How Alexander Matthews hoped to do justice to five distilleries in two hours beggars belief (A whisky without peat is like soup without salt, but Islay visit is bland, May 14). My two sons and I had a memorable stay on the island in 2010. We spent five days in the Machrie hotel (memories of Faulty Towers are apt). The hotel manager and his barman had an extensive knowledge of the numerous whiskies available and introduced me to the whisky of my choice now, Black Bottle. Standard procedure every day was a round of golf in the morning followed by tasting. We visited every distillery, including the one on the island of Jura, and the only one where we were asked to pay was Bowmore. Lagavulin was regarded as the best, closely followed by Laphroaig and Coal Ila. Generally we had four tastings per distillery and they were generous. The only tour we paid for was at Laphroaig, which was excellent. We returned to England with a few bottles of the finest and still have very many happy memories...
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