I’m back home from Feis Ile 2019, the Islay Festival of Music and Malt held during the last week of May every year on the Isle of Islay. This was the 33rd year. What began as a small, fairly local event, has blossomed into one of the biggest whisky extravaganzas in the world. The tiny Isle of Islay (240 square miles, 3200 permanent residents) on the southwest coast of Scotland gets overrun by a few thousand whisky enthusiasts for a glorious week of whisky and music. Each day of Feis Ile is Open Day for a different distillery. Special tastings / masterclasses and events happen at each distillery on its Open Day. And, a parade of bagpipers opens the ceremonies at each Open Day. The festival runs for 8 days; and it includes the Jura distillery, as well as the 9 distilleries on Islay. So, for two of the days, a pair of distilleries share an Open Day.
This was my first Feis Ile experience; and it certainly won’t be my last. The opportunities to meet industry leaders, make new friends, experience the beauty of Islay, and taste (and purchase) some of the finest and rarest whisky in the world make it tempting to try and come every year. I doubt, however, that I could handle the intensity, chaos, and cost of an annual pilgrimage. So, I will probably try to make it every 3 to 5 years.
This was also my third visit to Islay, and my third time staying at the Bowmore Hotel. It’s become my ‘home away from home.’ The hospitality and wry humor shown by the MacLellan family and all the staff is unmatched, as is the selection of Islay whisky at Lucci’s Bar. And, the restaurant is one of the best on the island– I’ve quite enjoyed their luscious, Lagavulin-braised venison casserole and their spectacular seafood platter several times. I’ve also learned to say “toe-mah-toe” to describe those red, juicy edibles that go so well with eggs in the morning.
In this post, I’ll attempt to capture some of the daily magic of Feis Ile. If you click on any of the whiskies that I mention, it’ll take you to my review of that whisky. At the end of each day’s summary is a photo gallery from that day.
My traveling companions were my good buddies Charles Grabitzky (all week) and John Sconzo (until noon on May 29th). Charles and John are the founders of Rascal+Thorn, a company specializing in gastronomic and whisk(e)y tours. Charles also started the Saratoga Whiskey Club a few years ago, of which I’m an original member.
Friday, May 24th 2019
What a great first day on Islay! We arrived from our three flights…Newark to Dublin, Dublin to Edinburgh, and Edinburgh to Islay. We walked around a bit, had a couple of glorious whiskies at Lucci’s in the Bowmore Hotel, followed by a delicious dinner there, and then a terrific tasting of Independent Bottlings hosted by Rachel MacNeill of the Islay Whisky Academy.
Whisky I had at Lucci’s:
Bowmore 15 Yr Hand Fill Ex-Bourbon Released May 2019
Bruichladdich 10 Yr Islay House Feis Ile 2019
Whisky I had at the Independent Bottlers event:
Samaroli Blended Islay Malt 2018 Edition
Bunnahabhain 11 Yr (Gordon & MacPhail Discovery)
Bunnahabhain 15 Yr (A.D. Rattray Octave Project – Rioja)
Bowmore 18 Yr (SMWS 3.306 Summer on Islay)
Bruichladdich 11 Yr – Octomore Farm #3348 Lochindaal Private Cask
Saturday, May 25th 2019 – Feis Ile Day 1 – Lagavulin Open Day
Smoke on the Water, part 1
Lagavulin is one of three distilleries located in Port Ellen, at the southern end of Islay. There was great public bus service to get us there and back from Bowmore. It was a cold, windy and rainy day to start Feis Ile…perfect weather to drink full-bodied, rich, smoky Lagavulin. It wasn’t great weather to hang out and party in the courtyard, however. So, the crowds were smaller than I expected…maybe 500 to 1000 people. However, the Tasting Tent, which provided free drams, was packed!
In the morning, we attended a Masterclass hosted by Colin Gordon, the distillery manager, where we sampled new make and the following whisky:
Lagavulin 9 Yr Game of Thrones House Lannister
Lagavulin Distillery Exclusive 2017
The brand new Lagavulin 10 Yr (Travel Retail Exclusive) released today
The deliciousLagavulin 19 Yr Feis Ile 2019
At the Tasting Tent, we kept warm with unlimited free drams of the new Lagavulin 10 Yr (Travel Retail Exclusive), Lagavulin 16 Yr, and Lagavulin 8 Yr; and we ventured into the rainy courtyard to dine on tasty Cajun venison burgers and local Islay oysters. We took a brief boat cruise past Laphroaig and Ardbeg, which provided some unique views.
At night, the crowd got wild at the First Fling Ceilidh Dance in Port Ellen.
Sunday, May 26th 2019 – Feis Ile Day 2 – Bruichladdich Open Day
Bruichladdich is west across the bay from Bowmore. To get there, one loops north and then back south around the bay. Bruichladdich had arranged free bus service to shuttle folks out there and back from Bowmore. In the morning, we attended the Octomore Masterclass in Warehouse 12 with Head Distiller Adam Hannett. All I can say is, I’ve been through a black hole… and I survived! There’s nothing quite like 6+ ounces of cask strength whisky between 11am and noon:
Octomore 13 Yr – Octomore 4.2 Comus (5 Yr) plus 8 yrs
Octomore 08.3 – 7 Yr Octomore Farm Barley
Octomore 10.4 Pre-release – 3 Yr
Octomore Event Horizon – Feis Ile 2019
Octomore Black Art 8 Yr – Distilled 2002
In the afternoon, we roamed around listening to music and tasting some delicious drams and cocktails. Bruichladdich had an herb garden in the cocktail tent where you could pick your own botanicals to mix into your The Botanist Gin cocktail…it was really cool!
Monday, May 27th 2019 – Feis Ile Day 3 – Caol Ila Open Day
Smoke on the Water, part 2
Caol Ila is located just north of Port Askaig on the northeast coast of Islay. The public bus service worked great again and delivered us to a parking lot about a mile or so from the distillery. And, from there, Caol Ila ran shuttle buses to take celebrants over the hill and down to the seaside distillery. At the Managers Masterclass in the morning with Caol Ila Distillery Manager Pierrick Guillaume, we enjoyed the core range (Caol Ila 12 Yr, Caol Ila 18 Yr, Caol Ila 25 Yr), Caol Ila 15 Yr “Unpeated Style” Bottled 2018, and the fantastic Caol Ila 22 Yr Feis Ile 2019.
At the Blending and Maturation Masterclass in the afternoon with Dr Craig Wilson (Diageo Master Blender) and Donald Colville (Diageo Global Brand Ambassador), we were educated on various flavor influences in maturation and tasted the following (sorry, no reviews of these):
70.5% ABV New Make
Cask 320239- 7yr American Oak @ 60.7% ABV. Light smoke and pears.
Cask 19321 – 23yr 1st fill sherry butt @ 55.3% ABV. Dried fruit, chocolate, raspberry.
31-yr 1st-fill European Oak … it tastes of dried fruit and very heavily of burnt wood… the goal was to show us what too much time in maturation can cause.
And, of course, the Caol Ila 22 Yr Feis Ile 2019 again!
After we returned to Bowmore, and after we finished a nice dinner, we went for a long walk along the water. The sun didn’t set until after 10PM each night. So, it made for wonderful evening strolls. It’s such a peaceful place. Ahhhh.
Tuesday, May 28th 2019 – Feis Ile Day 4 – Laphroaig Open Day
Smoke on the Water, part 3
Tuesday was a gorgeous, sunny day. The public bus from Bowmore dropped us off at the entrance to Laphroaig, one of the three distilleries in Port Ellen; and in the morning, we attended the Laphroaig Chase hosted by Distillery Manager John Campbell & Brand Ambassador Simon Brooking. I got to participate in a very challenging whisky trivia game and sample four delicious drams. A great time was had by all.
Cairdeas is Gaeilic for friendship; and it’s also the name of the annual Laphroaig Feis Ile release. We tasted the Laphroaig Cairdeas 2019 Triple Wood at the Laphroaig Chase; and I believe that it is one of the better Cairdeas expressions. While we were there, we did make some new friends. So, I guess we can toast to Cairdeas!
In the afternoon, we experienced the Laphroaig Warehouse Tasting with Johnny Cairns. We tasted four whiskies straight from the cask; and I filled a bottle for myself of Laphroaig Cask 101 Amontillado Sherry Cask Matured 15 Yr Hand Fill (200ml) … it tasted like plum pudding.
As I said, it was a gorgeous day. So, we went for a hike in the hills overlooking the distillery; and then we walked the mile and half from Laphroaig into downtown Port Ellen, where we sat in the harbor eating smoked mussels. The bus from Port Ellen took us back to Bowmore.
In the evening, a free shuttle bus took us north from Bowmore to Ballygrant Hall to attend The Ultimate Feis Ile Tasting, hosted by award-winning whisky journalist Dave Broom, where we sampled the Feis Ile releases from all 9 Islay distilleries in a food-paired event:
Bunnahabhain Feis Ile 2019 Sauternes Cask Finish paired with pate
Bowmore 15 Yr Ex-bourbon Feis Ile 2019 paired with smoked salmon
Caol Ila 22 Yr Feis Ile 2019 paired with smoked mussels
Ardbeg Drum paired with jerk chicken
Lagavulin 19 Yr Feis Ile 2019 paired with dark chocolate rum cake
Kilchoman Feis Ile 2019 paired with cheese
Laphroaig Cairdeas 2019 Triple Wood paired with cheese
Ardnahoe Scarabus paired with cheese
Bruichladdich (Octomore Event Horizon – Feis Ile 2019) paired with vanilla caramel fudge
The Octomore Event Horizon was my favorite. The Caol Ila and Lagavulin weren’t too shabby, either!
Wednesday, May 29th 2019 – Feis Ile Day 5 – Bowmore & Ardnahoe Open Day
It was oh so nice to be able to walk between the Bowmore Distillery and our hotel. It was just a 2-minute stroll to get there, and a 2-minute stroll back to our room, anytime we needed a break from the festivities. We hung out in Bowmore all day and didn’t get to the brand-new Ardnahoe Distillery. I hear that it’s beautiful… I guess that’ll be on the agenda for my next visit to Islay.
Bowmore Open Day is incredibly popular, as are Bowmore’s special release Feis Ile whiskies. The line to purchase the Bowmore 23-Yr Feis Ile 2019 Sherry Cask Matured began to form at 2PM on Tuesday. A few hundred hearty souls camped out at the gates overnight, enduring the cold to secure a ticket to buy this great whisky. The overnight campout at Bowmore has become one of the hallmarks of the Feis Ile.
In the morning, we attended the Elegant Eighteens tasting, where we sampled Bowmore 18 Yr, Bowmore 18 Yr Deep & Complex, and Bowmore The Vintner’s Trilogy 18-yr Manzanilla Cask.
We then hung out listening to music, drinking whisky, including the Bowmore Laimrig 15 Yr Feis Ile 2011 and eating pizza, mussels and oysters for the rest of the day.
The Devil’s Cask
At about 1:30PM while we were sitting on some rocks on the beach, munching on pizza, Bowmore had a surprise announcement… they were releasing 240 hand-fill bottles from a special single cask (Cask # 666, The Devil’s Cask) that had been part of the Ultimate Tasting that morning. At about 2PM, the Bowmore staff handed out tickets (one per person) on a first-come basis to anyone who was interested in buying this whisky. Unfortunately, because we were down on the beach, we missed that announcement; and all 240 tickets were handed out.
However, at about 3:30PM, a couple who we’d befriended earlier, who had been at the Ultimate Tasting in the morning, and who told us that this was an amazing and unique whisky, informed us that the tickets would only be accepted until 4:30PM; and if ticket holders failed to show up to claim their bottle by 4:30, Bowmore would give out additional tickets for the unclaimed bottles. So, we hurried over and got in line. At 4:30, there were 31 unclaimed bottles; and we were 24th and 25th in line. So, we were lucky enough to each get a bottle. We owe a big “thank you” to our friends who alerted us. I have not yet tasted it…it’s sitting on my shelf at home waiting for the right moment to share with friends.
That evening, at Lucci’s Bar, I had the Bruichladdich 2019 Feis Ile Valinch.
Special whisky plus special friends made for a very special day!
Thursday, May 30th 2019 – Feis Ile Day 6 – Kilchoman Open Day
Kilchoman is a very young distillery- it was founded in 2005 by Anthony Wills; and it’s located on a working farm on a hillside on the west of Islay, between Loch Gorm and Machir Bay. There is only one tiny road leading in; and there’s no public transportation. So, we took a taxi out there in the morning and back in the afternoon. It was a blustery, rainy day. And, I was amazed by how many hundreds of people actually made it out there.
We attended the Kilchoman Founders Tasting in the morning with Anthony Wills (Founder and Managing Director of Kilchoman) and Dave Broom, where we explored the impact of different yeast strains on the flavor of new make spirit. And, we enjoyed some great single cask whisky, too. It was an incredible learning experience. I truly appreciate Anthony’s openness and transparency about the Kilchoman production process; and I look forward to future releases based upon their experimentation. We also sampled Kilchoman Sanaig and Kilchoman Feis Ile 2019.
In the afternoon, we taxied back to downtown Bowmore and walked around the corner from our hotel to Bowmore Hall for The Indie Whisky Fèis Ìle – Islay’s inaugural Independent Bottler’s festival within the Fèis Ìle. We had amazing tastings. Wow! For the 25-pound admission fee, we were able to enjoy unlimited tastings from multiple bottlers; and I dined on my first-ever stovie (root vegetables) with haggis. Among the many whiskies I tasted were two truly outstanding ones: Port Charlotte 14 Yr – Dramfool Feis Ile 2019 and Caol Ila 35 Yr – Wemyss Smoky Nectar 1983 Single Cask. I hope that this event becomes a tradition. It was one of the highlights of the week for me.
Friday, May 31st 2019 – Fèis Ìle Day 7 – Bunnahabhain & Jura Open Day
It was a drizzly, gray day. We rode the bus with a bunch/gaggle/herd of elementary school kids from Bowmore, Bridgend and Ballygrant towards Port Askaig. The kids got off at Keills School and we got off at a field shortly thereafter to shuttle to the Bunnahabhain Distillery.
In the morning, we attended the Bunnahabhain Masterclass with Master Blender Dr. Kirstie McCallum and Distillery Manager Andrew Brown, enjoying special single-cask whisky and the 2019 Feis Ile releases:
Bunnahabhain 2008 Manzanilla Finish
Bunnahabhain 2005 Burgundy Finish
Bunnahabhain 1988 Champagne Finish
Bunnahabhain 1997 Moine PX Finish
Bunnahabhain Feis Ile 2019 Moine French Oak Finish
Bunnahabhain Feis Ile 2019 Sauternes Cask Finish
In the afternoon, we were with Andrew again in another warehouse, sampling a few of his favorite Bunnahabhain releases:
Bunnahabhain Feis Ile 2013 Sgeul Na Mara
Bunnahabhain 11 Yr Pedro Ximenez Finish
Then, we met up with the school kids again for the bus back to Bowmore.
We didn’t make it out to Jura; but, that’s OK. I’d visited Jura in September; and they didn’t have a Feis Ile release this year. And, we’d had a very full day at Bunnahabhain.
I capped off the evening with a final Bunnahabhain dram at Lucci’s: Bunnahabhain Moine Bordeaux Red Wine Cask Matured
Another delightful day on Islay!
Saturday, June 1st 2019 – Feis Ile Day 8 – Ardbeg Open Day
Ardbeg is the third distillery in Port Ellen. It’s about one mile east of Lagavulin. And, it’s at the end of the line for the public bus. If you’re looking to burn off some calories, you can take the bus to Ardbeg, then walk a mile from Ardbeg to Lagavulin, a mile from Lagavulin to Laphroaig, and a mile and half to downtown Port Ellen.
Well, all good things must eventually come to an end. And, the final day of Feis Ile was good. Very, very good. We were hanging out in an idyllic seaside place at the south of Islay, drinking delicious Islay whisky, eating sublime smokies, and soaking in the rays on a beautiful, sunny day … Ardbeg Day. The theme was very Caribbean…the Feis Ile release was Ardbeg Drum, which is finished in Caribbean rum casks. So, the staff wore colorful costumes, and there was a very tropical feel to the all-day party.
The crowd was massive. Nearly every distillery manager and master distiller from Islay was there, as were many locals from all over the island, and a few thousand whisky tourists. With our 5-pound admission to Ardbeg Day, we each received an Ardbeg Glencairn Whisky Glass, a coupon for a free dram of your choice of Ardbeg Drum, Ardbeg Corryvreckan, Ardbeg Uigeadail, Ardbeg An Oa, Ardbeg 10 Yr or Ardbeg Perpetuum, and a coupon for a free smoky.
I’d never heard of smokies before. Oh my! They were amazing. A smoky is a whole haddock smoked in a covered pit. They were prepared by Iain Spink’s Arbroath Smokies, who came all the way from Arbroath (200 miles away on the east coast of Scotland, between Edinburgh and Aberdeen). They were served fresh out of the smoker pit; and they were moist, tender and delicious. Some of the best fish I’ve ever had! And, since the line to get them was over an hour long, I got to meet, and drink with, many interesting people while I waited.
And, then, there was the whisky… some really special, rare stuff:
Ardbeg Perpetuum Committee Release
Ardbeg Day was a perfect ending to a glorious week!
New additions to my whisky library
These are the wonderful bottles of whisky that I brought home with me from Feis Ile:
Lagavulin Distillery Exclusive 2017
Bowmore 15 Yr Ex-bourbon Feis Ile 2019
Bowmore 22-yr Hand Fill Devils Cask #666 Feis Ile 2019
Bowmore 23-Yr Feis Ile 2019 Sherry Cask Matured
Bunnahabhain Feis Ile 2019 Sauternes Cask Finish
Laphroaig Cask 101 Amontillado Sherry Cask Matured 15 Yr Hand Fill (200ml)
Octomore Event Horizon – Feis Ile 2019
Cheers! / Slainte! / Kanpai!