Day 18 - Isle of Skye

Yahoo Weather said there was only 30% chance of rain and that the day should be sunny with some clouds. Mother Nature disagreed. The hike we were suppose to start our day with was not going to happen in this weather, so we changed plans and started with an “indoor activity”…visiting the Talisker Distillery. 

Talisker is the only distillery on the island and it makes its whiskey exclusively from the natural spring onsite from its peaty waters. In 2012, Skye had a record 6 weeks without rain along with very warm weather. The spring dried up and so did their production of whiskey. They only make medium peated whiskeys and the only part of the whiskey making process they do onsite is the distilling. Everything else is done on the mainland, including malting, casking, aging, bottling, etc. (that was a disappointment). We were told not to take any photos during the tour because "the batteries in electronic devices like our phones and cameras were dangerous to the equipment and could cause an explosion:. Apparently, the guide’s battery powered microphone did not count. So lame, why don’t they just say, “No photos please.” They distill 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. They used to have 40 staff running the process, but with automation it is down to 9. The barrels are also held on the mainland in warehouses. There was one warehouse onsite that we could only view through a glass window. I’m glad Matt was able to see the difference between a small-scale family run business that allowed complete interaction with the process like at Edradour versus one like Talisker


We sampled their whiskey called “Storm.” It is named that because very high winds are common on the exposed coasts of the northern peninsula of Skye that can lash the village of Talisker for days. It was an extremely small pour, basically a thimble full. We were instructed to take a small sip and then add 3 drops of water for the next sip. By my sipping standards, the pour was not worthy of a single sip let alone two. Storm was a medium peated whiskey. It was fine, but nothing to rave about. The peat after taste lingered for far too long for my liking. Then suddenly the tasting was over. One taste, from their cheapest whiskey in which they cannot even claim an age date because it is a blend from different aged casts. Only the master blender knows what went into the bottle. Then we were shuttled out into the gift shop. There was no sample bar where you could pay to try another whiskey before you bought it. We saw one couple with a sample platter of 3 tiny thimbles of whiskey, but there was no information on it. Overall, Talisker was a disappointment. However, it did keep us out of the rain and was an activity.

The rain had finally stopped and we headed towards the Cullin Mountains to hike the Fairy Pools at the base of the Cullins mountain range. The Cullins are striking. There are black, razor sharp mountains, cutting into the Sky. Hiking along the Fairy Pools was beautiful, but it was easy to tell that in good weather this valley and mountain range would be absolutely stunning. Due to the dark clouds and ebbing mists, we had to imagine what this place would be like lit up by the sun. For the most part, this is what we’ve done for the last 2 weeks all day long. At least we did not get rained on while on our hike along the river. The ground, however, was completely saturated. I’ve never hiked on a path that felt like a sponge. The Fairy Pools are along the River Brittle that flows from the Cullins.

After leaving the Fairy Pools, we made our way to Dunvegan Castle. There was another hike we had considered doing at GlenBrittle at the end of the peninsula, but the skies were threatening rain. On the drive to Dunvegan, there were brief pockets of quasi sunshine and the peninsulas would come to life. Its lambing season and the hillsides were covered with newborns. There were also many old crofts that began dotting the hillsides as we made our way along the peninsula.

As we pulled into the castle parking lot, it began coming down in buckets. It was too much rain for even our rain gear to handle. There was no point meandering through the gardens in this weather. We waited in the car for 20 minutes until it let up enough to make our way into the café for some hot soup. By 4:00 the rain had stopped. The admission ticket was much more than we had anticipated and there was a short discussion if we should skip it completely. There was another American family of 4 having the same discussion. They chose to skip it after traveling all the way there.

The admission to Dunvegan Castle should be thought of as a donation to preserve one of the few remaining artifacts of Scotland’s nearly extinct clan system. The castle is the actual residence of the MacLeod Clan and the current Chief is Hugh MacLeod. He’s the 30^th and his family tree shown on the castle wall goes back to the 1200s. Hugh is a documentary director in London and spends half his time in London and the other half at Dunvegan running the Castle business. There is no portrait of Hugh in the castle, so when he comes home, he blends in amongst the visitors and eavesdrops on their comments. The first 2 floors allow visitor access. The family lives on the 3^rd and 4^th floors. The entrance fee is used to help preserve the castle and the extensive gardens. When repairs need to be done (like a new roof), very specialized restoration crews need to be brought in and it is extremely expensive. So a few years ago, Hugh opened his home to visitors to help offset the costs. It was either that or sell some property which sent the Scots into an uproar. The castle is basically a museum of family artifacts and antiques dating back to the 1300s. It’s all rather interesting and fits together nicely as opposed to the exhibit at Eilean Dunan Castle. The docents were all very knowledgeable and were in a tizzy of excitement because Chief Hugh would be arriving the next day. I was told he has a kiss on each cheek for the ladies on staff. The castle gardens were very extensive, probably one of the largest estate gardens I’ve visited. The blooming season is late this year so the flowers were just starting to give a hint of color. It was nice to have a break from the rain while we walked the grounds.

Fun Fact: One of the Dunvegan Docents asked what we had done earlier in the day. When we told her we had been to the Cullins, she asked if we knew Danny Macaskill. He is the mountain biker that did the extreme ride along the Cullins’ ridge line. He is from Dunvegan village and she told us about him being a younger lad and riding his bike along the railing of the police station. Here’s the link to his bike ride:


www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ_IQS3VKjA


By now it was 6:00 so we made our way around the peninsula arriving in Portree around 7:30, just In time to start competing with tourists for the few open tables at the small selection of town restaurants. It would be our second dinner at The Café.