From Mull to Ardnamurchan, again
TL; DR: Edo’s annual July visit took us (plus Valentina, this time) back to the Isle of Mull and Ardnamurchan. Highlights: giant oysters in Oban, a stellar Warehouse 1 tasting at Tobermory, puffins on Staffa, the Ardnamurchan lighthouse, Sanna Beach and an excellent dram session at Ardnamurchan distillery. Stunning places that balance whisky and everything else perfectly. Bottles bought: Tobermory 0, Ardnamurchan 4.
Over the last few years, we’ve started a new tradition: Gianluigi’s brother, Edoardo (Edo), who is a teacher, visits us every July during the Italian summer school holidays. Since he has already been to Edinburgh many times, we use these visits to take Mr. Vantastic somewhere new in Scotland, ideally somewhere with distilleries, as he’s also a whisky enthusiast. In 2024 we went to Islay and Jura, for a five-distillery trip, and a cheeky Cadenhead’s Warehouse tasting in Campbeltown. That was hard to beat, but in 2025 we also had a great time in the northern Highlands, visiting “only” four distilleries, with a cheeky stop at Tomatin on the way back for a tasting flight. This year, Edo’s long-term partner, Valentina, came along too, so we decided to plan a less whisky-heavy trip. One place we loved and were keen to return to was the Isle of Mull. We first visited in summer 2019, spending a couple of nights there. Since then we’d only been back once, on a very wet trip in February 2023, when we crossed on the Kilchoan ferry as foot passengers and spent the day in Tobermory. So going back to Mull looked like a win-win (spoiler: it was!).
When the day came, we picked Edo and Valentina up just outside Edinburgh Airport (to avoid the extortionate £8.50 fee for entering the drop-off zone, even for a couple of minutes) and headed for the west coast. We drove past Falkirk and Stirling, with landmarks like the Kelpies and Stirling Castle, and up to Callander, where we stopped for a quick coffee. Our destination was Oban, and our mission was to get there in time for some seafood at the Oban Seafood Hut. Despite an incompetent driver* in a rented campervan crawling along at “granny speed” (probably not a fair comparison: Gianluigi and Edo’s grandma drove way faster than this guy well into her 80s), we made it, and it paid off. The mussels were out of this world, and the oysters were the biggest, and among the best, we’ve ever had! (*Full disclaimer: nothing against slow drivers, but if you’re driving at half the speed limit, show some consideration and let people overtake instead of building a 15+ vehicle queue behind you!) After the snack, we settled in for the evening, them in a B&B and us in a paid car park near the pier. We then had a very nice dinner at Cuan Mor, followed by a very overpriced dram at a tourist-trap pub called the McGregor Whisky Vault (avoid, avoid, avoid: it’s always a bad sign when you ask for the whisky list and the bartender replies, “I am the whisky list”).
Well worth the long drive!
The next day, we took a mid-morning ferry to Mull. Our first stop was Craignure, for a nice, easy coastal walk gifting us a very scenic view of Duart Castle across the bay. After a quick lunch at the Fishnish Food Bar, we took a panoramic route south of Loch Frisa and checked in at Tobermory Campsite.
A cloudy day, but still a great view.
Once settled, we walked into Tobermory, about 30 minutes away (downhill), for our Warehouse 1 tasting at Tobermory Distillery.
It was our second time at this tasting. The first came after a distillery tour in 2023, when Warehouse 1 was being renovated, so we had our drams in the shop. This time we went into the warehouse, which seems to have been set up specifically for the tasting (the original was sold years ago and is now an apartment building). Our guide was Olivier, from Switzerland, who began in the courtyard with a general explanation of how whisky is made. He was very knowledgeable, though at times he tried a bit too hard to be funny, and he ran over time, so we had to dash off to make our dinner reservation. The “warehouse” is small but very cosy, and although attendance was larger than we expected (about a dozen people), we could all sit comfortably on chairs and stools. As last time, there were two Tobermory and two Ledaig single malts, the distillery’s unpeated and peated whiskies, respectively. The first dram was a 20yr Tobermory fully matured in a Manzanilla sherry cask (55.3% ABV), probably the favourite for all of us!
A stunning dram.
The second was also sherried, but this time a finish: a 32yr (!) “double matured” dram, 13 years in a refill bourbon cask followed by 19 years in an Oloroso sherry cask (we know there’s no strict definition, but 19 years seems a bit much for a “finish”), also 55.3%. The first peated malt was a 19yr Ledaig, again double matured, seven years in an ex-bourbon cask and then 12 years in a Pedro Ximénez sherry cask (55.6%). The final dram was an 28yr Ledaig fully matured in a refill Oloroso cask (52%). It was a cracking lineup, and they really stepped it up age-wise compared with our 2023 tasting. However, none of the bottles were anywhere near affordable: the cheapest, the third dram, was £185 for 70cl. Ouch!
This dram has legs!
Dinner was at Cafe Fish, a tasty seafood restaurant at the other end of the pier. Afterwards, we went to MacGochan’s for a pint (and, once again, an overpriced round of drams) and a game of darts that lasted waaaay too long: nobody could hit the double one to finish it! By the time we were done, it had started “pishin’ doon”, so we got a cab back to the campsite for just a tenner!
The following day we visited Iona, and from there took a boat to Staffa (£45pp), where we saw the magical Fingal’s Cave with its “hexagon” rocks and, more importantly, the puffins! They came really close to us, and the whole trip was very exciting. Our last full day on Mull (a Sunday) was spent exploring the north-west of the island. We tried to get to Ulva, but there’s no ferry on Sundays, so we kept going and had a nice lunch at Calgary Bay Co., a lovely café within walking distance of a gorgeous beach.
The cutest.
On Monday it was time to head back to the mainland. We took the early Tobermory–Kilchoan ferry again, as we had a great plan for the Ardnamurchan peninsula. First, we visited the lighthouse, and it was third time lucky: the visitor centre and café were open! Even without them, it’s such a magical place and definitely high on our list of favourites. Next, we finally got to check out Sanna Beach, where we took a long walk through the coastal dunes.
Ardnamurchan lighthouse, a special place.
Sanna beach, another special place.
After a stop at the community café in Kilchoan, we completed the treble with a visit to Ardnamurchan distillery. We hadn’t booked a specific experience, having already done both the standard and the geeky tours (in 2019 and 2023, respectively), and Edo was keener on a tasting than a tour anyway. We were welcomed by Roksana, Beth (and her lovely puppy!) and Marie-Soleil, who gave us a table and helped us put together a lineup. As Gianluigi is a member of the AD/Venturers club, we got a welcome dram, which turned out to be one of the best of the day: the previous bottle-your-own, a 6yr made with Golden Promise barley and matured in an Oloroso cask (55.7%, 2019 vintage). Great stuff, but sold out (d’oh)!
A tasty dram.
Next came the 2025 Heritage Barley (NAS, 55%) and the 2026 Tokaji Cask (NAS, 52%). Then we tried the Open Day Exclusive (10yr, finished in a Mizunara oak cask, 55.4%), probably the weakest of the lineup, with too much wood shavings on both nose and palate for our taste. It was followed by the 2026 Midgie release (NAS, 48%) and a single-cask shop and distillery exclusive (10yr, peated, matured in a Spanish oak Oloroso cask, 58.8%), which was also delicious! We finished with the latest Cask Strength edition (58.4%, quite peaty) and the then-current fill-your-own, a peated 6yr matured in an ex-Islay quarter cask (58.9%), nice but very funky. We had a great time, and the staff were lovely. Just as importantly, prices are very fair: the most expensive Ardnamurchan dram was only £5, and the Adelphi range is also very reasonably priced by the dram (though we didn’t touch it this time). Needless to say, we drove off with a case (not completely full, to be fair).
Happy brothers.
The last leg of the trip was also very scenic. Instead of taking the Corran Ferry (the quickest way south), we drove north and then east to see the Glenfinnan Viaduct. The famous train came through just minutes after we arrived. We were very lucky, and Edo and Valentina were both thrilled to see it! They had booked a room at the Laggan Hotel, where we all had a tasty dinner before the two of us drove off to a nearby spot to park up for the night. The next day, we took our time driving back to Edinburgh, stopping for a wander and lunch in Dunkeld, a lovely (if slightly touristy) wee town on the River Tay, and a short hike around the Queen’s View near Pitlochry.
Just in time!
Whoa…this was a long post, so let’s wrap up. First and foremost, the Isle of Mull and the Ardnamurchan peninsula are fantastic places to visit, and they amazed us all over again. Just as importantly, it was very easy to balance whisky with other activities. Whisky-wise, we were very pleasantly surprised by the age of the whiskies at Tobermory, a (delicious) step up from before. However, it always leaves us a little uneasy to see how much they charge for these bottles, as if they’re trying to squeeze as much money as possible out of visitors. Fortunately, not everyone takes this approach, as we saw at Ardnamurchan a few days later. And at the end of the day, our purchases speak for themselves: 0 vs. 4.
Next week we’ll take a break, but stay tuned for some European action in the coming weeks. Until then, slàinte!
Links
https://tobermorydistillery.com/
https://ardnamurchandistillery.com/
