Firstly I have to say the ride up from Loch Ness northwest to Plockton (near Isle of Skye) is one of them most jaw dropping scenic roads I've ever travelled. I vaguely remembered it from our trip years ago but as usual with scenery like this it is always more beautiful in person than you remember. So I feel it's worthwhile to post some pictures of the ride up to Plockton first to set the backdrop.
These scenes pretty much typify what the entire ride was like. Trying to decide where to stop to take photos was a tough decision because in reality you could stop every two or three miles.
Right before the side road to Plockton you come to one of the most touristy yet most scenic views in all of Scotland called Eilean Donan Castle.
Shortly after this point, right before you reach Kyle of Locailsh and the bridge to Skye you find the single track side road that leads to Plockton. It's a strange road as you start to wonder if you are actually heading towards any kind of civilization or the end of the world. But then Plockton Bay on Loch Carron unfolds before you.
It's a really lovely little village with palm trees, fishing boats, a couple of nice inns and pubs with real ale and of course the views all around are stunning:
We stayed at a place called the Plockton Inn as the place is well known for it's seafood, cask ales, great little pub, and occassional live traditional Scottish music sessions.
The view from out in front of the Inn facing Plockton Bay wasn't too shabby either.
So what about the beer? Well on the first day they had Starboard pale ale from The Plockton Brewery on cask as well as Fuller's London Pride. Now I love London Pride and getting it on cask is a real treat but I have to admit I liked the Starboard better. It's a great session ale and we did indeed have a long session that night getting aquainted with it. I chose to stay here first on a Thursday night because there is a regular music session there on Thursday's.
It was a great night at the Plockton Inn. We also ate dinner there and I thought the smoked salmon (from their own smokehouse in the back yard) and the langoustines were exceptional.
In fairness there is another nice hotel in the village called the Plockton Hotel (although I'm definately partial towards the Plockton Inn) and they also carry a couple of cask ales although oddly enough they didn't have one from the local brewery. I suspect this may be due to lack of capactiy at the brewery as it is really small but I didn't ask. The ales were good here but still a tick behind the Plockton beers IMO.
We got a long rest the next morning. I don't think I got out of bed until noon. We had been travelling around a lot and I was weary. So we had a day to just walk around the village and visit the brewery. It's not much more than a garage.
We were hoping to meet the brewer and just as we were about to leave he comes walking down the street with flowers in his hand that he picked up for his wife. We introduced ourselves and he was nice enough to show us around and give us a few bottles to take home. I got a photo of Andy the brewer with Ingmar in the brewery.
The Inn had changed over the cask that morning from the Starboard to the amber colored ale called Plockton Bay. Andy mentioned that he found that the beers sold better to tourists when he started putting the work Plockton in the title. Anyhow I thought the Plockton Bay even better than the Starboard. I managed to bring a few bottles home. All but the stout I left with my friend Barry in Ireland before heading home. We drank the bottle of stout the Friday after we got home and it was excellent. I would have loved to get some of that on cask. Ah well and excuse to visit again someday.
Yeah it was a good time in Plockton as you can see. I leave this post with this picture of Ingmar and Isa. It says it all:
