The Bunnahabhain Diaries

Week Two.....

(Some photos can be viewed at a larger size by clicking on them)

Sat August 8th -

The Start of our Second week on Our Favourite Little Hebridean Isle , we awoke to puddles on the ground but luckily it had rained over night . After a late Breakfast we headed off to do a short walk on Loch Indaal beside Whin Park , This was to a Watchtower constructed in the 18th century . A lovely little woodland walk , short by comparision to the others we'd done , but pleasant enough for a Saturday . There were 3 of these watchtowers constructed to watch over Loch Indaal for invasion , this and the one at Bridgend still survive , the one at Bowmore is long gone .

We headed back to the cottage to find we were the only occupants for this week ! Looks like a REALLY quiet week......

18th Century Watchtower

View across lochindaal from Tower

Mel at the Watchtower

At night we headed off to The Bridgend Hotel for what is turning into an Annual Event for us , a Meal out with those lovely Laddie Lassies , Mary and Ella . It's really nice to spend such a pleasant evening in the company of Good friends while on Holiday . Good food and a damn good natter were on the menu . The food at the Bridgend Hotel is really competing with the other hotels now . Myself and Mel started with a lovely Leek and Potato Soup , then Mel had Cajun Chicken Flatbread and i went for Scallops in an Indian Spice sauce . Ella and Mary started on the Melon and then had the Grilled Salmon . We all had a slice of Lemon Meringue Pie for pudding . It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening that flew over , Thank you Ladies for a great evening and look forward to next years !

Sun August 9th -

We had a bit of a lazy day today , just stayed down at the Cottage , the weather was cloudy with a light wind .

Anyone for Ardbeg ?

Expression- Montgomories Single Cask Year - 1991. Age - 10yo. ABV - 43%. Colour - Pale Gold Nose - Sweet peat , slight creamy fudge , Cocoa . Palate - smooth peat , fudge , creamy coffee. Finish -Long and warming , peaty Comments - Thanks to Tim Bachelder for the Sample . Cask 1017 , Dist 28/3/1991 , Bott 10/01 . Not a bad little Beg especially for a 43%er .

Expression - SMWS 33.49 Year - 1993. Age - 8yo. ABV - 59.8%. Colour - Pale Gold Nose - Nose hair tingling , Very citric (lemon) , peat . Palate - Very strong , sweet peat , again lemon citrus , creamy fudge . Finish -Long peaty and Cigar Smoke ! Comments - Distilled October 1993 , Bottled Sept 2002 , first SMWS Ardbeg i ever bought , a nice strong young Ardbeg .

Expression - SMWS 33.71 Year - 1998. Age - 10yo. ABV - 55.8%. Colour - Ripe Barley Nose - Very citric at first (Lemon) , then creamy fudge , Coffee , Dark Chocolate . Palate - Wow ! Incredibly Peaty , Creamy fudge , Coffee Finish -Long , Citric , peat , cream.....fully loaded ! Comments - Thanks to Ryan for the sample . Distilled May 1998 , Bottled August 2008 . Really good Ardbeg , almost Renaissance like !

Expression - OMC Year - 1990. Age - 10yo. ABV - 50%. Colour - Straw Nose - Lemon Citrus at first , gradually the peat , creamy fudge and Coffee come through . Palate - well balanced peat , lemon and smoke . Finish -nice , longish finish . slight Citrus along with peat . Comments - Dist Sept 1990 , Bott March 2001 , 1 of 312 bottles . Very nice 1990 Ardbeg though i must admit i like my 1990 older.....

Expression - Uigeadail (2003 Bottling) Year - * Age - * ABV - 54.2%. Colour - Orangey gold/Marmalade Nose - Traditional Christmas cake (dough , Dried Fruits spices , sherry ) , Mint humbugs , peat smoke . Palate - Huge mouthfeel , Mentholy , peat , smoke , pepperminty , all over the palate ! Finish -Long , menthol, humbugs . Comments - The original and still the best Uigeadail IMO , incredible mouthfeel .

Expression - Toasted Oak 1189 Year - 1998. Age - 10yo. ABV - 54%. Colour - Deep Amber Nose - Very heady nose , Christmas spices , vanilla , creamy fudge , peat smoke. Palate - Very complex palate , hot, peppery and spicy . Vanilla , oily , smoke . Finish -Long , spicy , creamy coffee , Bonfire smoke , Amazing stuff ! Comments - Distilled 11th May 1998 , Bottled 10th December 2008 , from a New Toasted Oak Hogshead Cask , Bottle No. 125 of 252 . A very good Ardbeg , very unusual .

Expression - Toasted Oak 1190 Year - 1998. Age - 10yo. ABV - 54.7%. Colour - Burnt Marmalade Nose - Different to 1189 , honey , vanilla , green fruits , slight dried fruits and spices . Palate - Chewy on the palate , Creamy coffee , Menthol Cigarettes Finish -Long and spicy , creamy toffee . Comments - Distilled 11th May 1998 , Bottled 10th December 2008 , From a New Toasted Oak Hogshead Cask , Bottle No. 127 of 282 . Another really nice Ardbeg , again unusual .

Mon August 10th -

Woke up to a Misty morning with a fair wind , decided just to have a drive about rather than a walk but by the time we got to the south shore it was lovely and Sunny ! Hit the Old Kiln for Lunch where it seems they were having a bit of an Italian Day , so i had Macaroni Cheese with Garlic bread and Mel went for the Lasagne and Garlic bread . As usual the food was to a very high standard , afterwards we had a drive along to Kildalton , on our return we had a bit of a sun break at Port Ellen (nice to sit on the main bay for a while....) and then a stop on the shores of Loch Indaal before heading back to the Cottage for a few drams of the local Whisky......

Tonight was as damn near as good as gets , Only us in residence at The Cottages , Clear blue sunny sky , A beautiful View across the bay to Mull , Enough wind to keep the Midges away , A damn good Thai Red Curry cooked by your partner and a selection of Islays finest Single Malt ! Oh It's a beautiful night on Islay !!!!!

Mel and Gordon at the Cottage

18th Century Watchtower

Tues August 11th -

Woke up this morning to pouring rain and low clouds but this didn't deter us and we went off for a short walk up to Ardbegs lower water Source at Loch Iarnan . The first bit of the walk was the same route as the walk up to Solam . Instead of turning left at Airigh Nam Beist we turned right . It's all Farm tracks up to the loch but it was very muddy at some points . By the time we returned to Ardbeg , including a close encounter with a huge bull , we were absolutely soaking wet ! A swift return to the cottage was called for and a lovely hot bath !

Gordon Soaking wet !

Loch Iarnan

Mel "Slightly" damp !

That evening we got a visit from Claus (Bigmac from the chat) and his girlfriend Ulla (Highland Girl from the chat) , always nice to meet some of the chatters face to face . We arranged to meet at Ardbeg for lunch the next day .

Wed August 12th -

A bit better Weather wise this morning , headed down to Ardbeg for lunch to meet up with Claus and Ulla , food was superb as usual . After a bit of a natter and a wander around the distillery we parted company , they invited us up to their B&B that evening to take part in the weekly chat . I took up a few drams for them to try .

Also nipped into Bunnie Distillery to have a dram with John and a natter .

Thurs August 13th -

So where are we ?

Through the woods

The Paps through the forest

Islay Show day , a cloudy bright day and we headed out for a walk above Bunnahabhain . Leaving the Distillery by the road we turned off onto a track at the bend at the top of the bank just past the bungalow . this takes you across a small peat bog before reaching a small wooded area with a bridge across a stream (Abhainn Araig ) . The track then meanders across another peat bog before reaching the forest . The boggy area seemed to have quite a bit of Lemon Balm and Rhodendrum bushes , you also get a good view of the Bay and paps from up here . This is a fairly large man made wooded area , there are a few other natural trees and bushes in it apart from the pines .

There are a few ruined farm houses amongst the forest , it's a fairly long walk through to the other end of the forest at Balulive but it's all decent walking on man made tracks . We didn't see much wildlife along the way apart from lots of flys , loads of Dragonflys (huge Blue ones as well as the red one photographed) , a frog and a few birds including one that insisted on posing for Mel ! After a bit of a rest at the gate at the other end we retraced out way back to Bunnahabhain Distillery . When we measured the length of the walk on the map , it turned out to be our longest of the holiday at just over 9 miles !

Open Sez a me !

Towards the end of the walk

One of the many Ruins on the walk

Photographing the local wildlife

One of the many Dragonflys

The inspiration for our walks have come from two sources . A book , Walks on the Isle of Islay by Mary Welsh ( Clan walk Guides ISBN 1 873597 13 4 ) and from the 2 Leaflets "Explore Islay" produced by the Islay Community Access Project ( http://www.islayaccess.org/ ) . We also had 3 Ordnance Survey maps (Landranger 60 - Islay , Explorer 352 - Islay South and Explorer 353 - Islay North ) . Decent walking boots are recommended and decent waterproof clothing including Gaiters .

After a wash and brush up we headed down to Port Ellen for a meal at our friend Ella's house with a couple of her friends .

Mels new friend

Stream at the Balulive end

Fri August 14th -

The last day of the Hols and it's pouring with rain ! We headed down to Ardbeg again for lunch at the Old Kiln , a really nice Beef Olives for me and Mels ever faithful Baked Tattie and Prawn Marie Rose . We spent the rest of the Afternoon having a few drams with Mickey doing an interview for my site (coming soon....) . The evening was spent packing our stuff away and having a last drink at the Cottage .

Sat August 15th -

Time to go home ! We spent the crossing to the mainland with Claus and Ulla before heading back to Newcastle......