Guest post - The Spellers give advice about visiting Islay during Feis Ile

My favourite story about the Spellers is the one I tell about my mother's reaction when I explained in 2014 that we were staying with people in Scotland we had met on the internet. Of course, to my mother's generation meeting individuals on the internet is just as bad as hitchhiking on a freeway and getting in a car with a total stranger. It didn't matter that Graham and I had an online relationship with them for about a year beforehand or that we had skyped a few times over coffee/breakfast routines, etc.. (I didn't even try to explain skype to her!?) But I digress.... ;)

Friends & adopted family!

The Spellers quickly became friends. We've been through some interesting trips with them and we've survived the fantastic, the bad and the ugly together. I consider Ansgar a sister of sorts and Thomas makes me laugh until my ribs hurt. They are not just 'virtual' friends anymore, they are family to me and for as long as I live I will ensure that we get to hang out at every opportunity. This year marks my 3rd road trip with them and I couldn't be prouder to have them featured on my blog. The Spellers travel, blog and experience their entire whisky journey together - always. That's pretty cool I think and gives a perspective that is different than most as it forces them to constantly work as a team, evaluate options together and in the end their choices often make for the best #whiskyfabric opportunities. I asked them to answer my questionnaire about Feis Ile as they were 'pros' having been there more often then the rest of us. I couldn't have imagined being on Islay without them, they truly made the experience magical for all of us in the house we rented together. 

Without further ado... The Spellers 

( http://whiskyspeller.blogspot.ca/ )

"Johanne asked us to share our opinions about the Feis Ile 2015 festival, the island and the people. She knows us a little so it may explain why she gave us questions to answer instead of letting us babble on about details that were not related to the point she was hoping to make, like did you know that Graham and Johanne were married by Jim McEwan during the trip to Feis Ile, peanuts aren’t really nuts at all and milk comes from cows? (Some of these facts are untrue.) Here we go...

The most enjoyed and appreciated things about visiting Islay?

Easy, Islay is awesome. People living there are living on Islay time; if things do not turn out as expected today, they might tomorrow. If there has been a storm, chances are half the island is without water or electricity, and common sense dictates you roll up your sleeves and help your neighbours, loved ones, or the people you do not know.

Besides that, the nature and wildlife are superb. You might not know it as a whisky enthusiast, but besides its whisky, Islay is well known for the (rare) bird population, and attracts many birdwatchers year round. Put on a rucksack and your hiking shoes and you can do many days without seeing any lifeform save the many sheep and deer (even more so when you are to include the neighbouring island of Jura), enjoying the raw and untouched nature.

The best kept secret of the island?

The mythical 'steering wheel wave'. It is impossible not to join in after fifteen minutes in your car. ;)

Should every whisky geek attend Feis Ile at least once? Or maybe every year?

Short answer: yes, and then no. Longer answer: yes, we think every whisky geek should at least once to do this pilgrimage and enjoy the festivities the distilleries pull out of their top hats. There are eight distilleries in a relatively small area, nine if you include Jura again, which also has their own festivities during Feis Ile too. In one long and enduring week, every day has its own distillery theme, and next to these events, there are many more organized by the locals. Should a whisky geek do this every year? No. At least not for us. We have been to Islay three times, two of which during the festival, and we find the magic of the island is quite different without the whisky minded people. Better? We don’t know, but (even) more relaxed? Most definitely. We have already said we are taking a break from Feis Iles to come, and will be returning to Islay off-season at some point. At another point we will most likely be there again during a festival week though, even if it would be only for the many #whiskyfabric meetings.

Best options for accommodations during the festival?

If you are on a budget, the obvious choice is to stay in one of the camping areas, or, with more certainty of dry feet, the Hostel in Port Charlotte. If you manage to book on time, the best options are the luxury cottages in Bowmore, at Octomore Farm or at the Ardbeg distillery, but you will burn a big part of your whisky budget there. For us, the best option was to rent/share a self- catering cottage.

Bringing our own car made it easier to pick a location just outside the larger towns. It allowed us to save a few dollars, enjoy nature as well as the peace and quiet the island offers. This site helped us a lot in our search, but be aware of spots that are pointed out as “romantic, nostalgic or with old features” can also indicate the utilities may be somewhat... ehm... primitive. You have to be aware and prepared that on the island a storm can be cut off by a storm or that the water supply to the cottage comes from a burn up the hill and if it has not rained for a bit, the water simply runs out.

If you are not bringing your own car you will have to depend on public transport so we recommend staying in Port Ellen or Bowmore where access to the bus is easiest. If you consider renting a bicycle be very aware the hills are steeper then they seem and the wind so much stronger then you might think. It also rains on Islay, but unlike other places we have visited, it does so horizontally (not kidding). It is much easier to plough through the torrential weather and stampedes of cows/ sheep crossings in the safety of a car.

Ok, so you are at Feis Ile. What distillery day is than the first or last on the list to visit?

Where to go for sure? Easy -> Bruichladdich and Ardbeg. They are the biggest parties during the festival and are a guarantee for a lot of fun. Bunnahabhain gets a mention on the go-to list. Good people there, throwing together a great atmosphere. 

What day to skip? We would say on the current experiences we had that would be Caol Ila. It was fun but we could not feel the passion and fun flowing around the courtyard as we did during the other distillery day festivities and we also skipped Bowmore day because, well, we are just not big Bowmore fans.

What to recommend if you only have the 3 first days, or just 1, to spend during Feis Ile?

If you can’t make it to Feis Ile for the whole festival but only the first days then make sure to have a little dance and some drams with Pinky at Lagavulin, eat some fresh fish at the Seafood Shack, do a tour at the Port Ellen maltings (only available during the festival) and end with an ‘Artisan Octomore’ burger and dram at Bruichladdich. Don’t go if you only have one day to spare for the island during Feis Ile because you will only end up changing the rest of your plans and calling in sick so you can stay the whole week to do more. The island is not that big, but it does take time to get from the one side to the other and you will want to stop to roll around in the peat bogs to make peat angels or chill at one of the beautiful white beaches. In both cases you will start banging your head against a wall in regret when you are only there for a quick visit. Quick anything and Islay do not match.

Kilchoman. Visit, yes or no?

After doing this a few times we would not recommend doing so during the festival. That is based on our own experience due to:

ZE ZHERMANZ*!

You see, first there is the small fucking road with all the potholes and when you think those are done you find more potholes as well as walls, corners you can’t look around, sheep, idiots with humongous camper vans and don’t even think of spaces to try and pass. Yes… We went there, but for us, not ever again during the festival. There are simply too many idiots that think they are on the German Autobahn so, we will pass and recommend the same for anyone thinking of going.

The best distillery tour received on Islay?

The best ever distillery tour on Islay we received was also the one we sort of gave at Laphroaig during their Feis Ile 2015 day. Sharing the #whiskyfabric passion and love and showing our friend Jo Lawson around her favourite Islay distillery was amazing. We started backwards (starting at the stills, ending not making malt angels on the malt floor), just having lots of fun and laughs. Those are the lasting memories that make our Feis Ile experiences a success. Where to wander off to for some other great tours? Go to Bruichladdich for a warm welcome, or to Ardbeg, Lagavulin or Bunnahabhain. All with their own charm, history and wonderful tour guides.

Of the people we were fortunate enough to meet on Islay, _____ stands out the most because...

The island may be called the Queen of the Hebrides, but she houses some wonderful kings and queens. We were fortunate enough to have met "La Reine de L’Alambic" (the queen of the stills) Martine Nouet before, and were invited to her house where we met Norma Munro with her golden voice. The lady with the shop besides Islay Ales sold us some amazing marmalade, and the woman in the tiny soap store in Bowmore explained in detail how we could easiest go to the young lady running Outback Arts, beyond the road to Kilchoman. We were welcomed at (almost) all of the distilleries as if we were family, were driven around the island by Bruichladdich’s own Carl Reavey and had one or two drams with our Canadian, English and Dutch friends at the house we shared with them, and last but not least, with many of the Austrian, Danish, German, Japanese, Israeli, Belgian, American, and too many other nationalities to mention #whiskyfabric friends.

Most valuable piece of advice? And something about budget…?

It sounds crazy when you know what we said so far about Islay and planning, but plan ahead as much as possible on accommodations during the festival. One year in advance is not crazy, especially when you may be coming over with a group. Keep in touch with distilleries and monitor social media about Islay and the festival program(s), and make sure you book the ferry well in advance. Don’t wait until the last minute to make arrangements and most of all: don’t try to do too many events. Take some time to breathe in the Islay air. This Islay website is not always the quickest to be up to date but gives good feedback on how and what is there.

Budget wise? Well, set a budget because you will be tempted to buy all the distillery festival bottlings, especially when you are driving your own car (trust us, we know). Set yourself a reasonable budget in advance, keep track of your purchases and stop when you reach your limit. Most important: when you buy a bottle, open it and share it, either during the festival, or back home with your friends that could not make it to come with you. Please do not sell the bottles for a quick buck, and give the wrong example.

The most surprising thing about Feis Ile and/or Islay?

Winds - 80km/h - not kidding!?

Not Feis Ile per se, but Islay - like the rest of Scotland, has some surprises up her sleeves. When you do not like the current weather or location, drive another five minutes and your surroundings will most likely have changed from the rough seashore to an (almost) Caribbean beach, including weather type. Once you have seen the colour of the Bruichladdich bottle in Loch Indaal, or the beautiful village of Portnahaven with waters dancing with shimmering sun or the forests beyond Ardbeg distillery you might know what we mean. Locals pouring you a generous dram (often at 11 in the morning), handing you a dry towel (weather permitting) or as we mentioned before experiencing the magic of the steering wheel wave, these are only things you experience when on Islay. 

Go there. As so many before us and many more to come... Make that pilgrimage, you won't regret it!

Bruichladdich Day crowd madness ;)

With love,

Thomas and Ansgar Speller

WhiskySpeller

*not just Germans, tourists in general, including ourselves.

And so I saved the best of the guest blogs about Islay/Feis Ile for last. I think Ansgar and Thomas provided the most complete list of what to do, expect and possibly experiencing if you do decide to go. But.. if you've been following along, you'll note we have all pretty much said the same thing:

1. Don't wait until the last minute to book anything (especially accommodations).

2. Expect the island to be brimming with idiots, friends, whisky and delays...  LOTS of delays.

3. Plan your days carefully as there is so much to do, see and share.

I do hope these guests blogs as well as my own musings give a better indication of what to expect when on Islay during Feis Ile. It's a magical place where anything can happen, including meeting some of your biggest whisky heroes as well new ones! 

Cheers,

Lassie

Guest Blog - Benoit Bailey, the peathead with a penchant for Littlemills

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! What better way to start 2016 with an interesting piece from a fresh faced whisky enthusiast! You see... Benoit Bailey and I have not met, yet... well not in the physical sense but we have been friends on twitter for some time (@RatherBeOnIslay) and most recently we had a fantastic evening on Skype sharing some whisky samples. During that conversation we also discovered we are going to be on Islay at the same time in May 2016 so we are both looking forward to hanging out, visiting distilleries or hiking together once we are there. 

Benoit loves peated whiskies, there is no doubt about that. So you can imagine my surprise when one of our twitter conversations turned to talking about Lowland whiskies?! Specifically, he has a healthy obsession with Littlemill. So when I received a sample of the Littlemill 25, 2015 Private Cellar Edition for review I thought it would be a great idea if he would review it with me. What followed was very unexpected but so much fun! Between the two of us we had 7 different Littlemills so we sent each other samples and picked a date to have a horizontal tasting. The results of that will come in a later blog, but for now here is Benoit's first whisky post ever: 

"Littlemill… Did you say Littlemill? I could understand Port Ellen, or even Brora, but, Littlemill…?? Well for a peathead like me, this is a strange choice as a favorite lost distillery especially in Canada where it is difficult to find Littlemill bottles. Well, in fact, it is Littlemill just because I am a peathead! 

This was the first non-peated whisky (Berry Brothers & Rudd Littlemill 1992 20 yo cask 9) that I tasted and truly enjoyed. You know that feeling of something being so good you want to open a new bottle as soon as the first one is finished! It's also the first time that I bought a bottle when in fact should have purchased the remaining lot before it was sold out ->Hart Brothers Littlemill 1989 21 yo first filled sherry butt, oh my!! 

I'm sure you have had that unfortunate feeling of regret at one time or another. After tasting that very first Littlemill, the floodgate opened and suddenly, there was way more to whisky than just the peated variety.

I understand that Littlemill mostly seemed to have a bad reputation. This is why up to recently, I was only buying the bottles that I could find tasting notes for. The low scores of the young official bottling’s on the Malt Maniacs’ Whisky Monitor Database are examples of this bad rep. 

No wonder this Lowlands distillery closed: a distillery needs to have a good "teen" whisky to be successful. However, if we look back at the Malt Maniacs’ Whisky Monitor Database, it is also apparent that the older independent bottlings of Littlemill get much better ratings – as well as much more appealing tasting notes. Could it be that Littlemill needs to spend at least 20 years of quality time in casks in a dark corner of a warehouse or simply that the independent bottlers got rid of the bad casks? Who knows? 

Maybe the recent official releases by Loch Lomond, the actual owner of the Littlemill brand, could give us an insight into that. However, my bottles of the 2012 as well as the 2014 release of the 21 yo are still unopened. I tried to register for the Whisky Wire Littlemill Flash Blog review of the 2015 Private Cellar Edition 25 yo to taste it but sadly to no avail…

From the few Littlemill I sampled, I can draw my own humble flavor profile of Littlemill:

1) Icing powdered sugar: Until recently I had never seen any review mentioning this. I was pretty insecure when I used this description. However, I now have found out that Michael Jackson described the Littlemill as “marshmallow, perhaps powdery icing sugar?” Talk about confirmation that I should stop being insecure about my description!!! 

Interestingly, this flavor was still present in a first filled Port Pipe I tasted as well as in the sherry butt bottle I mentioned earlier– the later tasted like candied white powdered doughnuts, and Homer Simpson would have liked them a lot. I have never done a pairing with these white powdered doughnuts, but as I write this, I realized that these two bottles might make a perfectly paired dessert dram with it! For me this is the staple flavor that defines Littlemill.

2) Fruity: Usually citrus but also tropical fruits. And lots of fruits, enough to get your daily ration of fibers and vitamin C in a dram! This is what I am looking in the tasting notes when I am on the hunt for the Littlemill. This is what got me hooked on it!

3) Vegetal: It's a flavour that I would describe as hay in a bad way, almost decaying hay - never tasted that but I am sure this is it! I could pick it up in some of the samples I tasted before but not as much as in the official 12 yo I recently open. This explains why this bottling is rated so low and probably why I was able to find one very recently in the USA at a decent price. But luckily, you can still taste the icing powdered sugar in it, which rendered it mildly enjoyable despite the vegetal notes.

I am likely to update this flavor profile as I open more Littlemill bottles in the future. I just wished I had as many different Littlemill bottles to taste as Menno, the initiater and owner of the Whiskybase.com web site, and the likely foremost collectionner of Littlemill.

On a final note, on my first trip to Islay, I decided to stop in Bowling, on the site of the former distillery, 15-20 minutes away from Glasgow International Airport to do a recon. The amazing header picture of the new @Littlemill2015 twitter account would have been useful as a guide at the time of my visit. Of the Littlemill distillery, not much is left. We can still see the enclosed distillery Exciseman's House on Dumbarton Road. Its deterioration is sadly chronicled on the Buildings at risk Register for Scotland. 

There are also remains of the distillery that were incorporated at each end of a modern apartment building at Littlemill Place that is across the Exciseman's House.  The other buildings were either demolished or destroyed by a fire. However, there is also a Littlemill Lane just west of the Exciseman's House with a building just off Dumbarton Road made in the same stones as the remains of the distillery found at Littlemill Place. If it was not part of the distillery, it must have been built in the same years.

I also walked to the Auchentorlie Burn, the water source of the former distillery and brought back would could have been future whisky. Did I say that I am a Littlemill fan or what? It can be easily access by a footpath/bicycle route that parallels and is between the main road, the A82, and Dumbarton Road.  This burn supplied water for the Little Mill, the mill on the estate of Auchentorlie, which was on the same site as the distillery and explains its name. Interestingly, we can see the burn disappears under Dumbarton Road to reach the River Clyde near the Exciseman's House on what was the distillery site. Further down Dumbarton road, well east of the Exciseman's House are also Littlemill Court apartment buildings that commemorate the mill and the distillery but without remains. 

There is an interesting YouTube video that shows the inside and outside of the abandoned distillery in September and October 1996. At 3:47 you can see shelves with bottles apparently left behind as well as some casks. The emptied racked warehouse as it appeared on October 1^st 1996 is also shown at 5:26. Finally, the video shows crew at work from October 15^th to the 30^th demolishing buildings adjacent to the Exciseman’s House when it was clearly in better shape. Well, all this talk about Littlemill has left me really thirsty… Johanne, how about a tasting?"

Thank you Benoit for not only providing us with a walk through your experience in Scotland but some insight on this silent distillery. I've written previously that I had had a pretty bad first experience with Littlemills to the point where I was somewhat reluctant to try them again. Super glad I did a few times in 2015 as it's changed my mind, and with some insight on what bottlings I should be looking for, they are still somewhat reasonably priced as far as silent distillery whisky goes. 

In the coming days, I will be posting the results of my and Benoit's Facetime Littlemill horizontal tasting of 7 different bottlings. It was a great night with new discoveries including what we both thought of the Loch Lomond Group Littlemill 25. Stay tuned, there were some very interesting whiskies that night.

So here's to a new year, may your discoveries be as interesting as mine!

Cheers,

Lassie 

Fèis ìle - Guest blogger Peter Moser from Friends of Single Malts (FoSM)

Why should you only hear what my opinions are about Fèis ìle after all it was my very first time and there are 1000's of people that go to this festival every year. Wouldn't it be to your benefit and mine to hear/see what other thought as well?  WELL OF COURSE of course it would silly!!!!  

So I devised a plan where I would contact people that I met while on Islay and ask them 10 simple questions. They are from all walks of life, background and nationalities. The first person to answer me was Peter Moser. We actually met on the very last day in the Ardbeg Warehouse tour where we enjoyed a very old dram together while we walked around exploring. 

Peter (@MrSingleMalt) writes for: www.fosm.de  which is not in English but has a decent translator so I mostly make sense of what he loves to write about, which in case you didn't know is whisky! So here are the 10 questions I asked Peter about Islay and what he thought...

"Islay was always a place I wanted to go and never did. Eight working distilleries on a tiny little island and a ninth just on the next island called Jura. It is not only the number of distilleries but as well the landscape and people that brought me back after my first visit in 2012. This year was my third visit and it will not be my last. All three times I was joining new and old friends for the Feis Ile – the Whisky Festival on Islay.

1. Do you think every whisky geek should attend Feis Ile at least once and if so why?

Definitely and then see if they can actually resist coming back. I have met a lot of people since I have visited Islay 11 to 14 times and some of them love the island so much they have moved there part or full time. Decide for yourself but be prepared, it's addictive!


2. In your opinion, what is the best option during during Feis Ile for accommodations?

There is not too much available as far as luxury accommodations but the rest has a varied range. So it really depends on your budget and the lead time to get what you really want. Staying with a group in a self catering cottage can be a lot of fun, but most of them are outside of the villages so someone has to drive. I found a B&B in Bowmore and have stayed there ever since. They treat me like family and when you are a first timer they tell you a lot about the island, the people and since they know many of the locals they can arrange things for you. If you have a tent or a caravan you might be lucky enough to stay directly on the grounds of some of the distilleries if you ask them nicely.


3. What distillery day do you think is the best?

This is a hard one. There is no 'THE' best but if I have to choose one it would be Ardbeg. I will also mention that you should not miss Bruichladdich either. Ardbeg has the best day program for all levels of people which includes more than just pre-booked events. They do a great job at providing entertainment for everybody. These are the only two distillery days where I stay on the grounds for the full day. 

4. What things did you appreciate and enjoy the most about visiting Islay and why?

It is a magical island and it's not as simple as stating one thing. Visiting Islay the second time was a bit like coming home. I cannot describe it any better and there are several people I have spoken to with the same feelings. It’s a lot about the landscapes. Light and shadow, sun and rain (even hail showers), distilleries, whisky, meeting friends, finding new friends and lovely local people.


5. What restaurants would you recommend for quality, service and/or price?

There are several with new ones popping up every year. One new one for me was the Lochindaal Hotel Restaurant in Port Charlotte. We had a group reservation (Highly recommend doing that) and we ate some fantastic fresh seafood platters. Just perfect.

6. Of all the people you were fortunate enough to meet on Islay, who stood out the most? 

I could easily choose several like Jim McEwan, Mickey Heads, Georgie Crawford, John McLellan or John Campbell. All great people to meet. Same to a lot of local characters but the one that has impressed me most is Jackie Thomson (Visitor Center Manager at Ardbeg). On my second year visiting Islay she recognized my face and asked me “I’ve seen you before. What’s your name?”. I told her and since then she has greeting me by name every time. She meets thousands of people every year! But to be honest it was quite impressive to meet somebody like her.

7. If someone only had the three first days to visit Islay during Feis Ile, what would you recommend and why?

Buy a bottle at Lagavulin Open Day (Saturday). They will have their 200 years anniversary next year and will bottle something very special. Say “Hello” to Georgie Crawford. Then drive further on to Ardbeg, eat in their nice Kiln Café and say “Hello” to Jackie. Go on in direction Kildalton Cross but stop before entering the woods. There will be Seals on the rocks. Take a break. Go on to Kildalton Cross and appreciate the history you will find there. Then further on to Ardtalla and down to the beach. On your way back visit Laphroaig. Have a nice dinner at one of lovely local restaurants. You can repeat this the other two days, but on Sunday there is Bruichladdich open day. Very good option to choose. If you are lucky you booked (be quick and book really early!) a masterclass ticket. It might be different next year but I’m sure they will give you a great time. The rest of the day will be full of drinks, eating, music and a lot of talks. You can take your own distillery tour and just go through Bruichladdich on this day. This is very unique. If you did not have enough distillery visits yet, you can visit all the others. You can have some nature walks instead – beaches or the Oa with the American Monument. Be prepared: there is enough you can do that will not fit in your three days.

8. What has been the best distillery tour you received on Islay and why? 

From the standard tours I would say Laphroaig as they do have their own malting floors and you can go into their kiln even if it is “on fire”. There are a lot of special tours at some distilleries and they are always changing over the years. One I really can recommend is “Deconstructing the dram” at Ardbeg. You end up in Warehouse 3 and “rebuild” there standards with cask samples. Great experience. My personal best one was a whole Shift at Ardbeg, but this was a once in a lifetime event.

9. Did you visit Kilchoman and would you recommend it? 

It is at the moment (till Gartbreck is finished) the only Farm Distillery on Islay. It is small and is doing its own floor maltings. Keep in mind you need some kind of transportation to get there as it is quite remote and there is no public transit. Also in that area is some lovely scenery at Machir and Saligo Bay. Be prepared for a bad narrow road and a busy place during the open day.

10. After your first visit to Feis Ile the most valuable piece of advice  you can give is what?

Plain and simple: Don’t go there if you are thinking it's a once in a lifetime trip! If you do not follow my advice chances are might get addicted and go back and back and back".

Thank you Peter for sharing your thoughts with us. It's pleasing to know that you and I share many of the same opinions and would give the same advice when it comes to Islay. I totally agree that once you've been it's highly addictive and the very first thought you have after you drive off the ferry is: "When can I come back"?

Stay tuned for my adventure to Jura... It was another fantastic highlight that I can't wait to share!
Until then... Islay time calls you.

Guest blog - Richard Culver reviews Ardbeg Perpetuum

While I refrain and somewhat 'relax' from my recent trip to Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans I thought maybe in the meantime you might like to read another review of the Ardbeg Perpetuum. 

When I posted mine, I asked for others to send me their opinions. Which they did...

http://whiskylassie.blogspot.ca/2015/06/review-ardbeg-global-retail-perpetuum.html

I received a lovely email from a friend of mine who has done guests blog posts before: Richard Culver from Hamilton Ontario. Here is his story (cue the dramatic music from Law & Order)

Begin post: I think Ardbeg got it wrong or maybe it was the people at Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy but either way you and I are going to suffer.

Like many other Ardbeg committee members I received an email a couple of months ago telling me:

Dear Committee Member We've come a long way in the last 200 years. So this Ardbeg Day, as well as looking back into the past, we donned our jet packs and glimpsed the future of Ardbeg. And we have to say, it looks fantastic. 15,000 of you made this one not only the best, but the biggest Ardbeg Day ever, at 135 events around the world. Japan had a time travel tunnel, the US had Shortie Circuit racing, while in Germany five cities competed against each other with games involving drones and robotic barrel racing, amongst other things. Here on Islay, we welcomed friends old and new for futuristic food, music, and of course, drams ofArdbeg Perpetuum. Take a look at the pictures from around the globe and share your own at facebook.com/Ardbeg and twitter @ardbeg_com using #ArdbegDay.  So how can we possibly top Ardbeg Day 2015? You'll just have to wait until next year to find out... Slainte! Mickey Heads, Committee Chairman

So -> 15,000 of us. 135 events around the world. What a great success that is.

Ardbeg had the pleasure of some fantastic advanced hype because one of the bloggers, that they sent a free bottle to, realized that it was worth more to him (her?) to just put the bottle up for auction. Perhaps if you have a huge sense of entitlement and feel you are underpaid and underappreciated you do those sorts of things. After all, it’s so easy to just copy and paste the distillery issued tasting notes and add some verbose script. Credibility obviously is not that person’s strong suit but, it was to the benefit of Ardbeg. Bidding went crazy. Demand for Perpetuum was at an all-time high even before it was released. What manufacturer of product doesn’t want that?

  

By all accounts, I should have really enjoyed Ardbeg Perpetuum. I didn’t. There, I said it and it's not because I don’t like Ardbeg. I do, a lot. I currently have open bottles of the 10, Uigeadail, Corryvreckan and Ardbog in my cabinet. All are enjoyed regularly and the first three are always replaced when empty.

It wasn’t because of the venue where I got to try Perpetuum that I didn’t enjoy it. I went with friends to The Caledonian Pub in Toronto for Ardbeg Day. It is my absolute favourite pub in Toronto. They have great food and a great selection of malts. Donna and Dave make everyone feel at home there. I go there routinely. It’s one of eight Arbeg Embassies in Canada. Studies show familiar place and people are positive factors for ensuring that you enjoy you beverage.

It wasn’t because of the Brand Ambassador. Ruaraidh is a bright shining star among ambassadors. He is able to provide that perfect blend of education, entertainment and enthusiasm to create a warm inviting atmosphere in any environment. His passion for Ardbeg is invigorating.  His dad and grand-dad have worked at Ardbeg, it's in his blood.

It wasn’t because Ardbeg had the Harr producing smoke  fog  Scottish Mist or the sample of Supernova that had been to space. These items added to the excitement.  Although someone suggested that for the cost of the Supernova display they could have supplied every committee member in Toronto with a bottle of Perpetuum. I don’t know the costs of the traveling Supernova display but it did gather quite a bit of interest among attendees and the local media.

Nope... None of those were the reasons that I wasn’t impressed by the Perpetuum. After you get past the marketing campaign of any spirit it is “what is in the glass” that counts. For me the Perpetuum did not display that Big Bold Perfect Mix of Peat and Sweet.

I was invited back to The Caledonian two weeks later for a tasting of some cask samples with Hamish Torrie from Scotland. Hamish brought along cask strength samples which showed me that Ardbeg is capable of producing that Perfect Mix of Peat & Sweet we love. But Perpetuum isn’t “all that” to me. And judging by a number of bloggers reviews it isn’t “all that” to them either. Maybe the blogger that put his advance bottle up for auction instead of honestly reviewing it knew it wasn’t “all that” to him as well. Who knows?

What really concerns me about Perpetuum is the recent blog post by Thomas at WhiskySaga. He reviewed the two Perpetuums  http://www.whiskysaga.com/ardbeg-perpetuum-vs-ardbeg-perpetuum/  I had to read it twice.

Normally we see 6000 to 7000 bottles in a special release. In this case there are 12,000 bottles of the Ardbeg Perpetuum 200^th Anniversary Distillery Release and 72,000 (yes that’s right, seventy two thousand) bottles of  Ardbeg Perpetuum 200^th Anniversary Special Release. Whiskybase confirms those numbers. If I did the numbers correctly that is 4 (four) percent of their annual production. I couldn’t find any comparable sized distillery that put 4 percent of their annual production into a special release. As a comparator GlenFiddich’s Snow Phoenix was a run of 60,000 bottles. But it was only 0.4 percent of their annual production. I doubt that Snow Phoenix made a dent in Glenfiddich’s aging stocks. I wish that I could say the same for Ardbeg. I can’t help but worry that by putting that much of your stock into a special release, we will miss out on what could have been some future goodness. 

And like I said, then you and I as well as all the others suffer.

Richard (@rmculver on twitter)

Guest writer Maryse Pothier sets out on a Canadian Whisky Head to Head to Head adventure....

3 whisky amigos walk into a bar and order....

So.... let me set the "mood" for this one, hehehe! People who have met me will tell you I'm a bit of an off the wall, hyped up on life passionate whisky aficionado. They will also mention that I have a big heart and love, did I mention LOVE sharing whisky experiences with anyone who is crazy enough to befriend me.  

Maryse (@bergamot63 -> twitter) & I became virtual friends and then met in real life. I liked her from day one mostly because we have similar personalities, we are roughly the same age, at the same points in our lives AND I think she's a little bit crazy like I am. LOL! (I'm not big on hanging out with boring people) When it comes to whisky: I deeply respect her opinions, palate and nose. 

Hint: She is wearing glasses & has dark hair ;)

I've watched Maryse grow so much in the last year, taking on bigger roles in her hometown's whisky society, getting involved and trusting that her palate/nose are really great at getting the more subtle profiles of some of the whiskies we have enjoyed. I was happy when she agreed to join Dan Davies (@Whisky_Yak) and me for a head to head to head of three Canadian Whiskies that are 21 years old. 

I mean after all, we are three Canadians all from different provinces, at different places in our journeys and we all enjoy the whiskies that come from our vast and lovely country. So a few emails later and here we are, ready to let everyone know what we thought of the three whiskies we chose: Century Reserve 21, Collingwood 21 and Danfield's 21.

First up, in no particular order and as promised is my lovely friend Maryse's guest blog:

"Man, this is hard!

This is me always struggling to verbalize or put down on paper my thoughts about the whiskies I sample. For one who is rarely at a loss for words, I have difficulty expressing/describing the sensations brought on by what I am drinking.

So why have I agreed to do this? Why have I sat here, in my living room, getting my knickers in a bunch, trying to make a bit of sense and not sounding too much like a big ignorantamus? And, to top it off, in a language that is not mine?

Because I am on a road to discovery, a learning path that I hope will take me beyond the simple act of putting whisky in my mouth, swallowing it and saying “Dang! That's good!!” If I want to encourage and help other people enjoy whisky, I need to learn to talk about it... intelligently. I know it takes time and practice... which I have not had a lot of (add to that the fact that I am not very studious and rather lazy)... and yet here I am, playing with big boys and girls and squatting Whiskylassie's blog... Sheesh, what was I thinking! Well, you know how it is with us girls; we just want to have fun! This is hard! Hard but fun, hard fun! 

So this is me throwing myself in the pool and doing the doggy paddle, trying to learn to swim! Knowing I would face a few other difficulties, I saved myself the trouble of deciding which whisky to taste first and why... Hurray for alphabetical order! :-p

Century Reserve 21 

I first tasted this whisky a bit more than I year ago and I remember not being very impressed by it... but I was still very new to the whisky universe and even more so to the Canadian whisky world. When it arrived at SAQ a couple of weeks ago, I seized the opportunity to buy it and taste it again and see where it would take me...) 

I found this whisky very difficult to nose... at first, I got nothing, NOTHING!! Then came a bit of citrus but I could not get the “sweetness” I knew I was supposed to get from the corn. As I let it sit there for about ten minutes, I found it lost a lot of its kick. This did not bode well. On the palate I got a lot of cinnamon and some pepper. Because it is a corn whisky I was expecting a creamy taste, a roundness I could not perceive. All I could get was the sensation one gets when eating a mouthful of those little valentine cinnamon hearts. The finish was somewhat long... and peppery.

I just had enough left to add a drop of water, expecting it to collapse... I was wrong... after adding a drop of water, first honey and then a bit of toffee came through... much better... And I got the creaminess I was expecting before but still the cinnamon felt very strong. The finish was still long and peppery but with roundness I could not find at the beginning.

To me this is a very frustrating whisky. I like whiskies with bold flavors and a lot of attitude. This one is most probably too subtle for my beginner's palate. I do not hate it but it is not among my favorites. Maybe it will grow on me in time... or maybe not... 

Collingwood 21 

This little exercise is another proof I should not, ever, trust my first impressions of a whisky! When I first read about this one, I wanted it, really wanted it. A rye whisky, smoothed with maple staves? How perfect that sounded! I wanted it and I wanted to love it and waited for it with almost baited breath...

When I finally poured my first glass, I was like a kid on Christmas Eve! My disappointment was as big as my expectations... I hated it! I was so sad... but knew better... I put the bottle away for another time...

Tonight, it opened up to me and shared with me some of the secrets it had withheld on the previous tasting. On the nose, I got a warm, flowery smell with shy bits of caramel. On the palate it was very spicy, yet creamy and thick. After adding water I got whiffs of raisins and weird yet intriguing smells of creamy cola. It tasted very fruity and the empty glass is bursting with a warm caramel spread smell.

I am so happy to be reconciled with this one; I am going to pour myself another dram! I will have to go easy as this was a one-time bottling and once empty, it can never be replaced... how sad... 

Danfield's Limited Edition 21 

This Canadian whisky holds a special place in my collection and in my heart. Last year a very sweet Lassie, who barely knew me, asked me if I wanted to participate in a Twitter tasting of Canadian whiskies. Four whiskies tasted and discussed on a weekly basis... how intriguing! I had missed the first week but still got all four samples and met weekly and shared (although not much) with a new entity in my life known as the #whiskyfabric. This whisky sure was a game changer... 

I never drink a sample bottle in one sitting, well, almost never. Danfield's was one of the four bottles in this little experiment and not only did I drink it all in one sitting but it sealed the deal between me and Canadian whisky (actually, both Danfield's and Forty Creek's Portwood Reserve did). From then on, I wanted to try more, buy more and most of all know more. When I open the bottle, the nose is, to me, very reminiscent of bourbon. When poured in the glass, I get a very fruity but not too sweet and somewhat dry smell that has nothing to do with the smell that pops from the bottle... How odd is that?! After it has been sitting for a little while apple and a bit of caramel come through. With the addition of a drop of water I get a bit of citrus.

The palate is spicy, warm and slightly buttery with a faint taste of citrus at the end. Water makes it creamier but also more peppery. After the pepper goes away, it leaves a faint toffee taste in your mouth. This is a very special whisky for special occasions.

To me this whisky feels luxurious and rare... well; it actually is in these parts... Before LCBO stopped carrying it, I managed to squirrel away a couple of bottles... phew!"

So there you have it... Maryse's take on three lovely Canadian whiskies that we decided were worth a head to head to head comparison. Look forward to seeing what Dan thought... His blog is next!

Huge thank you for taking a step off the cliff and diving in Maryse. Putting thoughts to paper is not as easy as it seems and you did it like a pro! Dog paddle my ass!  hehehe.... 

Lassie