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| Hello deer! |
Having spent a great couple of days on Jura, experiencing
the island to its fullest (including a three hour bus tour- something we didn’t
think possible on an island with just one road, but boy was it informative and
fun) it was time to head back to an island we’ve spent a lot more time on:
Islay.
Arriving at Port Askaig it seemed only sensible to visit the
pair of distilleries which sit just around the corner from Islay’s second port,
Caol Ila and Bunnahabhain. We popped in to the former, for a quick hello with
the chaps there and to take in that wonderful view back across the Sound of
Islay to the Paps of Jura, a must for anyone visiting the island.
If only we’d had our speedboat again, instead of driving
back up the hill, along the road and down again, we could have simply nipped
around the corner to Bunnahabhain, who were having their Open Day.
Always good value, it has been a wonderful place to hang out
over the past few years with some excellent events (last year’s caber tossing
even made the back page of our limited edition newspaper, The Daily Cargo,
which came with our recent Cutty Sark release), this year proved no different,
offering a small stall holders market, band, events and a bar serving a
slushie-style cocktail. A nice turn of pace during the week.
Before the event really kicked in, we took some time to
sit down with Andrew Brown, the distillery manager at Bunnahabhain. A local
chap, he’s worked there for over 20 years and is now the man in charge of
making the spirit. Andrew kindly took an hour out of his busy schedule to give
us a highly informative lowdown about the history of the distillery, casks,
flavour, spirit quality and, of course, a dram or two...
Bunnahabhain – 35 year old – 1971 – 750 bottles only – 44.9%
abv – bottle no. 123 – 70cl
Nose: Sweet coconut, vanilla, blood oranges and spices.
Creamy with banana notes and soft caramel.
Palate: Dry, but very malty, with dry menthol, fresh mint,
buttered toast, cornflakes, liquorice root and some rose notes.
Finish: A light dryness, very fruity with kiwi and peaches
and cream. The blood orange from the nose comes back at the death.
Overall: We’d go as far as to say, this is the best
Bunnahabhain we’ve had in a long time. Two others were two bottling from
Speciality Drinks, sister casks filled on the same day in 1979 (our review from
the start of this century can be found here).
All of these are really lovely drams, sadly all now long gone...
As is now tradition, Bunnahabhain also have their own
festival bottling out. This year it is a 10 year old from a sherry butt and
it’s a huge hitter, coming in at 60.1% abv...
Bunnahabhain – Sgeul
Na Mara – 10 Years Old – 606
bottles – 60.1 % abv – 70cl
Nose: Slated caramel, ginger cake and butterscotch. It opens
up with water to reveal stewed fruits and a tangy, mandarin note.
Palate: Initially, it is drying with layers of sherry and
liquorice, moist oak and stewed apple. With water, it opens up in to more tinned
pineapple and the bananas, which we’ve come to love this distillery for.
Finish: The finish gives both green and red apple skins and
a big hit of dry oak.
Overall: A big
hitting whisky which needs water to fully open up, but when it does, you won’t
be disappointed.
After leaving Bunnahabhain, we took the high road across the
island to Port Ellen and onwards up to Ardbeg, our resting place for the next
couple of nights. En route, there was time to pop in and see our old friend
David Wood, now the Brand Home Manager for both Caol Ila and Lagavulin
distilleries, where we were able to share a dram of the excellent Lagavulin
festival bottling with him...
Lagavulin – 18 Years Old - Feis Ile 2013 – 3000 bottles –
51% abv – 70cl
Nose: Surely this can’t be right… Earl Grey tea? Yes, there
in all its glory is a stupendously fragrant bergamot note, backdropped with all
the hallmarks of a classic Lagavulin: sappy woodsmoke, carbolic soap, a rich
sherry oakiness and hints of Playdoh and almond marzipan. Sensational.
Palate: Again, a fragrant Earl Grey note continues, with a
sweet, slightly stewed tea note, wonderfully rounded smoke and a lighter, spicy
richness. It has big similarities to the
16yo, but has an additional power and complexity to it.
Finish: Lingering wood smoke and fragrant top notes.
Overall: Another outstanding Feis bottling from Lagavulin,
who set the bar stupidly high for themselves nowadays, this delivers... and
then some. Some armchair whisky anoraks and Twitterers (or 'Twats' as we like to call them) have been critical about the fact that Lagavulin have discontinued the
tradition of releasing a festival single cask, but this whisky squarely bats
any criticism back and the larger outturn at least offers a wider global
audience a chance to grab a bottle at a sensible (non-grossly inflated-auction) price.
After settling into our Islay accommodation (more on that
tomorrow...) we received a visit from our good friends at Master of Malt. Here
on their own annual trip, with bags full of goodies, they were en route to
iPed2013... International Port Ellen Day 2013. Hosted by @MaltWhiskyBar this
has seen some astonishing tastings in the past, including this one (here)
from 2011, where every single official Port Ellen release was available to try.
This time around, Jon Beach led the assembled Port
Ellen-ites through a number of indie bottlings in a variety of locations,
including outside the maltings, the Oa lighthouse and a sneaky peek into the
old malt kiln buildings, now home to an unofficial gym of weightlifting
equipment. The distillery may be well and truly dismantled and gone forever,
but its liquid legacy remains very much in the hearts (and mouths) of whisky
aficionados.