DuckDrams

It was all planned. Islay youth hostel booked. Islay ferries booked. Distillery tours and tastings scheduled. Members of the Water of Life Society (the whisky club of Edinburgh Uni) had signed up for the trip and paid their deposits. Then in the matter of a few days, all the planning, the expectations, and the excitement came crashing down as news of the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus threw the world into fear and uncertainty.

Three years later, I look back on strange years of on-off isolation, mass vaccination programmes, and poking holes in one’s brain with nose swabs. The Islay Trip 2020 has become Islay Trip 2023. I no longer live in Scotland, and I’m no longer on the WOLS committee, hence relieved of any responsibility in organizing the trip this time around. This year’s committee put together a smashing itinerary, containing every active whisky distillery on Islay (but not always with a tour / tasting session) and a rum distillery to boot.

This is my third trip with WOLS, after the spring and autumn trips to Highland/Speyside and Northern Highlands in 2019. I’ve been to Skye and the Outer Hebrides for hiking, so Islay is the third Scottish Isle I step foot on. (Orkney next?)

Ferry to Islay

Oh, ho, and up he rises, early in the morning… We were instructed to arrive at the rendezvous point in Edinburgh no later than 7am. There’s no arguing with the Islay ferry time. You’re there on time for check-in, or you’re not going this season. Usually, the 20 or so of us split across three vans, but this time we had a minibus and a car.

As per WOLS tradition, the whisky starts pouring as soon as the wheels start rolling. And whenever those wheels roll over a bridge, that’s the signal to have a sip. But no worries: everyone knows to drink slowly and not to mistreat the liquid gold in their nosing glasses by emptying one glass after the other. Myself, weak in spirit, did not pour my first “van dram” until after 10am – easing into it with lovely Deanston 12yo before the inevitable onslaught of peat .

We had a couple of pit stops along the way, storming into gas stations like a brigade of revolutionaries. Our last stop before reaching the Kennacraig ferry terminal some 5 hours after we set out was Tarbert, where I took the opportunity to pop into local whisky store and gasp at the price tags on precious Springbanks and Octomores.

The ferry ride too about an hour and a half and offered some nice views of Islay and Jura before we docked at Port Askaig – a name associated with a peaty whisky, like practically every town on this isle.

Drop-in tasting at Bruichladdich

Off the ferry we headed straight to Bruichladdich distillery, with its iconic blue-on-white typography (“camp” according to a Geordie in our group). We hung out in the shop / tasting room and sampled the 2013 local barley releases of Bruichladdich, unpeated, and Port Charlotte, the brand used for peaty Bruichladdich. In my opinion, both very competent drams, although I did not register much excitement for Bruichladdich among my peers, except for Octomore – the überpeaty (and überexpensive) Bruichladdich in sleek, obsidian bottles.

Personally, Bruichladdich has climbed on my whisky list over the past year. During the four weeks I spent in Paris in early 2022, an old and forgotten Signatory bottling of 20yo Bruichladdich that I picked up from a quaint wine & whisky shop was my friend and solace. I included the award-winning Port Charlotte 10 in a recent tasting for my colleagues, and find the sweet peat, seaweed, and citrus notes quite a hit when I’m in the right mood.

At the distillery, I asked for a sample of the exclusive Feis Ile bottling “Rock’ndaal 01.2”, a sherry-cask matured beastie, which knocked the local barley drams out of the park. Pro tip: one can often get a wee freebie taster of something special at a distillery if one asks nicely (and perhaps expresses some buying interest in a bottle).

Vivian hand filled a bottle that we all enjoyed in the evening.

Checking in, dinner, and drams

After snapping a group photo outside Bruichladdich, we headed to our accommodations. Six of us, including Zoi and me, stayed in an airbnb holiday house about 30 minutes walk from the overbooked Islay Youth hostel, where the majority of our troup were lodged. WOLS lore speaks of how a WOLSser climbed onto the roof of the hostel and fell through it, somewhat tarnishing our reputation with this establishment…

Vivian and Panda put people to work on a rather elaborate, but super-tasty capers and sardine spaghetti meal, with a side of roasted long-stem broccoli and sausage. Some of us instead made ourselves useful at the nearby pubs until summoned by the WhatsApp dinner bell. Having escaped the cooking chores, I instead helped with the clean up.

The evening continued in the common room, with discussions, cards against humanity, and drams poured from our pooled whisky resources. Those of us staying at the airbnb got to enjoy a rainy walk back along the coastal road in complete darkness.

Day 1 taster tally

For this trip I vowed to keep a tally of every pour I had – be it wash, new make, or whisky. I do stress though that rarely did I pour a full dram (25ml), being often content with just a wee ~10ml taster or even less. At first my ambition was to keep detailed tasting notes for every taster, but this ambition was soon abandoned…

1. Deanston 12yo – a favourite!
2. Fettercairn Warehouse 2 – nice!
3. Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2013
4. Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2013
5. Bruichladdich Rock’ndaal 01.2 – best Bruichladdich!
6. Cadenhead’s Bunnahabhain 7
7. Master of Malt Secret Islay 10yo – one of my van drams, probably Caol Ila
8. Unlabelled sample bottle – Carn Mor Linkwood?
9. Port Charlotte RVS: 02, hand-filled at distillery – very nice too!

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Watch out for my account of Islay Trip, Day 2, when we visited Islay Rum, Lagavulin, Ardbeg, and Kilchoman.