PENDERYN DISTILLERY, SOUTH WALES

When Penderyn opened at the foot of the Brecon Beacons in 2004, it was the first whisky distillery to open in Wales in a century and, unlike Scottish and Irish distilleries, here they develop their whisky using a single still. (penderyn.wales) drive to Sconser, from where you can get the ferry to Raasay (a crossing of just 25 minutes). Long overlooked by tourists, Raasay may not have the drama, but from the distillery, just a few minutes’ walk from the ferry slipway, you can certainly drink in the view of the Cuillin from the tasting room, without the crowds.

Raasay Distillery, also relatively young, having opened in September 2017, feels every bit like a community venture – around a tenth of the island’s population of 160 work here. It also had the foresight to think ahead, and began distilling elsewhere prior to opening, so visitors can sample the lightly peated While You Wait single malt until other expressions are ready.

There are some very nice – though quite pricey – rooms if you’d like to stay overnight. Alternatively, you could stay at nearby Raasay House. Rest assured you can take your tasting with you, bottled up for later.

However, only fools rush off: Raasay is an island worth exploring. A trek to the cleared village of Hallaig, immortalised in the poem by Raasayborn Sorley MacLean, is a haunting experience. North Bay, near the ferry slip, is a pretty pebble beach that you usually have to yourself, while Calum’s Road in the north shows just what lengths people will go to when pushed: Calum Macleod spent decades building a road linking the isolated north to the rest of the isle when his appeals to the council went ignored.

Back on Skye, it’s a 20-minute drive to Talisker, Skye’s sole distillery since opening in 1830 until being joined by Torabhaig. The whisky is renowned for its full-bodied flavour, inspired by its windswept location on the shore of Loch Harport in Carbost village.

Finally, it’s time for the Isle of Harris Distillery, reached by ferry from Uig on the Trotternish peninsula in northeast Skye. The ferry port is a 45-minute drive from Talisker, but you may want to stay the night in Portree or Uig, to break up the journey.

Ferries arrive into Tarbert on

Harris, and the distillery, which offers an informal and friendly tour, is just yards away. Its Hearach single malt is still maturing, but make sure you try the distillery’s very good gin.

If you’ve made it this far, it’s worth driving south to the Caribbean-worthy powdery white sandy beaches of Seilebost and Luskentyre; visiting a Harris Tweed weaver in their own home; or heading north to the lunar-like landscape of Lewis.

Without really noticing it, you’ve ventured from the Inner Hebrides to the Outer Hebrides – and it wasn’t that hard, was it?

BARRELS OF FUNOn a roll at Raasay Distillery, which opened in 2017