The Isle of Islay is known for its peaty whisky, and the island’s distilleries put on a whisky festival each year, the Fèis Ìle. It’s a very popular week on the isle, and I struggled finding accommodation and a rental car, but we are lucky enough to still cover the last two days of the festival.
Our first full day here, we drive back toward Port Askaig and turn onto the small road north that leads to the Bunnahabhain distillery… and we are stopped and redirected to a mowed meadow to park our car and take the shuttle bus to the distillery. The shuttle drops us off on the road with a view to the sea, and we are momentarily confused about which way to go, so we just follow some people who were in the bus with us. We start talking with them, and they also have no idea which way to go, but together we pick the right direction by following the music.
Soon, we see the party unfold as we walk down the hill: a stage with a Scottish band (including bagpipes!) to the right, the shop to the left, food stands around the plaza, in the back the distillery buildings. At the welcome desk, we get a bracelet that entitles us to a free sample, and we go to the sample truck first. Since I’m driving and Scotland has a zero tolerance rule, I ask for “drivers drams”—I get a wee sample each of Bunnahabhain 12 and Bunnahabhain Stiuireadair in small plastic cups with a lid, almost like ketchup. My friend decides to do the same, so we can share the experience together later.
We wander around a bit, together and apart, and I take in the live music, people dancing in the sun, having a party… I chat with the pizza stand lady for a moment, and she tells me that she sees the same people again every year at the festival. It’s like making friends, not seeing or hearing from each other for a year, and then picking up in the same spot at the next Fèis Ìle. It sounds like whisky connects a fun community here.
My friend gets a Bunnahabhain expression at the bar (Toiteach A Dhà), and then we scour the shop for anything interesting. I would love to get a mini of the 17 year old Mòine Triple Cask Fèis Ìle expression: oloroso finished, bourbon matured and rum finished… that sounds too yummy! Yet, the bar doesn’t give out drivers drams, and the shop only sells this particular whisky in whole size bottles or as part of a mini set, and I don’t want all of the minis and spend £60 on them. Well, that’s a hard decision to make, but I stick with my principles of not buying anything I don’t need or really want.
The distillery is right at the sea, and we take the time to just enjoy the scenery and peek into a warehouse with open doors. Tours are offered, but most of them are sold out; we already signed up for a couple of distillery tours elsewhere, and how many times can you listen to the description of essentially the same process in one week? We decide that twice is enough.
When we’ve had enough and leave the premises, we have to catch the shuttle bus to get back to our car, and there is a long lineup. It takes about 30-40 minutes for us—time spent chatting with the people behind us and watching an absolutely wasted girl offer some stuff (inflatable basketball, cap, mini whisky set) for an overpriced amount of money as she’s walking up and down the lineup. Surprisingly, she actually sells them… I guess some guys took pity on her—or maybe they have other ideas, who knows.
While we wait, we make the acquaintance with Scotland’s midges… tiny flies that bite you. That was miserable, and much of our conversation with others was commiseration about the midges attack. We learn all about them from the Scottish guy behind us. It’s all part of the experience.
Back home, we take stock of our many midges bites and my slight sunburn. It really is uncharacteristically sunny and hot weather on the Isle of Islay, everybody says so. It still gets cold at night, so I build the fire, we have a seafood dinner and then try our driver’s drams. Much to our chagrin, it seems that the whisky spoiled in the heat and sun in those small plastic containers. The Stiuireadair tastes strange, but we don’t know it, so decide it might just be a weird expression, but we both know the Bunnahabhain 12 year old very well, and it tastes seriously off. Blasphemous as it may be, we end up pouring it down the sink, and my friend confesses that his Toiteach A Dhà was also tainted by being served in a plastic cup. It was an adventurous day and awesome to be out at the distillery and in the festival, but the whisky experience itself has been a disappointment so far.
The next day is Ardbeg Day. We get there later in the afternoon; the festivities start at ten in the morning, but we cannot face alcohol that early in the day. Ardbeg gives us a completely different experience. It starts with having enough parking, so we are not dependent on a shuttle—definitely a plus point. We wander around the vast grounds to get the lay of the land. The band plays better music (in our opinion), there are a lot of people hanging out in front of the stage. A food area has food stands with long lineups. A small warehouse is set up as a bar, and my friend gets a glass of Heavy Vapour’s, the Ardbeg Fèis Ìle expression of this year. Ardbeg is a little classier than Bunnahabhain and uses real sample glasses… in fact, we get to keep them, and since I can’t drink as the driver, my friend swipes one for me at an abandoned table. Now I’m the proud owner of an Ardbeg sample glass as well. Of course, Ardbeg is also right at the sea, and it’s just overall a lovely experience. People are hanging out in the still house upstairs, so the main attractions of the distillery are accessible to all. Love it.
We end up having a lengthy conversation with an Ardbeg staff member about the distillery and whisky and how the Heavy Vapours were created and how the different island distilleries are friendly with each other and staff sometimes moves from one to another and so on. A highlight of our visit as we learn a lot more than we could in books or online.
We come across a big lawn with games for kids and people on picnic blankets scattered throughout. Instead, we seek out the quieter spots between the warehouses and take photos. Of course, we visit the shop and explore their whisky and merchandise. My friend ends up buying an Ardbeg raincoat—classy!
All in all, the Ardbeg experience is tenfold (at least!) better than the Bunnahabhain Day, even though we missed our opportunity to get a free dram since we came so late. We also didn’t have to pay the entry fee, so there’s that. And no midges… how much better could it be? I can now say that, yes, I’ve been to the Fèis Ìle and I qualify as a true fan of Islay whisky. In the next days on the island, we’ll visit every distillery here.
Ooooh Bagpipes!!
Sorry to hear your driver’s drams were off. Disappointing!
They got gators?
Looks like lovely day!
C
Well I see you are enjoying your whiskey, you really have lucked out again with the weather yet again, the air is so clean up in Scotland, enjoy & continue the search