Travelling through the night in wind and rain we arrived at Kennacraig at about 3.15 am , it wasn't until about 6am that we first met up with fellow dramsters Keith , Ali , Livvy , Tim , Mercer and Dave . After a slightly rough journey over and the disappointment of not getting on the legendary Candelit dinner, our first port of call was Ardbeg (Naturally !) . The festival bottlings on offer this year are a pair of 1975's distilled on Boxing Day , one Fino cask , one Oloroso cask , at £180 a bottle each (EEK!) , neither was purchased by yours truly...... After meeting up with old friends Stuart , Jackie , Ian Gray,Martine Nouet , Salvatori and finally getting to meet Jay , Scott and Peter , we headed to The Port Charlotte Hotel for lunch . Calling at The Laddie to see Mary and pick up some outstanding bottles , we had a very nice Islay Steak and then headed off to The Inns to take up our festival residency in Bowmore . After a flying visit to Claggan to see the Plowed mob , A quiet night was on the cards after a hectic 40 or so hours with very little sleep , especially with Bruichladdich Day on the Horizon.......... |
