Sligachan Hotel (Seumas' Bar), Isle of Skye Villages

Modern bar with a slightly canteen atmosphere in the very famous old inn. There ought to be a prize for spotting the original inn among all the extensions. Seamas' bar is one of the said extensions, built of traditional breeze block, rough cast coated outside, trendy grey paint job inside the roof is wooden. Tile and laminate floor, mountainy decor and ads for the on-site Cullin brewery. Pool and big pull down screen at the far end past the diners the counter and a less cafe like seating area are to the left as you enter. My beer was a bit crap but: 1. It was summer (and actually warm) 2. It was described as a brown ale and so probably didn’t sell fast.

An incredibly brief stop-off here as the place was closed for a private function from 5pm – so yours truly took that as an open invite at 4.50pm to zoom in and get a quick half necked before the portcullis came down. This is the home of the Cuillin brewery (you can gaze in at it from an outside window further down the building). The main bar is a huge barn of a place with tartan carpet, open vaulted roof, heavy curtains and a jumbo map of Skye on one wall and is obviously geared towards the summer food trade and local shindigs. Three ales from the brewery were on; Pinnacle, Black Face and Eagle. No complaints with the quality of my Pinnacle. Also noted hundreds of whiskys available (350+, I’m told). Shame I couldn’t have stayed for longer – c’est la vie. 6.5