It's my second day on the island of Islay, off Scotland's windswept west coast, and whoever controls the weather hasn't read the script. Like most visitors to this part of the world from October to March I'm prepared for buffeting winds, torrential rain and near-freezing temperatures. So the clear blue skies and dry, mild conditions have caught me by surprise.
Although the grim weather I was expecting is hardly unheard of at this time of year, the warm waters of the Gulf Stream keep the frost and snow at bay, so spring and autumn can be punctuated by bright, crisp stretches lasting up to a week - although like most of Scotland, Islay can have all four seasons in a day.
I've arrived a few days after a major storm that tore tiles off roofs and severed the island's sea and air links to the mainland, so the forecast is for a settled few days. But since my mission is to visit the island's eight working distilleries, it could be blowing a force-nine gale outside and it wouldn't matter. Yet the surprise conditions have suddenly thrown up a whole host of other activities on Islay I was only vaguely aware of. According to Ian Brown, manager of the Machrie Hotel & Golf Links, there's fishing, shooting, hill walking, beachcombing, bird watching and golf on offer - or just sitting beside a roaring log fire enjoying a wee dram. I'm suddenly left wondering whether three days will be enough time to explore.
For those who know their single malts, Islay's whiskies have a distinctive peaty flavour, thanks to the locally sourced natural fuel used for drying the malted barley. However, because each distillery has its own nuances when it comes to drying, distilling and maturing, even two distilleries next door to each other can produce two completely different-tasting spirits. The only way to appreciate these variations is to visit each distillery and take in one of the free tours that invariably end in the shop.
With the island's rotating police force of five on constant lookout for drunk drivers, it doesn't pay to cram in eight distilleries in one day. The island may be just 25km in length, but the long, narrow, winding road to the Bunnahabhain and Caol Ila distilleries in the picturesque north means you'll probably need all your concentration behind the wheel.
I opt first for the day-trippers' trio of the Ardbeg, Lagavulin and Laphroaig distilleries in the island's southeast, all within an hour's walk of the main ferry terminal at Port Ellen.