Islay Whiskies Blog

Ardbeg into space

Luke Summers — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 02:00:52 +0000

Ardbeg wanted to see how zero gravity would affect the maturation of whisky.

So naturally they sent unmatured spirit and particles of charred oak on a rocket into space!

More details on this rather unusual experiment in the articles below:

Scotch in space! (A wee drop)
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/11/11151079-scotch-in-space-a-wee-drop?lite

Distillers use space station to mature whisky in zero gravity
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/weird-news/2012/04/10/distillers-use-space-station-to-mature-whisky-in-zero-gravity-86908-23820184/

Neuroblastoma Children’s Cancer Alliance Whisky Raffle

Luke Summers — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 07:32:41 +0000

Please consider making a donation to the Vanessa Riddle Appeal.

A whisky raffle is being held to provide life saving treatment for a young girl.

The prize includes 9 fantastic whiskies, all of which have been signed by the Distillery Managers.

Tickets are only £5, and can be purchased through justgiving.com here: http://www.justgiving.com/Kate-Ross4

The draw will take place at Bowmore Distillery Wed 25th May.

Luke

Smokehead Single Malt Whisky

Luke Summers — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:54:13 +0000

Smokehead Single Malt Whisky has been added to the Islay Whiskies Shop.

This mystery single malt is sourced from an Islay distillery, but the details are a closely guarded secret!

There’s plenty of passionate debate about which distillery produces the whisky that’s bottled by Ian McLeod Distillers.

Arguments about the mystery distillery aside, everyone agrees that these are outstanding whiskies.

There are currently two whiskies in the Smokehead range:

Smokehead Single Malt Whisky
Smokehead Extra Black 18 Year Old Single Malt Whisky

Give it a try and tell us which distillery you think it is!

Luke

Ardbeg Alligator – limited stock

Luke Summers — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 03:21:57 +0000

Ardbeg Alligator – Untamed Release has been added to the Islay Whiskies Shop.

Stock is very limited, so act quickly and grab this wild whisky by the tail!

We’ve also added some very popular blended whiskies to our shop. These can be very hard to find in some countries and we’ve had a few email requests about these Islay whisky dominant blends.

Black Bottle Blended Scotch Whisky
Islay Mist Blended Scotch Whisky

Luke

‘Smokeheads’ – a novel By Doug Johnstone

Luke Summers — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 08:51:33 +0000

Smokeheads is an intense, black-humoured thriller set on the Isle of Islay!

Smokeheads was penned by Scottish writer Doug Johnstone. When he’s not writing novels, Johnstone is a musician and journalist. He also has a degree in physics, a PhD in nuclear physics and a diploma in journalism, just for good measure.

I should say upfront that I haven’t yet read Smokeheads, but given the setting and heavy emphasis on whisky, I’m keen to check it out!

If you’re likely to be offended by foul language, you may like to give this book a miss, as reportedly the language in this story can get quite colourful. As the story progresses there is also a fair measure of violence, you’ve been warned. If none of this is likely to put you off, you can find a brief description of Smokeheads below:

“Four friends, one weekend, gallons of whisky. What could go wrong? Driven by amateur whisky-nut Adam, four late-thirties ex-university mates are heading to Islay – the remote Scottish island world famous for its single malts – with a wallet full of cash, a stash of coke and a serious thirst. Over a weekend soaked in the finest cask strength spirit, they meet young divorcee Molly, who Adam has a soft spot for, her little sister Ash who has all sorts of problems and Molly’s ex-husband Joe, a control freak who also happens to be the local police. As events spiral out of control, they are all thrown into a nightmare that gets worse at every turn.”

Smokeheads entwines a thriller story with the world of whisky and I for one am keen to see the result. You can pick up a copy of the novel on Amazon.

If you’ve read Smokeheads, let me know what you thought!

Once I’ve acquired a copy and found some time for a read, I’ll put a quick review on the Islay Whiskies Blog!

Luke

Lobster with Lagavulin butter!

Luke Summers — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 11:38:29 +0000

On a recent visit to Lagavulin, English chef and restaurateur Mark Hix cooked up a seafood feast. On the menu was a very delicious sounding ‘Lobster with Lagavulin butter’!

You can find the recipe in his regular column for the The Independent newspaper here:
Lobster with Lagavulin butter

If that’s got you all inspired to cook up some tasty food with whisky, check out this great book by Hans Offringa:
A Taste of Whisky

Luke

Kilchoman releases “100% Islay” whisky

Luke Summers — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:13:04 +0000

Kilchoman has just launched their ’100% Islay’ whisky (officially launched on 16th of June 2011).

The “Kilchoman Inaugural 100% Release” is produced from barley grown, malted, distilled, matured and bottled at the Kilchoman site on Islay.

It’s worth remembering that Kilchoman is Islay’s newest whisky distillery for 124 years, having only been established in 2004. It’s great to see this level of dedication and passion from Kilchoman, and I’m sure this shines through in their unique whisky release.

If you’ve tried this latest release from Kilchoman, please let us know your thoughts!

Luke

Laphroaig 2011 Cáirdeas ‘Ileach Edition’

Luke Summers — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 01:29:36 +0000

A special Laphroaig bottling is now available to ‘Friends of Laphroaig’ (you can sign up using the code from a bottle of Laphroaig).

The ‘2011 Cáirdeas ‘Ileach Edition‘ is exclusively available to FOL. It is the latest in the Cáirdeas series of bottlings by Laphroaig, released each year to coincide with ‘Feis Ile’ – the Islay Festival of Malt and Music.

The whisky is taken from Makers Mark barrels that had matured in the No1 warehouse for 8 years. Here’s how Laphroaig’s Distillery Manager described this unique bottling:
“The quality of the barrels was such that the spirit had the smoothness of a much older whisky yet had an extraordinary set of flavours that get lost in older expressions. It goes without saying that the characteristic ‘peat punch’ is there in spades, but balanced with a beautiful set of spices and fruits.”

If you purchase a bottle of the latest Cáirdeas, let me know what you think!

Luke

Ardbeg Alligator

Luke Summers — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 00:48:52 +0000

A special Ardbeg bottling is now available to ‘Committee Members’ (you can sign up for free on the Ardbeg website).

The ‘Ardbeg Alligator‘ is currently exclusively available to Committee Members, but will also be available to the public at a later date (keep an eye on our shop!).

Here’s how Ardbeg describe this unique bottling: “This wild, untamed release has been matured in new, heavily charred casks of air-seasoned American white oak, imparting additional smoky, spicy, barbecue flavours.”

More information on the ‘Ardbeg Alligator’ here.

If you purchase a bottle of the Ardbeg ‘Gator, let me know what you think!

Luke

Islay distilleries – pronunciation guide

Luke Summers — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 08:17:33 +0000

For those not local to Islay, the names of the whisky distilleries can be a little tricky to pronounce!

With this in mind, I have prepared a very short guide to pronouncing the names of the Islay whisky distilleries. Next to each distillery name is a phonetic guide for saying the name correctly.

Ardbeg – ‘Ard-beg’

Bowmore – ‘bo-moore’

Bruichladdich – ‘Brook-Laddie’ or ‘broo-kladd-ee’

Bunnahabhain – ‘Boona-Har-Vin’ or ‘bu-na-ha-venn’

Caol Ila – ‘Cull-Eela’

Kilchoman – ‘kilhoman’

Lagavulin – ‘Lagga-voolin’

Laphroaig – ‘La-Froyg’

I hope the guide is useful!

Luke Summers