If you’re a Scotch whisky lover, you’ve heard about Islay (pronounced ‘eye-luh’) and Jura, and maybe you’ve been fortunate enough to visit there (I haven’t, but that trip’s on my bucket list). Here’s a YouTube video from the Global Cycling Network of two cyclists seeing those islands up close and personal, gravel roads, mud, shaggy Highland cows, and all – and enjoying some distillery visits along the way.

Not to mention a dram or two while they’re at it. You won’t learn a great deal about whisky making here, but you’ll get the flavor of the islands and enjoy some amazing scenery, so pour a couple ounces of your favorite peated whisky to sip along the half-hour ride. More about the whisky aspect of this video below the link.

I should mention that I and many of my friends enjoy bicycling, too, so this is a double treat for us.

This video also offers some insight on why most of the whiskies from the isles of the Inner Hebrides are so infused with aromas and flavors of peat smoke, seaweed, salt, and other distinctive delights.

You’ll see that there are very few trees on these somewhat inhospitable islands – not enough to have warmed their residents for millennia, and certainly not enough to support whisky making. But there are plenty of peat bogs, so the hardy island residents and whisky makers have traditionally cut peat, dried it, and burned it for all kinds of heating uses, despite the – shall we say – fragrance of the peat smoke.

Making Scotch whisky begins with malting barley grain, meaning the harvested grain is soaked in water until it begins to germinate, or sprout tiny roots, at which point it’s dried before being ground into “grist” that moves on to the fermentation phase. That drying was done with burning peat for centuries, and the barley would absorb smoke from that burning peat in the process. The pungent aromas of the peat smoke linger on through the remaining steps of whisky production, right into the bottled Islay and Jura whiskies so many of us love. For centuries, burning peat was necessity; today, it’s tradition for Islay whisky makers and a popular whisky style worldwide.

The seaside location of these distilleries and their warehouses is also important, as the oak casks containing the whisky breathe the salty, sea-weedy air over years of aging. That adds notes of brine and seaweed to the liquor as it rests.

“Terroir” is not strictly a wine concept. Where a spirit is made also influences what it becomes. Slàinte Mhaith!