A double dose of distilleries: Bunnahabhain and Jura
Islay Festival Day 7
Daily drams, legendary distilleries, and festival highlights... You can find it all here. Shop, explore, delight.
Join the 40th Islay Celebration
Fèis Ìle turns 40 this year. On paper, it's a festival of music and malts. In reality, it’s a pilgrimage for peat lovers, a week-long whisky-soaked celebration of Islay’s rich distilling tradition. Part whisky showcase, part island rave, part spiritual retreat. It’s where distilleries fling open their doors, roll out the drams, and welcome fans from every corner of the world (and internet) with music, food, dancing, and yes – a fair bit of mid-morning whisky. It’s not just about limited editions (though those help). It’s about reconnecting with the heart of where whisky begins: the warehouses, the weather, and the people who make it.
We’re not all lucky enough to be on Islay for the festivities, espeically in this anniversary year, but your glass doesn’t need a ferry ticket. This year, we’re giving you the next best thing: a daily-updated showcase of the distilleries taking part, with a stellar lineup of smoky sips, old favourites, and bottles worth shouting about. Whether you're dramming along in your garden or simply fuelling your wanderlust, consider this your whisky map to Islay in festival season.
DAY SEVEN, FRIDAY 29TH MAY: BUNNAHABHAIN & JURA
Bunnahabhain: Islay’s great bait-and-switch
You arrive at Bunnahabhain expecting a smoke monster because the distillery sits on the world’s most famous peated whisky island. Instead, classic Bunna greets you with rich sherry casks, nuts, dried fruit, sea salt, oily texture, and soft coastal character. That softer style helped Bunnahabhain stand apart, as does its lovely old-school quality. All leather armchairs, polished wood, fruitcake, tobacco, and salty sea air all tangled together. That’s not to say the distillery ignores peat entirely. Modern peated releases prove Bunna can absolutely go smoky when it wants to. But the heart of the distillery remains deeply comforting whisky with a maritime soul. Islay for people who like contemplation as much as combustion.
Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old
Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old is a rich, softly coastal single malt driven by sherry casks, texture, and maritime depth. Matured in a combination of bourbon and sherry casks before bottling at 46.3% ABV without chill-filtration or added colouring, it has notes of nuts, toffee, dried fruit, sea salt, spice, and gentle oak wrapped around a slightly oily mouthfeel that gives the whisky real presence. It’s also one of the best gateway whiskies in Scotland. Once it's on your shelf, it never really leaves again.
Tasting Notes
Nose:
Fresh, sweet, and a little floral. There’s seaweed, rich malt, dried fruit, camphor, caramel, chocolate orange, and apple poached in cinnamon.
Palate:
Soft and supple with a nutty, sherried quality leading among vanilla, marmalade, sultanas, and a bright coastal element.
Finish:
Mochaccino, dried herbs, Christmas cake spice, and a balanced salty tang.
Jura: Don't underestimate it
Located on the tiny Isle of Jura, just across the water from Islay, Jura produces whisky that often feels shaped as much by isolation and landscape as production methods. This is a wild, sparsely populated island of mountains, storms, deer, and barely any people. You can taste some of that ruggedness in the whisky too. Classic Jura isn’t usually about huge peat levels or aggressive smoke. Instead, the distillery leans into honeyed malt, gentle spice, nuts, citrus, coffee, dark fruit, and a slightly oily coastal character. Good Jura has a knack for sneaking up on you. The older expressions especially can be deeply complex and atmospheric, with real elegance. It’s not Islay whisky, technically, but it's the perfect neighbour.
Jura 18 Year Old
Jura 18 Year Old is matured initially in American oak bourbon barrels before a finishing period in Premier Grand Cru Classé Bordeaux casks, giving it a balance of rich fruit, honeyed malt, cocoa, roasted coffee, and soft spice. Jura’s distinctive island character adds a windswept quality that isn't as aggressive as some Islay peat monsters, it's more subtle and atmospheric. Imagine this, a comfy char, a storm outside... It's a serious whisky for a very good price (at least in this market).
Tasting Notes
Nose:
Stewed berries, toasted almonds, Wine Gums, hickory, honey, and milk chocolate lead into polished oak, coffee beans, sea breeze, and a faint whisper of campfire smoke.
Palate:
Rich and velvety with notes of brandied cherries, salted caramel, Turkish delight, milky coffee and blackcurrant jam, roasted nuts, cinnamon spice, black pepper, and soft vanilla cream balanced by drying oak and gentle maritime character.
Finish:
Long and warming with lingering red fruit, mocha, oak spice, charred orange peel, and a subtle earthy smokiness drifting underneath.
Every Distillery, Every Day
We're spotlighting each distillery on their festival day, but every bottle stays on the shelf throughout. Explore hero picks from all 11 brands – from cult classics to bold new voices.
Bruichladdich Laddie
Unpeated, unapologetic, and bursting with coastal character. A brilliant example of Islay thinking differently.
Islay Festival Special Releases
Explore additional expressions from the island’s iconic distilleries – smoky, sherried, and everything in between.
READ MORE ABOUT ISLAY HERE
Find out what’s happening on each day, the Islay whisky distilleries that will open in the future, and what makes the island so special on our blog and whisky guides.
