It’s known that Bruichladdich day is an unmissable Fèis Ìle occurence. Here’s how our second day on Islay went down…
My alarm rang through the MoM-slash-Whisky Lounge villa at 7am, alerting the entire house that it was time to wake up. Ordinarily, I’d have remained horizontal. But today was a little different. Today was Bruichladdich day.
Showered and dressed, we whizzed us across the island with the help of Boutique-y Whisky Dave Worthington, who put the pedal to the metal in a bid to get us to Port Ellen Maltings for 9.20am. If you’ve never had the privilege of touring real life maltings in action, check our Instagram Stories. You’re in for a treat.
As excellent as it was, there was no time to linger. We made a beeline for a Bruichladdich masterclass hosted by the veritable Adam Hannett, head distiller. Six drams awaited us there: Bruichladdich 1988 vintage, Port Charlotte Feis Ile 2018 release, Port Charlotte 10, Port Charlotte Black Art (two words: tele… kenesis), BPO*, and quadruple-distilled 2007 vintage Octomore. Our fave? The BPO, which (devastatingly) will never be available for commercial release. Just know this: it blew our minds.
Sixty minutes and six drams later, it was time to venture out to the square, which, incidentally, was filled with poochies. Glorious, glorious poochies.
Poochie #7We soaked up the party atmosphere, enjoyed some great music, ogled the stills and even had a go on the spirit safe, separating the ‘heart’ cut from the heads and tails.
Just like the professionalsWe couldn’t hang around for too long, though. We had a date with Warehouse 12, and more specifically, with Hannett. What a lovely chap. You won’t have to wait too long for the interview footage, and trust us, you’ll want to see it.
While the distillery’s progressive approach to whisky deserves respect, drams are not the sole focus of Bruichladdich day at Fèis Ìle 2018. In fact, The Botanist (a firm favourite with Team MoM) had its very own cocktail bar filled with botanical delights and ‘forage your own garnish’ opportunities.
We went for fennel and rosemary…Our personal favourite was Rhu-barbara-ann; a combination of wild rhubarb, Japanese knotweed, Port Charlotte Islay Barley, and The Botanist. With a cocktail or two (responsibly) in hand, and Jake having joined us straight from his Japanese holibobs, it was time to hit the Dram Bar.
Traditional Bruichladdich Day attire.(Also pictured, Sam Simmons off of Atom Brands who joined us all on Islay today.)
Well, so long as we snapped a pic with Diageo Reserve account manager, James Kemp, en route, who was unwitting continuing MoM’s Hawaii Five-0 Magnum P.I. tradition (minus the ‘stache). Excellent shirts aside, it was time to get stuck in. And if there’s anything MoM doer-of-things Jake Mountain does well, it’s getting stuck in.
We aimed to cover a wide range of styles, prices, and phenol levels, and we did the brief justice. Our fighters were: Bruichladdich Dark Arts, The Classic Laddie, and Octomore 8.1.
The full line-upWe sank the dregs of our drams and bid farewell to Bruichladdich day. Sláinte mhaith.
*A mix of Bruichladdich 1990 vintage finished in PX sherry casks, Port Charlotte 2003 vintage finished in Oloroso sherry casks, Octomore 2002 Sauterne cask-finished whisky.
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Greetings, fellow Fèis Ìle fanatics! Today is none other than Fèis Ìle 2018 Bruichladdich day, and you know what that means. Peat, phenols, and some very special Port Charlotte expressions. Let’s do this.
The pioneering Bruichladdich crew announced plans to relaunch their monstrously peated Port Charlotte line this summer with a veritable selection of brand new drams – elevating today from ‘bloody brilliant’ to ‘absolutely unmissable’.
On the island? Come and find us for a dram of something tasty, grab a t-shirt. Oh, and get your competitive selfie-ing on.
You wouldn’t want to miss out on all the Fèis Ìle 2018 merrymaking now, would you? We thought not. Which is why we’ve decided to share as much Fèis Ìle activity as our intermittent 4G will allow for on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Following along at home? Don’t forget there’s a comp for you, too.
Enjoy, folks!
