(New) IslayBlog.com, a blog about the Isle of Islay, Scotland
Cask Strength since 2006
Anything related to the famous Islay single malt whiskies
When I was on Islay back in June I bought a bottle of 100% Islay from Kilchoman distillery, but so far hadn’t opened it yet. Tonight being Friday evening I decided to finally open it and enjoy a wee dram (or may be two) with their latest video:
Oh, and here’s a picture of the bottle and the first dram poured from it:
Something rather cool tonight: Laphroaig invites us to a 360° video tour of the bay, the peat bogs and of course the distillery on Islay. While watching the video you can move the viewing angle (either with the dial on the top right or by just ‘grabbing’ the video with the mouse pointer and moving it around) and look into all directions. Left, right, up, down, whatever you like. And all the while you are flying over Loch Laphroaig, the peat bogs, through the still house and more. Quite amazing technology, I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did:
PS: If you don’t like the 3D 360° video there’s also an old fashioned 2D version available:
I prefer the 3D version. Which one do you prefer?
A quick update to the Updates from the Great Islay Swim posted last week. Bruichladdich have posted a nice video from the Sound of Islay leg of the swim, taking them from McArthur’s Head lighthouse to Rhuvaal lighthouse. I’ve walked from Bunnahabhain to Rhuvaal several times, I can’t imagine swimming all that (not to mention the rest from McArthur’s Head to Bunnahabhain). Watch the swimmers in action in the sun and the rain:
For more and where to bid for the pillaged whisky see The Great Islay Swim.
Back in May I wrote about Swimming around Islay (for science and charity), Justin Fornal and Chad Anderson planning to swim around Islay this summer. Well, the Great Islay Swim is now well under way and you can find various updates online:
From Laphroaig John Campbell gives them his support:
Several blogs and distillery websites write about them:
Taking a rest at the end of a swim:
Islay Sea-Adventures has a few posts with video and pictures:
And I’m sure there’s more out there. If you have or spot any further pictures, videos or reports from the swim please post them in the comments so that everyone can see them.
The Adventure Bound Bumpkins visited Islay this year and among other things went on the Laphroaig Water to Whisky tour. They documented their visit and in particular the tour on video (and wrote about it on their website), first pour yourself a wee dram and enjoy the video:
To read more here are three posts about their Islay visit:
For even more you can also read about On the Way to Islay: A Scenic Drive From Edinburgh to Kennacraig.
A late evening treat, a generous dram of the Laphroaig PX Cask Islay single malt whisky with some nice Scottish strawberries (unfortunately not of the Islay variety. Yes, that does exist.)
Back in 2008 Becky walked (in stages) all the way around the coast of Islay. Today I came across a similar challenge two men are planning, although slightly wetter. About a decade ago the Islay Masters Swimming club swam across Loch Indaal from Bowmore to Bruichladdich (or was it the other way around? Not entirely sure), crossed the Sound of Islay and even tackled the famous Corryvreckan. Justin Fornal and Chad Anderson are planning an even bigger, more ambitious swim:
The Great Islay Swim. In a week in July 2017 they plan to swim all around Islay. Starting from Ardbeg they will swim clockwise around Islay in seven days. Swimming between 4-8 hours a day and covering around 15-20 kilometres per day. Pulling a whisky cask they are planning to fill with whisky from all the distilleries (similar to the Islay Pillage a number of years ago), which will later be bottled and sold. And they’re fundraising for the RNLI.
Just found three old Islay (or at least Islay related) videos tonight I thought worth sharing. The first one is of Bowmore distillery in 1983 (not sure why it says Port Charlotte in the title/description, as Bowmore distillery is of course in … Bowmore):
The second video shows a ferry in West Loch Tarbert, I assume it’s the Islay ferry. I’m not entirely sure, but I think it’s the MV Iona (later also known as Pentalina B when she was sold on):
Before getting to West Loch Tarbert a popular stop is the village of Tarbert. It seems to have not changed that much since 1983:
I hope you found these short clips interesting, I find them fascinating for the views back in time.
I couldn’t help thinking of Colin Furze’s 20ft Fire Tornado Firework Launcher when I saw this (if you don’t know of Colin be warned, he’s a bit mad and has no interest in health and safety. Don’t do his stuff at home). I don’t know how Barin has achieved his video, although I suspect there might have been some computer animation involved. Anyway, here’s an unusual way to present a Lagavulin Islay single malt whisky:
I hope you enjoyed it, I found it quite fascinating watching it swirling around.
As my Portuguese is rather limited (that’s an understatement by the way) I didn’t understand much in tonight’s video (only the few seconds in English to be precise). Still I found this video of Vinicius Bustamante’s visit to Islay quite interesting. They (there seems to have been at least one other couple?) stayed in the Glenmachrie Guesthouse and visited several distilleries:
According to Google Translate’s version of the video description he very much enjoyed Islay, the whisky, the sheep and the beaches, so he hopes to return soon.