January 2010
The Forty First Edition of "A Whiff of Peat Smoke...." Why ? because i can !
Should Auld Acquaintance be forgot......
It's now just over 10 years since i got my first computer (Dec 1999), earlier in that year we paid our first visit to a little Isle just off the West Coast of Scotland , little did we know that the Isle and it's people would get into our blood so much . So much that On the 6th April 2000 i went onto Yahoo Clubs (as it was known then...) to start up a little place for the appreciation of Islay and created the very first incarnation of something that would grow into the monster that is The Spirit of Islay !
The Club grew slowly but through it i made lots of new friends many of whom are now old friends ! Tom , Alan , Tim and Marty from the Plowed Mob , Harry from Canada to name a few . It wasn't long before i had developed a sort of Mini-site on my then ISP "Madasafish" , very basic i seem to remember but even that wasn't enough . After i left Madasafish i had a go at a "proper" website on Geocities . I even invested in a real HTML Editor ! Some may remember this .......
Nice to see the spelling hasn't improved !!!! Still pretty basic but it had the beginnings of what was to become the SOI , with some pretty nifty graphics if i may say so myself.......
It had the basic Distillery info......
Since then , of course , things have moved on . Eventually i took the brave steps and bought a Domain name "spirit-of-islay.co.uk" , the site went through various changes . Yahoo Clubs became Yahoo Groups , eventually the decision was made to shut down spiritofislay on yahoo due to a lack of postings , I think Yahoo Groups had just run it's course at that time and i decided to concentrated on the Website , a Chatroom was added to the site and the first forum , albeit a not very successful one !
Then in early 2004 , disaster struck ! My then hosting Company went bust , they passed me onto another company but things went from bad to worse , their servers were to say the least , not very good , all kind of problems ensued and i was stuck in a deal that wasn't doing me any favours . I made the decision to forget about spirit-of-islay.co.uk and start afresh elsewhere , so "spiritofislay.net" was born and was located on a superb hosting Companies server , Positive-Internet , a company who never fail to help you with any problem no matter how small ! So by the End of April 2004 , spiritofislay.net was settled down in it's new home . A couple of visual changes have happened , a very popular (cue blowing of own trumpets....) Chatroom and forum have been established and i happen to love the look of the website now even though some have said they don't....... Mind you the Spellings still as bad....... Even Though the site seems to tick along and attracts a few visitors , the Chatroom and forum have moved along at pace . On the chatroom we have a steady list of regulars and get the Odd guest or 3 from the industry , Again on the forum we have a set of dedicated regular posters , A very knowledgable set i can tell you !
I've always resisted putting adverts on the site or taking on sponsors (though i could be bought for a steady supply of free whisky....LOL!) , mainly because when i started doing this site it was done as a labour of love about a place and it's people i quickly grew to love , and for as long as i can afford it (or resist temptation, all bottles to.....) , it will remain that way ! The Site has had fair bit of publicity over the past couple of years including an incredible write up in the 2009 edition of The Malt Whisky Year Book !
As with everything it always hasn't been sweetness and light , i have from time to time had a few run ins with people in the trade because of the website or rather things said on the website and not always instigated by me ! If they can't accept my opinion and take a bit of criticism from time to time tough for them , they are always willing to take the praise and free publicity........
Luckily most of the people i've met through this site on Islay and in the Whisky trade are full of praise forthe Spirit of Islay , Ladies and Gentlemen of Islay and the Whisky trade i thank you for your Praise , Continuing Support and Friendship ! To the people who are regulars in The Stillroom and Warehouse No.4 i also thank you for your Continuing Support , Participitation and Friendship . Thanks go also to the many people who stumble upon and visit the pages of the site .
Lastly i'd like to thank the one person who has to put up with this.....obsession , the person who thought i'd get sick of the computer after 6 months...... the person who makes every trip to Islay worth it , My Wife Melanie ! Thanks for Everything Pet !
Slainte ! To the First Ten Years.......Here's to the Next Ten !
The Vaults Hogmanay 2009 Visit
Once again we headed up to Edinburgh to celebrate Hogmanay , this time stopping in the Holiday Inn Express at Ocean Terminal . This trip i decided not to write tasting notes for the drams i had , it wasn't always possible to get the drams you picked out of the list as there seems to have been a lot of drinking going on in the Vaults ! You may also notice a slight lack of Islays due to the only available one's been from Bowmore and after trying the most recent at a tasting , 3.150 , i wasn't going to risk another......
30th Dec - We arrived at the lunch time and headed straight to the Vaults to have lunch . We both went for the Chicken Schnitzel with Hand cut Chips , extremely nice , The first dram of the visit was a one i was hoping they'd still have and they did ! A 35.32 , a 34yo Glen Moray at 55.1% , a great one for the first dram , very hot and spicy . I also had a 20yo Talisker , 14.17 , 57.2% , not quite your norml Tali but thoroughly enjoyable . We headed off to the Hotel to freshen up and have a bite to eat before the evening session .
In the Evening we met up with Livvy Francis and Willie at the Vaults , quite an evening was had by all and a few drams quaffed , my tally included (and included is the ones i can remember.......)
- 19.43 19yo Glen Garioch 53% (not a good example....)
- 59.37 24yo Teaninich 55.8% (a very nice easy drinking dram)
- 125.27 19yo Glenmorangie 51.9% ( another Great Glenmo)
- 4.136 13yo Highland Park 57.7% ( Akin to drinking a Very Young feiny HP , Not nice at all !)
- 2.73 16yo Glenlivet 52% ( A cracking Livet )
- 7.50 24yo Longmorn 57.4% (even though i have this at home had to have a dram.....)
Various Whisky samples were exchanged between friends and then Francis played his trump card , he started producing samples of his own stuff ! We got to try various ages and casks , A 3 month old from a PX cask ( Very feinty but an incredible colour!) , 2005 3yo from bourbon cask #6 (really good , still a little young) , 2005 4yo from Bourbon Cask#6 ( a vast improvement , very drinkable , very fudgy and citric ) , 2006 3yo Bourbon Cask (again very drinkable ) and finally 2006 3yo from a sherry cask ( Bloody hell ! We'll have that one please !) . All is progressing well , even Nick the Assistant Manager came over and joined in and agreed that he has a very fine product ! We bid our farewells and headed off to our respected Homes and Hotel , all slightly merrier.......
31st Dec - The last day of the year and we headed back to the Vaults for a change ! We returned for lunch and a few drams , i had Venison Liver and Mashed Tatties , Mel went for the Sausage , Mash and hopscotch sauce , the sauce was very nice , a good use for the Hopscotch ! Just for good measure we also went a portion of handcut chips........ I enjoyed 3 drams , a 36.45 (9yo Benrinnes 56.8%) , a 35.30 (a 9yo Glen Moray ) and a 66.29 ( a 23yo Ardmore 51.1%) , all very nice in their own little way. Once again we retired to the Hotel to make ready to see the New Year in.......
Dressed in our finery we returned to the Vaults for our last visit of 2009 and of the decade for that matter ! Once again the members room was looking good for the festivities , on our arrival we were offered a choice of a glass of champagne or a glass of Tullibardine , Mel took the Champers and for some reason i took the Tulli....... Once everyone was seated the Evening commenced , Doug welcomed us and we were given a chance to met the other occupants of our table before the meal was served . Once again the Chef at The Vaults pulled out all the stops , For the starter you were given the choice of either Chicken Liver Pate or Salmon served with fresh bread , a Brocolli and Stilton Tartlet with a Tomato and Mozeraella Salad , very yummy ! The main meal was a carvery , the meat was mouthwatering especially the corn fed Chicken ! The Lamb and Beef also deserve a mention....... The pudding (and it was a struggle....) was a choice between a Clootie Dumpling , a Chocolate Moose and Lemongrass posset , we went for the latter........
The entertainment for the night , North Sea Gas , made their first appearance after the meal . We also got a guest appearance by a new band during their first set....... Doug and a couple of the lads from behind the bar entertained us for a few songs , they rocked ! We got covers of Maggie May , Always take the Weather with you and Whiskey in the Jar . Doug also announced The Vaults Whisky of the Year , it was a Dalmore but i didn't catch the number..... NSG returned to take us through the Bells , there was Cheese and a Chilli on offer towards the end of the evening , We also toasted in The New Year with a half Bottle of Champagne . It was a good idea for them to get in Half bottles as i don't drink much wine and Mel couldn't have managed a full one on her own , i did manage a few drams through the night including a Bladnoch (50.38 , 16yo 54%) , another Glenmorangie (125.29 , 12yo 57.2%) and a Young Mannochmore (64.20 , 8yo , 62.1%) , the M'more was stunning , my have to order a bottle......
Once again we had a superb night at the SMWS , everything was perfect , Thanks to Doug , Nick and all the hard working staff at the Vaults for once again making it a special night ! We look forward to the next Hogmanay , we've already got the Hotel Booked !!!!!
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