What to do when you have one full day on Islay?
It seems like an age ago already, which confronts me with the speed of everyday life, but this entry to Tom’s Dram Diary is about my visit to Islay in January 2025. With only one full day on the island, we had to cram in a lot of activities in the available hours. Let me tell you about our adventures during this one full day, coupled with a tasting from some royally poured samples. Let me take you on a trip to Port Ellen, Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Ardbeg and Bowmore.
Arriving late at night with the ferry from Kennacraig, we were received with a royal welcome at the Bowmore Hotel, where we had some excellent drams before retiring to our room for a well-deserved sleep. The next day, a sunny and blue sky Tuesday, we took off early to drive over the road passing the Port Ellen Airport and the still under construction Laggan Bay Distillery. At the end of the road, we dashed straight on to take a backroad that would lead us to the newly constructed Port Ellen Distillery. On my last visit to Islay, in 2016, there was still only the maltings there. Nowadays, whisky flows from the stills again, but in a brand new facility. All breathes the air of newness, of something exclusive and high-end. Where does that leave the average whisky enthusiast? One look at how you could enter the distillery for a tour, and you have had enough. I snap a picture with the sunrise behind it, and we move on.
On route, we pass yet another distillery under construction, the impressively looking Portintruan that is being built by Elixir Distillers. Soms Ileachs call it the “Farkin” distillery for location purposes. Business is booming on Islay, causing all kinds of trouble, especially with the energy grid. I have written it before and I will repeat it here on my digital medium: with so many iconic and important whisky production sites on this island, why don’t the owners of all these locations put together resources to improve all kinds of infrastructure? Roads, electricity; Islay deserves better than to be sucked dry from water, peat and other elements that create the fabled single malts.
Laphroaig
Our first appointment of the day is at Laphroaig Distillery. We are the very first tourists to arrive for an activity in the new year, and the door to the visitor shop opens for us exactly on time. We snap some pictures of the famous whitewashed walls with the big letters and collect our rent as owners of a square inch of Laphroaig land, a 5 cl bottle of the standard 10 years old. Then we go on an extensive tour of the distillery. Laphroaig is of course one of the few remaining distilleries in Scotland that still partly malts their own barley on a traditional malt floor.
We are mesmerized by the diverse equipment being used here, and we also get to look inside the kiln. For such a large (output) distillery, Laphroaig is not unlike Springbank for looking authentic and genuinely old. The still house is a different story, being enormous to see, with all these splendid stills in a row (and that larger one that will forever baffle visitors). We have seen the distillery a few times on tour already over the years, but new to me was the warehouse tasting we would do at the end of our visit. Sampling young but strong Laphroaig straight from the cask is a true delight, especially when it is the first whisky of the day. We preferred the bourbon cask Laphroaig. We got to take home a 35 cl bottle of a sister cask, which was a delightful end of our visit.
Lagavulin & Ardbeg
We were fast approaching lunchtime so we headed for the best place on Islay to get some food. That would be the Ardbeg Café. Obviously, on the road there, one does not pass by Lagavulin without dropping in for a look at the bottles in the shop. One of the most beautiful memories in my life as whisky lover has been made here. The celebration of the 200th anniversary of the distillery during Feis Ile 2016 was such an explosion of joy, that it will live on forever in my mind. But things did change at the King of Islay in the almost ten years that passed. The beloved distillery manager Georgie Crawford moved on to other projects, and the legendary Iain “Pinkie” McArthur retired after working 199 years at Lagavulin. New people brought new directions for Lagavulin, putting the distillery and the brand in the spotlight for a new generation. The generation that needs an actor to connect his name to the brand, and bottles of Lagavulin influenced by the inevitable wine and other exotic cask treatments. Things that were unthinkable just ten years ago, when the philosophy was that the best Lagavulin is the Lagavulin that is well left alone – untouched and unspoiled. With open minds we tried some latter year examples of these modern Lagavulin, but ended up going home with the distillery exclusive, which was traditional and therefore perfect.
At Ardbeg, they seem to be getting out of an era of NAS bottles and silly stories, even though there are still plenty to go round. In the distillery shop we were kindly offered a taste of the new 21 years old Seann Chreag (certainly decent but not at 345 quid). We also sampled the new 17 years old. Story goes, this is an attempt to re-create the expression of the early beginnings of this century. I will try to offer you a blog about this bottling soon, so I will keep my impressions for now. Instead, let me tell you that we enjoyed a fantastic lunch and had the great, great pleasure of getting a hug from Jackie Thomson – the Lady of Ardbeg and keeper of the soul of the distillery.
The final course of the day was an extended visit to the Bowmore Distillery, where we booked a warehouse tour similar to the Laphroaig tour, even though it did not take us through the entire distillery. Instead, we visited the malting floors and saw the inside of the kiln, which is maybe not so unique on Islay, but certainly if you look at the entire single malt producing industry. After this, we were taken to the legendary warehouse that is directly located next to the sea water of Lochindaal. It is a place of unbelievable tranquillity and ice cold circumstances, where whisky quietly sleeps to become more mature. If only we could lock up some current day politicians in there for 20 years or so. Anyway, here we tasted three fantastic samples straight from the cask; a bourbon version, an amontillado and a red wine cask. Two out of three we could save for tasting notes below. There was a wine cask in the mix too, but that was less my cup of tea. Under the guidance of our eloquent guide Rob and joined by many of the distillery staff on this quiet start of the new year, I can tell you we had a very homely and cosey afternoon that slipped into the early evening without notice. The true Islay spirit emerged, and we savoured it!
Bowmore 2006, bourbon cask # 10236, drawn at 54,5 % abv on 21 January 2025
Upon Sipping: An almost 20 years old Bowmore matured on plain wood. It does not get much better than that – he said with total prejudice of course. It is the style that resonates best with me. The light golden liquid in the glass opens with a strong whiff of vanilla that easily make way for tropical notes of pineapple and smoky papaya. As is now comfortably the house style of Bowmore, the subdued and modest peaty signature lingers quietly in the background, providing soul but letting the spirit shine, not the smoke. Upon minutes and minutes of breathing (since I now taste this cask sample at home), more yellow fruit bursts unto the scene. Time for a chewy sip, as plenty of cask residue floats in the glass. The taste is just marvellous. Enough of the fruit is kept to not repeat my notes from nosing, and is now balanced with a perfect bitter tone from the years in wood. This really compliments each other. When making tasting notes, I often add some water to see if I can extract more from the glass, but here I will not bother. This Bowmore approaches perfection, just as it is. And it keeps developing. Needless to say, when I got the choice, I bought 10 cl of this cask sample to take home with me.
Word to the Wise: I loved this sample when I tasted in the ice cold warehouse, with the sea at just a few metres behind a thick wall. Tasting it at home, the magic and romance of this quality Bowmore single malt still stands, being reminiscent of 1960s fruit bomb Bowmore. These times have returned, I have no doubt saying that. Around 20 years of age, Bowmore excels on bourbon.
Score: 92 points
Bowmore 2005, Amontillado cask # 3 (finish), drawn on 21 January 2025
Upon Sipping: Sadly, the picture I took of the information leaflet next to the cask is too blurry to decipher the information on abv. It was high fifties, if I remember correctly. Anyway, started life one year earlier than the previous sample, let us see how much fruit survived the finish. Beautiful, dark bronze colour in the glass, smelling very mature and full on first sniff. Strong on peach, apricot and hinting towards furniture polish. Maybe some leather, but the fruity notes keep that at bay. Not as lively as the bourbon, but certainly complex and impressive to nose this Bowmore cask sample. The taste is a bit rough and dry and reminds you of the fact that however subtle, this is still a peaty Islay you are drinking. I believe the cask treatment has elevated the peaty element quite interestingly. But this is a different beast compared to the frivolous bourbon cask sample. More serious, with strong doses of chocolate and Ethiopian coffee. On repeated sips, I pick up more and more fruit on the finish, but always with a smoky signature, and lots of fudge. This Bowmore is far more complex, and that much more rough, than the straightforward joy of the bourbon influenced expression. Still, this Bowmore easily reaches the 90-points mark too. Here, I did add some water, and that makes red fruit notes burst out. More apricot on the taste now too.
Word to the Wise: More complex and very rewarding to get into a struggle with. Middle-aged Bowmore is a true delight. It handled the amontillado finish very well.
Score: 90 points.
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