Intro
Since my flights and hotels are boring I will keep this brief. To get to Islay we booked round trip flights from Glasgow. From there, we decided to fly into London and out of Edinburgh. I got a great deal of 14k Virgin points and $141 per person for premium on the IAD-LHr nonstop. To return, I booked United for 30k mileage plus points and settled for an economy plus seat.

Apologies in advance for any misspellings of distilleries, but in the course of planning this trip I discovered there are two ways to spell whiskey/whisky. So with this fun fact shared let�s dive into the TR.

VS22
5:51PM-6:19AM (+5 hours)
6hr56min flight time
Seat 21C
A330-900neo
Security at Dulles was smooth, but the Capital One lounge was packed so I skipped it and paced around the A terminal.
At the gate I asked the gate agent if we could be assigned a bulkhead, which she obliged after a call to her supervisor and some slight controversy among the gate agent staff.
Exactly on time we boarded in a notably simple way that saw Premium be in the third tranche invited aboard.

Home for the next 7 hours.

Some welcome bubbles to warm my liver up for the next week.

1hr after takeoff dinner was served and I enjoyed the pork I preordered.

Better than a United meal!

I wasn�t able to take this as a souvenir but 10/10.

1hr15 min after takeoff dinner was cleared and I got some on-and-off sleep that saw me sleep through the breakfast meal. As we approached I used 20 minutes of free Wi-Fi to watch NHL highlights (and see my team lose) and was impressed with the speed.

We landed at a remote stand and the cabin crew ensured an orderly deplaning by only allowing upper class, then premium, then economy. I was blown away by how professional, enthusiastic, and service minded the VS crew were.

Immigration was smooth and I got a substitute for missing breakfast.

Decided to splurge on a Heathrow express that saved 25 minutes.

From there, did breakfast two from brick lane and a 3 mile walk.

Basic, but perks of being out before 8am.

Finally my daily Lucozade to hydrate before going for a run.

Last but not least lunch at Seven Dials which looked amazing but only tasted okay.


To be continued!

We had a smooth journey on Avanti up to Scotland where we checked into the Moxy and headed out for dinner.
Glasgow
Delicious pie and pint as jet lag delirium started to set in.

The next morning I unfortunately woke up at 5 am so I decided to do a morning stroll taking advantage of the early light.

morning hydration!

We ended up taking the metro to get coffee, I didn’t realized Glasgow had a meter until Google directed me to it,

Also had my first ever Greggs which was amazing.

After a fun morning and a good brunch at Scran we headed to Glasgow airport for our flight to Islay.
LM427
3:15PM-4:00PM
26 min flight time
Seat 11D
ATR42
We arrived right at the gate as boarding commenced.

A very comfortable seat, especially given it was only a 25min flight.

More legroom than economy plus on United!

Even though the flight was quick there was a drink and snack service.

And before we knew it Islay was in sight.

A nice view of the ATR that took us over.

After a quick drive to where we were staying it was time to soak in the beauty of Islay…

… and all out has to offer!

A nice roast dinner!

Bowmore at 9pm as we headed back to where we are staying.


To be continued!

Nice trip, hope you enjoy it.

That pie certainly
looked good, reading backwards, I’m assuming that was at The Citizen?

Yes it was, Glasgow was a lot nicer than when I went 8 years ago on a student budget!

I need to do a weekend in Glasgow, I�ve not been there for thirty years beyond falling sick at the airport!

Can't beat the price of a Greggs bacon roll and a coffee in the mornings!

Islay Day 1
We started with our most booked out day with two cask tastings, one at Bunnahabhain and one at Bruichladdich. First our views at Bunnahabhain.

And our tasting where we had 4 (generous) pours of cask strength over 100 proof spirit. Bunnahbhain is my go-to scotch but I must confess I wasn�t able to accurately judge as by the end.

After our tasting, we had a scrappy sandwich lunch as we went to tasting number two. As the planner I probably should�ve made sure we had a real lunch to absorb all the whisky. As you might guess my photography skills weren�t on point.


And back to drinking. We had a sensational 14 year old octomore among a few others.

From there we went to The Machrie for a pre dinner walk.

Sensational scenery.

Now our first real meal of the day.

Tasty scallops.

Good duck to follow our seafood.

Finally a delicious dessert.

And an evening walk before heading back to the cottage we were staying at.

Islay Day 2
Started with a run and some breakfast at our cottage to prepare for another day of drinking.

Our first stop was Kilchoman.

Where we were given a dram necklace!

and taken to the malt floors for our breakfast dram.

While on the tour we were able to try the wort which was a fun experience.

Then to our seated tasting of four drams that thankfully were actually measured out.

We had a delicious lunch at the attached cafe.

From Kilchoman, we headed to Caol Ila.

We enjoyed a welcome dram

and a nice charcuterie plate.

We just had a drink and a snack at the bar which had gorgeous views.

From there we headed into Bowmore and hydrated.

With a stop at the Peatzeria for Dinner.

Good Pizza.

And a nice sunset stroll.


From there we went back to our cottage where we headed up to a viewpoint.

After a Bourbon trip report and Whisky trip report, any volunteer for a Rum or Tequila trip report?

Sounds like you are volunteering!

Islay Day 3
We started our first day on the island with a familiar routine: breakfast then whisky!

We did a tasting and tour at Lagavulin, which started out with a taste of their 26 year old 2021 release, which retails for almost $2,000.

While a more corporate distillery, it still had some charm.

From there, we walked to Ardbeg for lunch which was sensational.

I highly recommend the steak sandwhich!

Ardbeg is a great spot and one of the few that has a cafe, so definitely plan to go there for lunch one day if you visit Islay.

From there we walked back towards Laphroig as a pit stop before heading to Port Ellen for Dinner. Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Laphroig, and Port Ellen are connected by a nice 3 mile long paved trail.

Our last welcome dram of the trip.

The next distillery coming to Islay under construction.

And a simple fish and chips in Port Ellen.

A beautiful evening in Port Ellen.

One last sunset walk as we bid adieu to the local sheep.


To be continued with a few days in Edinburgh!

Paging VorelNaCestach

Islay Day 1 / Edinburgh Day 1

Our taxi to the airport recommended we arrive one hour before departure and we ended up being among the first there. While our flight to Islay was full, this one was probably only 1/3 full.

LM 422
9:05AM-9:39AM
25 min flight time
Seat 7A
ATR42

Unfortunately there was a bit of cloud over so we couldn't fully enjoy the views.

As on the way out, we got a snack and water.

Before we knew it we had a smooth touchdown and were off the plane in Glasgow.


We had a brief wait for our bags and then took an Uber to our hotel in Edinburgh, the Four Points by Sheraton. While the hotel does not have a gym on property, we were able to go for free to the Sheratons large gym and spa about a 15 minute walk away. The room was exactly what we would�ve expected. Small, but clean and comfortable.

We walked over to get our first view of the castle.

After some exploring of the city we explored the local pubs.

And then a mash for lunch.

After spending some time relaxing, we headed out to get a table at Dishoom. Most of our party had never been but everyone enjoyed our feast.

That was unfortunately the only picture I took because we were so busy devouring the food. From there, we headed out to another pub for a cask ale before retiring for the night.

To be continued!

Edinburgh Day 2
Started our day with a hike around Arthur�s Seat.

From there we had an incredible lunch pork sandwhich from Oink. The picture isn�t the best but once I took a bite I didn�t want to pause eating it!

After spending some time shopping we had a steak dinner at Kyloe.

The delicious main event,

And some dessert to end the feast.


Edinburgh Day 3
We started at the Edinburgh Larder for a breakfast that was as good as I remembered from my last trip.

Wegot tickets to the Hibernian match so headed towards Easter Road for a pre-march pint.

and some curry chips to go with the football.

The atmosphere was noticeably different than a match in England, but it was still fun.

Post match pint at a pub we walked to in Stockbridge.

Every restaurant in Stockbridge was packed so we had our last dinner at the pub.

and then a nice walk catching the last of the sunset. I love Edinburgh in May!

and for the last time, some hydration!


To be continued with a surprisingly good United experience.