisky on the planet.
Bruichladdi.