The smell arrives before dry land does. A scent of peat smoke drifts over Port Ellen Bay as soon as the wind turns, and whisky lovers aboard exchange a knowing smile: this is Islay, the world capital of peated whisky. This island in the southern Inner Hebrides has about a dozen working distilleries for barely more than 3,000 residents, and three of the most legendary stand one after another along a single coastal road, within walking distance of the landing point. Ships anchor in the bay and ferry passengers ashore by tender to the village.

Port Ellen, Plain and White

Founded in the 1820s and named for the wife of the laird of the time, Port Ellen lines its whitewashed houses around a sandy bay. The village can be explored in a few minutes: a main street, a shop, a few cafés, fishermen unloading pots and nets. It's more a starting point than a destination, and everyone here knows it. The low houses, lined up facing the water, keep the plain, no-frills look of Victorian-era working towns. Passengers in a hurry will find taxis and shuttles near the pier; walkers head east.

The Trail of the Three Distilleries

A paved path reserved for walkers and cyclists follows the coast for five and a half kilometres, passing in turn three names that connoisseurs pronounce with real reverence: Laphroaig, Lagavulin, and Ardbeg. Each displays its name in large black letters on brilliant white walls facing the sea. Guided tours explain malting, the role of peat, and cask ageing, before a tasting in rooms that smell pleasantly of oak and iodine; it's best to book ahead in summer, since spots fill up fast. The table below helps plan the walk from the landing point.

Between Drams

The walk itself is worth the effort. The path passes rocky coves where seals doze, lichen-covered ruins, and moorland grazed by sheep. The warehouses passed along the way, holding thousands of casks facing the sea spray, explain on their own the maritime character of the whiskies made here. At Lagavulin, a short trail leads to the remains of Dunyvaig Castle, a former stronghold of the Lords of the Isles perched on its headland, which once guarded the entrance to the bay. Those who prefer nature to whisky can instead follow the long beach at Kilnaughton, on the opposite side of the bay, all the way to the square Carraig Fhada lighthouse, one of the few of its kind in Scotland.

A Little Further, If Time Allows

With an organized excursion or a taxi, the range widens. The Kildalton Cross, at the end of the coastal road beyond Ardbeg, is considered the finest intact Celtic cross in Scotland, carved around the year 800 from a single slab of stone. Other routes head to Bowmore, a village laid out on a geometric plan and dominated by its round church, built that way, legend has it, so the devil would have no corner to hide in.

The Drink for the Road

Heading back to the ship, many passengers hold a canvas bag close, carrying a carefully chosen bottle inside. Others simply bring back the memory of a dram sipped facing the sea, where malted barley has dried over peat fires for two centuries. Islay has this particular quality: its landscape can be tasted as much as it can be seen, and the scent of smoke that lingers on the tender ride back stretches the stop out long after the anchor is raised.