And suddenly the end of 2025 is rapidly approaching. But before that it’s time for some blogging, food and drink. Islay drink of course. It’s been quiet here since early October (driven by an injury followed by an Islay holiday), time for a bit of catching up. Here is what I’m enjoying tonight:
My Christmas evening 2025 Islay dram and chocolate
Slightly more difficult to get as it’s only in travel retail and at the distillery, this is the PX Cask, one of my favourite Laphroaig Islay single malts. With it I had a first for me, a special chocolate from Islay Cocoa. I believe it’s only available at the distillery, it’s a dark chocolate bar filled with a Laphroaig whisky ginger caramel and crystallised ginger. I usually mainly have plain dark chocolate (usually around 80-85%), so the ginger isn’t something I’m used to. I very much enjoyed the experience, I thought the ginger went very well with the whisky.
Tomorrow, Christmas Day, I will probably wander over to the other side of Islay. For the whisky that is, the chocolate will also be from Islay Cocoa (although with a collaborator from the Rhinns of Islay).
At some point I had to give it a try. I wrote about Artificial Intelligence (AI) in relation to Islay previously, trying to generate Islay related pictures and more. I’ve also been doing various baking experiments. So why not combine the two? Recently I asked Google’s Gemini for a walnut bread recipe with Islay whisky and it came up with something I could build on.
An AI inspired Islay whisky bread
The recipe the AI generated sounded interesting, although some of it didn’t feel right (and I didn’t have all the ingredients it asked for). I decided to build on it while keeping the core of it. Let’s start with the ingredients:
The sponge:
100g strong wholemeal bread flour
100ml warm water
4g instant yeast
The dough
The sponge from above
300g strong wholemeal bread flour
200g strong white bread flour
150g walnuts (walnut halves to be precise)
50g golden caster sugar (as that was the closest I had and felt it fitted, the AI recipe had asked for brown sugar (or maple syrup))
7g (1 pack) instant yeast
1 tblsp vanilla essence
4 tblsp Islay single malt whisky (I used the trusted Laphroaig 10yo)
3 tblsp olive oil
400ml warm water
Now for the process:
I started with the sponge (not sure why the recipe called it that, I’ll have to learn about that): Mix together the three ingredients in a bowl, cover and let rise for 30-60 minutes.
Once the sponge is ready mix in the remaining ingredients and knead well (I used my kitchen mixer with a dough hook for about 10-15 minutes). Leave covered in a bowl for rising/fermentation for about 30 minutes. As the resulting dough was very soft and “runny” I decided to use a round silicone baking form, moved it into the form and let it rise again for a good 30-45 minutes, could even do an hour. Different to some other attempts of whisky breads this rose quite nicely. While it was rising the (fan assisted) oven was pre-heated to 180°C. Finally it was time to bake the bread. It went in for about 35-45 minutes (you have to watch it closely towards the end, as you can see in the picture the crust turns quite dark easily). Once ready remove from the form quickly to avoid it getting soggy and leave to cool on a wire rack.
The result?
It might need some further refinement and improvement, but for the first attempt I’m quite happy. The bread is a little bit chewy, although in a way I kind of like that, better than the soft, fluffy nothingness of some other bread. With just four table spoons of whisky in about a kilo of dough I wasn’t expecting much of a whisky taste, but I think I still smelled and tasted the smoky/peaty aroma of the Laphroaig a little.
I will certainly try this again, maybe adjust some of the ingredients a little. If you give this a try please let me know of your experience and more importantly your suggestions for improvements.
With autumn rapidly approaching it’s time for some more baking again. The original recipe for “Honey and Almond Shortbread Biscuits” I cut out of the now long defunct Reading Evening Post many many years ago. I modified it slightly by changing it to metric, adjusting some ingredients and the process and adding an admittedly insignificant Islay touch. Just because I could. Here we go:
Honey and Almond Shortbread with a dash of Islay whisky
Starting with the ingredients:
250g butter
90g runny honey
90g caster sugar
1 tea spoon vanilla extract
250g plain flour
125g ground almonds
3 tbl sp Islay single malt whisky (I used a Bowmore No1)
This is how I made them:
Mix together butter, honey, sugar and vanilla until creamy
Add the flour and almonds, mix well
Add the whisky (maybe while allowing yourself a dram?), mix well
Form/roll the dough into a long cylinder shape. It will be very soft and sticky, so this might be challenging
Chill or even briefly freeze the dough (this will make the next step easier)
Slice the dough into thin round(ish) biscuit shapes, spread out on a baking tray/rack lined with baking paper
Bake at 150°C (preheated), I think 20-25 minutes will probably be plenty enough (I left mine in for 30 minutes which made them much darker than I wanted, so the next batch will be in the oven much shorter)
And that’s it. As you can see I enjoyed some with a mug of tea and a dram of the Bowmore whisky. Did they taste of the whisky? No, not really. Can’t expect that from 3 spoons of whisky in 800g of dough. But it’s the thought that counts. And the kitchen smelled amazing while I was preparing and baking them. Good enough for me. Maybe you as well?
It’s been a while since I last blogged here, time to get going again. Life and work got in the way of blogging, luckily a good part of the life were two Islay visits. As I’m writing this from England I’m currently enjoying the late August bank holiday, perfect time for a nice Islay dram:
My August 2025 bank holiday Islay dram
Not entirely sure when I picked this one up, if it was during one of this year’s visits or earlier. As the label indicates it was distilled in 2010 and the back label states it was matured for 13 years in Bourbon cask 3170, so maybe I got it a year or two ago?
Either way, what matters is that it tastes good, and that it certainly does. I enjoyed 3 drams of it this evening with some nice juicy raspberries and later some 85% dark chocolate. Doesn’t get any better as far as I’m concerned.
Some fascinating news for Islay whisky and gin drinkers today: German scientist and inventor Bernd Gibtihnnicht after moving to Islay is launching a world first, a genuine fusion of whisky and gin. Not a blend, but a genuine fusion of the two drinks, creating completely new and previously unknown taste experiences.
Islay Gisky (1)
With his unique, patented and trademarked (as well as TOP SECRET!) AllesErstunkenUndErlogen® parallel dual still Doppelkondenser technology Bernd has been able to distil a unique drink on Islay that merges yet maintains the taste profiles and characteristics of Islay whisky and Islay gin. Of course it includes various Islay grains including rye, barley and wheat, but is also infused with various rugged Islay botanicals including gorse and dune grass.
Islay Gisky (2)
Bernd is convinced that both Islay whisky connoisseurs as well as Islay gin enthusiasts will love his innovative fusion of the two drinks. Further details about availability and where to buy the Gisky will be released through the course of the day.
Back to a more traditional schedule after last year’s late start and AI New Year 2024. Following a fairly noisy night (no, not fireworks, but quite strong and blustery winds in West Berkshire) I left for an early walk, just avoiding the rain which set in mid morning and has turned quite heavy while I’m writing this. Then it was time for the New Year’s Concert 2025 from Vienna, while eating my usual New Year’s Day brunch, scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and homemade rolls. For the encore (including the famous Blue Danube Waltz and Radetzky March) I moved on to dessert:
New Year 2025 Islay Whisky and Chocolate
The whisky is of course the Bruichladdich Port Charlotte valinch OLC: 01 2013 opened on Christmas. The chocolate is another offering from Islay Cocoa, the Salty Sea Dog. I normally avoid salty foods (high blood pressure), but for an occasional treat I make an exception. Very much enjoyed the chocolate, the salt and the chocolate go well together, also nicely complemented by the whisky (and the music from Vienna).
With the concert now over I’m looking forward to a relaxing afternoon, should the rain stop early enough I might venture out for another short walk.
Swiftly following on from yesterday’s Christmas 2024 Islay whisky nr.1 yesterday I’ve opened the second bottle I had picked for this year’s Christmas today on Boxing Day. Not only that, I also got out some nice chocolate to enjoy with it after enjoying some Salmon with lemon pepper earlier this evening.
Christmas 2024 Islay whisky nr.2 (and some Islay chocolate)
This is a Kilchoman 12 Year Old Single Cask bottling, cask 504/2012. Matured in a bourbon casks for over 9 years before being finished in a Calvados cask for over 3 years. My bottle is 114/240. I think it’s a distillery shop only release, so not available online. Quite different to the Port Charlotte I enjoyed yesterday, I’d say much sweeter with my untrained palate. But I also like it a lot.
Now on to the chocolate: I picked up some Islay Cocoa chocolate during my visit in November. I can’t seem to find it online, but the one I started tonight is called “Festive Dark”. It’s a 70% Colombian chocolate filled with salted hazelnut praline and toasted almond pieces. Or in other words, brings together what I like, 70%+ (ideally 80-85%) dark chocolate and nuts. I think I finished probably 80%+ of the bar today, it’s that good. I’ve got another chocolate bar to start, but that’s for New Year’s Eve, so watch this blog….
Christmas 2024 is well under way. Yesterday evening (Christmas eve) I enjoyed some nice Wagyu (or at least that’s what they claimed it to be) burgers with a nice bottle of Sublime Stout by Fyne Ales, picked up during the return drive from my last Islay visit. After some nice chocolate ice it was time for the first bottle open of a nice Islay single malt whisky:
Christmas 2024 Islay whisky nr.1
This is a Bruichladdich Port Charlotte valinch OLC: 01 2013. ask no. 2582, 2nd fill Oloroso butt matured, distilled 17/Apr/2013, 11 aged years. My bottle is 215/810. I’ll leave the tasting notes to someone else, but I’m enjoying it very much.
I haven’t started the chocolate just yet, hopefully will get to that on Boxing Day together with the second Islay single malt bottle opening. More about that soon.
Islay is a popular destination for Japanese tourists, in particular the famous whisky distilleries (some of course are Japanese owned). On the YouTube channel 空から世界を見てみたい (which according to Google Translate means “I want to see the world from the sky”) I’ve found a few short drone videos of said distilleries and more taken back in 2019:
LAPHROAIG distillery, Islay Island, Scotland
Quite misty and moody, similar conditions just down the road at Lagavulin and Dunyvaig:
LAGAVULIN distillery, Islay Island, Scotland
A bit brighter slightly further down the road:
ARDBEG distillery, Islay Island, Scotland
Much sunnier at the other end of the island, the new Bunnahabhain visitor centre still under construction then:
BUNNAHABHAIN distillery, Islay Island, Scotland
Back to the other end of the island again, no sign yet of the rebuilt Port Ellen distillery:
PORT ELLEN distillery, Islay Island, Scotland
To close a bit of Islay history:
Kildalton Cross, Islay Island, Scotland
I hope you enjoyed the videos and waved back at them.
The coastal path from Port Ellen to Ardbeg on the south coast of Islay, passing Laphroaig and Lagavulin on the way, is probably one of the best things since sliced bread. A while ago an Islay visitor filmed a timelapse video of cycling from Laphroaig to Ardbeg, allowing you to experience the ride in record time:
Islay: Scenic bike ride from Laphroaig to Ardbeg (time lapse)
I hope the video inspires you to cycle (or walk) the path yourself. And feel free to take your time. You’re on Islay time….
