Relaxing on the long Easter weekend includes a nice Islay single malt whisky for me. For that there isn’t much better than a single cask dram like one of the Bruichladdich valinches. I pulled out one of the Port Charlotte valinches from my collection, the SYC: 04 2010, cask number 3844, distilled on 11/Nov/2010 and then aged for 12 years. It being Easter I added a nice 70% (highest I could find) dark chocolate Easter egg:
My Islay Easter dram 2026
Both very nice and enjoyable. I hope you’re enjoying a nice Islay dram (and maybe some nice chocolate) as well. Have a nice Easter!
Three days of far too much food and drink are slowly coming to an end. I got to enjoy three very nice Islay whiskies, starting on the south coast with the wonderful Laphroaig PX Cask before moving to the west coast with the Kilchoman Batch Strength. For the final one we’re staying on the Rhinns of Islay, but move to the shores of Loch Indaal:
My Boxing day 2025 Islay dram
I decided to dig into my collection of Bruichladdich Distillery Valinches, which almost exclusively consists of the Port Charlotte variety. The one I ended up with is bottle 129/376 of the PAC: 02 2010 The Distillery Valinch Port Charlotte Heavily Peated Islay Single Malt. It was matured in a 2nd fill Pauillac Hogshead for 11 years. Had some chocolate with it of course, although I’ve run out of Islay chocolate for now (the remaining ones I’m keeping for the New Year), so it was some 85% dark chocolate from a German supermarket starting with the 12th letter of the alphabet. Very enjoyable, in particular the whisky, smoky and fiery.
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.
Time for the follow up to the Video of a long Islay cycling tour post from a few days ago. As mentioned Kev returned a few months later and recorded another Islay cycling video. This one also takes us from and back to Kilchoman, but this time he stayed on the Rhinns only, taking us around almost the whole Rhinns:
South West Islay loop
Slightly different style to the other video, this one mostly filmed while on the move, I assume with some kind of action camera. Lots of views of the villages and part of the routes around the Rhinns, also the famous red phone box at the Sanaigmore junction.
Islay is a good place for cycling, come sun or rain (those in the know will get the reference. It’s also mentioned in the video). Kev went on a long ride from Kilchoman Cottages around the Rhinns as well as over to Port Ellen via Bowmore and back. Various views of the island in his video:
Wee Tour of Islay
And that’s not all, Kev has done more cycling on Islay and just recently uploaded another video. That’s for another post though, coming soon.
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.
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.
After over 4 years of only speaking over the internet (Skype, Signal) due to Covid and various other reasons my sister is visiting me from Germany for the first time in a very long time. I decided that warranted opening a special bottle of Islay single malt which had been sitting on my Islay shelf for many years. As my sister doesn’t drink but still enjoys the smell of good whisky we share: She gets to nose the dram, then I get to drink it. Which one is it? This one:
A PC12 Islay single malt for Imke’s visit
It’s a Bruichladdich Port Charlotte PC12 bottle I must have bought many many many Moons ago. Unopened on the left, opened on the right. Enjoyed two very very very lovely large drams before it returned into the safety and darkness of it’s tin again.
So there we are, 2022 is coming to an end, 2023 will come in shortly. Time for a last pick of Islay single malt whisky for this festive season. Decided to go with something special, something I hadn’t really expected to own and drink. After all there are only 3,000 bottles of it. Below is my very own bottle of it:
Bruichladdich Laddie Origins Fèis Ìle 2021 Islay single malt whisky
This is my bottle of the Bruichladdich Laddie Origins Fèis Ìle 2021. It is bottle 2,669 of 3,000 bottles produced.
If you think back this was during the Covid pandemic (not something we like to think back to, but still), when Fèis Ìle was a virtual festival. Around that time Bruichladdich had a monthly ballot to buy a bottle of their “valinch single cask” (as nobody could visit the distillery to fill a bottle). I had entered the ballot every month, but hadn’t been successful once. So when they opened a ballot for the festival I submitted my entry without much hope, thinking this will be majorly oversubscribed and I don’t stand a chance.
And yet to my surprise a few weeks later an email arrived in my inbox that my submission had been successful and I was a winner. Soon after the bottle arrived and 18 months later I’ve now decided to open it.
I’m enjoying a few drams of it tonight (and it is indeed a lovely dram I think, a worthy festival bottling) and will enjoy a few more tomorrow on New Year’s Day. Regular readers of this blog will know my routine for New Year’s Day: A walk along the canal in the morning. Then the New Year’s Day concert from Vienna while enjoying a nice brunch with scrambled eggs, sausages, smoked salmon and of course the already mentioned few drams. Another walk in the afternoon to a local pub for a New Year’s pint.
And on that note I’m signing off for today and this year, good night, see you in the new year!
It’s about time I go through some of my bookmarks and notes from the last couple of weeks (or even months) and share some of the articles and more about or at least mentioning Islay. Hopefully you’ll find something of interest to read and possibly share:
To start with travel writer Peter Irvine shares his favourite spots on Scotland’s loveliest islands, which of course includes Islay and Jura. They are spots 6-9, the Paps of Jura, Geese at Gruinart, Carraig Fhada Lighthouse and the Machrie Hotel.
Uproxx (which seems to be a music, film and lifestyle website) writes about a whisky-centric trip to Scotland with a few stops on Islay. The Islay stops are Bowmore Hotel Lucci’s Whisky Bar and Kilchoman distillery. Also an honourable mention for Ardbeg and Lagavulin distilleries. Not to forget plenty Islay pictures.
