West Coast Whisky Trail

The Whisky Coast

The Whisky Coast Journey

Robin Laing has undisputed claim to the title of Scotland's 'Whisky Bard' and is described as such in a profile of him in issue 30 of WHISKY Magazine.

Robin chairs the tasting panel of the Scottish Malt Whisky Society and writes many of their almost poetic tasting descriptions. He also contributes regularly to Whisky Magazine and has published The Whisky Muse (Luath Press), which is a collection of poems and songs on the subject of Scotch Whisky. He has also recently published The Whisky River (also Luath Press) about the distilleries of Speyside.

Robin has recorded two previous whisky albums for Greentrax: The Angels’ Share and The Water Of Life. His album - One For The Road - is the third in the series.

Robin performs his Whisky And Song shows all over the world, proving to be an ambassador for Scotland in the most enjoyable way imaginable.

The Whisky Coast commissioned Robin to take a tour along our hallowed shores and here he presents the first part of his tour. There are seven parts in total so be sure to visit www.whiskycoast.co.uk for part two on the 1st August. You will find Robin’s journey to be a wonderful source of inspiration for your own journey to the Whisky Coast.

‘Afore ye go’ – the anticipation of the journey.

It’s Wednesday morning, 5am (distant echoes of Paul Simon). I’ve been awake for a while and can’t sleep. I have this journey ahead of me and my sub-consciousness is too excited. Journeys hold the prospect of change – a shaking up of normal routine existence – and the human animal is attracted to change and afraid of it in equal measures; the static versus the dynamic. Today I’m going dynamic; I’m going to travel Scotland’s whisky coast.

Apparently (I heard it on the radio) there is something in the human brain which either predisposes us to travel or not. Those of us with less of it prefer to stay at home and those blessed with more of it are restless. I think I have it. I’m not an outright vagabond like my fellow Edinburgh scribbler, Robert Louis Stevenson, but I do have something of the ‘hungry heart’ of Tennyson’s aging Ulysses. That restlessness and the urge to travel are disturbing my sleep with images of twinkling harbours, misty islands and moonlit mountains. It is time to hit the trail.

On the road; the Isle of Arran

The weather was wild approaching Ardrossan. The radio had been giving out gloomy weather and travel reports and driving down into the town from the north end, the sea was agitated, grey and menacing. The Calmac ferry was just approaching the harbour and struggling to make that sharp turn into the safety of the sea wall. My feeling of excitement was growing – would the ferry run at all? Would the crossing be rough? We were ushered on board and as I left the car to go up to the passenger decks I could feel the vessel rock on its moorings. In the event, the crossing was not so spectacular as I had feared, though it turned out to be the only crossing for more than twenty four hours as the storm kept the ferry tied up in the shelter of Brodick Bay.

A rain-soaked sprint from the harbour car park took me to the Brodick Tourist Information Office. After that, I decided to head west, along the String Road. This road, surveyed by Thomas Telford in 1817, is one of two that dissect the island, east to west. The autumn light meant the landscape was a similar colour to the red deer I could see on the hillsides. I stopped at Balmichael where there is an interesting collection of visitor attractions, including a café, an adventure playground and numerous craft shops. Most of these were still opened, though the season was late.

 

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