By this Author: rpickett

Here is my photo album for the whole trip! Feis Ile 2026 Enjoy!

Today was a full day of whiskey tasting/drinking!
The Isle of Arran is an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh-largest Scottish island, at 432 square kilometres (167 sq mi). Historically part of Buteshire, it is in the unitary council area of North Ayrshire. In the 2022 census it had a resident population of 4,618. Though culturally and physically similar to the Hebrides, it is separated from them by the Kintyre peninsula. Often referred to as "Scotland in Miniature", the Island is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault and has been described as a "geologist's paradise".

Arran has been continuously inhabited since the early Neolithic period. Numerous prehistoric remains have been found. From the 6th century onwards, Goidelic-speaking peoples from Ireland colonised it and it became a centre of religious activity. In the troubled Viking Age, Arran became the property of the Norwegian crown, until formally absorbed by the kingdom of Scotland in the 13th century. The 19th-century "clearances" led to significant depopulation and the end of the Gaelic language and way of life. The economy and population have recovered in recent years, the main industry being tourism.

Springbank is a family-owned single malt whisky distillery on the Kintyre peninsula in western Scotland. It is owned by J & A Mitchell & Company, which also owns the Glengyle distillery, the oldest independent bottler, William Cadenheads, and several blended scotch labels. Licensed in 1828, Springbank is one of the last surviving producers of single malt whiskies in Campbeltown, an area that once had more than thirty active distilleries. The distillery produces three types of peated and unpeated malt whisky that it bottles under three distinct brands. The majority of its distillate is bottled as a single malt, with a small percentage sold to larger blenders or ending up in one of J&A Mitchell's own blended scotch labels, such as Campbeltown Loch.

After Lunch we headed back into town to visit Cadenhead Bottlers. The firm of William Cadenhead Limited, Wine and Spirit Merchants, was founded in 1842 and was in the ownership of the same family until it was taken over by the well known Campbeltown firm of J & A Mitchell & Co. Ltd who own Springbank Distillery. The premises were in Netherkirkgate in Aberdeen and although the street numbers were changed from time to time the premises were the same and indeed were almost unaltered during their 130 years of trading in Aberdeen.

Back to the ship for dinner and then the independent bottler Mark Watt came on board for the final tasting of the day (as if we needed another). "Mark and I (Kate) have over 40 years experience in the Scotch Whisky industry between us and, after many years of working for other people, we decided the time was right to start our own independent bottling company. This was in December 2019. A few months later we were seriously questioning the timing of our new venture! However, despite the challenging circumstances (to global pandemic, add a new baby and impending Brexit), we are absolutely delighted with how things are going so far. After an incredibly successful Crowdfunder campaign in April 2020, we bottled our first cask (for Crowdfunders only) a few months later, followed by our first general release of 5 casks in September 2020. We’ve bottled a total of 26 casks in our first year covering single malt, blended malt, single grain, blend, rums and Indian whisky (our first non-scotch whisky) and hope to expand on our offering over time. Basically, as long as it tastes good and has spent time in a cask, then we’ll happily bottle it."

We got underway after breakfast and hoisted the sails to make this a true Whiskey sailing adventure. After lunch our Whiskey Ambassador Martyn, from Holland, conducted another Whiskey tasting featuring "Thalassa Whiskey" which was carried on board last year in a 1/4 cask and bottled at the end of the year. It was another spectacular day, unfortunately the winds came and went.

Our stop for the next 24 hours was in Port Ellen, home to the Port Ellen, Laphroaig, Lagavulen and Arbecgh Distilleries. The Feis Ile today was at Laphroaig.

Port Ellen is the largest town on Islay after Bowmore and is situated in a sheltered part of the island, offering views to the Oa Peninsula and to Kilnaughton Bay, which is named after the chapel ruins and burial ground at the end of the bay beside the road to the Oa peninsula. The town has several shops, hotels, restaurants and pubs and various types of accommodation. It also has Islay CyberCafe, a youth organisation; filling station with camper and car wash facilities; local Post Office that sells gifts and local crafts.

We anchored out and took a Zodiac into the pier and then the local bus to Laphroaig Distillery.

The Laphroaig distillery was established in 1815 by Donald and Alexander Johnston. The Johnstons who founded Laphroaig were from the Clan Donald and are likely to be from the MacIain of Ardnamurchan branch of the clan. The family anglicised their name to Johnston. The last member of the Johnston family to run the distillery was Ian Hunter, a nephew of Sandy Johnston, who died childless in 1954 and left the distillery to one of his managers, Bessie Williamson. The distillery was sold to Long John International, a Scottish distiller in the 1960s. In 1973, Long John International and the distillery were acquired by Whitbread. In 1989, the distillery was sold by Whitbread to become part of Allied Domecq. The brand was in turn acquired by Fortune Brands in 2005, as one of the brands divested by Pernod Ricard in order to obtain regulatory approval for its takeover of Allied Domecq. Laphroaig has been the only whisky to carry the Royal Warrant of the Prince of Wales, which was awarded in person during a visit to the distillery in 1994. The distillery identifies Charles by his title of Duke of Rothesay, as he is recognised in Scotland. The 15-year-old is reportedly then Prince and now King Charles' favourite whisky.

We started our whiskey tasting right at the stroke of 10am, which is the limit in Scotland. They rolled out the red carpet for us and gave us a dram of PX whiskey which sells for about $800 per bottle. It was an exceptional experience.

Bunnahabhain distillery...Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Everything about it is large, from the huge courtyard to the stills. It is these with their low fill levels and massive amount of available copper which help to craft what has always been a light style of malt. Ageing has traditionally been in ex-Sherry casks which adds a sumptuous sweet richness to the spirit though quite where the spicy ginger note, which is a marker for Bunna’, comes from is unclear. Occasionally refill casks show an almost salty edge. Although peat levels had dropped to virtually nothing from the 1960s onwards, Bunna’ did start life smokier than it is now, something which Burn Stewart is reviving. These days, around 20% of production is heavily peated, destined for a variety of bottlings, the main one being Toiteach.

After a short sail and lunch we arrived at the Caol Ila Distillery, owned by the company that produces Johnny Walker. Caol Ile is one of the premier ingredients in Johnny Walker and they sell a variety of their own single malts.

Caol Ila is derived from Gaelic Caol Ìle for "Sound of Islay" (lit. "Islay Strait") in reference to the distillery's location overlooking the strait between Islay and Jura. It was founded in 1846 by Hector Henderson. The distillery did not fare well, and changed hands in 1854 when Norman Buchanan, owner of the Isle of Jura Distillery, took over. In 1863 the business was acquired by Bulloch Lade & Co, of Glasgow, traders in whisky stocks. According to the 1871 census, Duncan Johnston was the Distillery Manager at the time. Duncan was the nephew of John Johnston of Lagavulin and cousin to the Laphroaig Johnstons and so the family were involved with yet another distillery on the island. By the 1880s over 147,000 imperial gallons (670,000 L) of whisky were produced there each year.

In 1920 Bulloch Lade went into voluntary liquidation, and a consortium of businessmen formed the Caol Ila Distillery Company Ltd. In 1927 the Distillers Company acquired a controlling interest in Caol Ila, and in 1930 Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd obtained ownership of all the shares. The distillery closed during World War II, from 1942 to 1945, because of wartime restrictions on the supply of barley to distillers. From then, production continued until 1972, when the entire structure of the distillery was demolished. A larger distillery was then built, designed by George Leslie Darge in the same architectural style as many of his others with his trademark glazed curtain walls to the still houses, and production resumed in 1974. The company eventually became part of Diageo.