Islay September 2011: Trip 1, Fishing

Last week I returned from our latest trip to Islay. I was joined by a very experienced group of anglers and a number of the group were as eager to give the sea fishing a go as much as the usual loch fishing for wild brown trout. Our bunch of merry men for this trip was made up of master of the dead drift Glen Pointon, John Tyzack, Ron Trevis, Andy Heath and Wesser. Andy was a very welcome member to the group, for along with his trusty hound 'Mooch', he provided much of the meat for the table, which in turn was prepared in such an appetising way by our brilliant chef Wesser.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon leaving mainland on the 1pm ferry having left the Staffordshire Moorlands at 3.30pm. All were tired but we knew that we would have to get a fishing session in on Loch Finlaggan that evening as the weather prospects were not good for Sunday and Monday as the tail end of Hurricane Katia would make a visit to the West Coast of Scotland. All had a fine few hours on the loch, and we caught on all manner of dry flys and one or two traditional wets.

The weather on Sunday wasn't quite as bad as threatened by the BBC but we still thought best to seek a sheltered spot on the Eastern shores of Islay, choosing Bunnahabhain bay as our destination as other anglers on previous trips with us had enjoyed quite a bit of success there.

On the point, just around the bay from the sad wreck of the Wyre Majestic, Pointon, Wesser and JT began to cast and it wasn't long before they were in to fish, mackerel at first, the biggest I've ever seen. It soon became clear that we would not be short of food over the days to come.

Every so often, huge shoals of small silver fish would make massive boils on the surface of the sea, thousands of silvery flecks being chased, cornered up by packs of hunting fish, and occasionally, these predators would leap out of the water, huge olive green pollock feet from the rocks where we stood. Quickly the lads focused their attention on the pollock, casting precisely with their heavy lures, and quite soon, pollock and laithe began to come in to the 3lb mark.

When we first arrived at Bunnahabhain distillery, we were lucky enough to watch a sea otter feeding close in, and earlier in the day, Andy, Ron and I had watched a pair of white tailed sea eagles hunt, kill and eat a hare near to our accommodation at Finlaggan. As if these close encounters with Islay's abundant wildlife were not enough, we were about to experience another of the islands rare inhabitants.

Andy Heath has long been a keen bird enthusiast, and I've never met anybody who knows as much about them, and as much about how to handle them. When we arrived at the rocks, he'd commented about the gannets that he'd seen fishing just a little way out from where we were, and we were all amazed by the way these gigantic birds were making steady rising flights to 80 to 100 feet above the sea then making a short flick of the tail and wings before diving vertically for their prey in the waves beneath.

JT had just made a long arching cast with his lure, a good distance out from the shore, and from nowhere, one of these huge gannets dived into the water, 20 feet into the water according to John, and reappeared seconds later with the lure in its beak. We would all panic, swear, and shuffle about on the rocks where we stood and we wondered how the hell we would avoid hurting this beautiful bird, all that is except Andy. Coolly and calmly, JT and Andy brought the bird in, and after a very careful retrieve (with no side strain), the bird was in Andy's hands and the hooks removed. They look big in the sky but you cannot truly appreciate the size of these graceful hunting birds. An event that I shall never forget, and neither will the gannet.

The gannet safely unhooked by Andy

The gannet takes to the air.

The tail end of the hurricane arrived on Monday and seemed to last most of Tuesday too but a good deal of fly tying, eating, drinking and generally being merry was achieved. I took Andy and Ron on a couple of distillery visits and I managed to make final arrangements for a cask of Bruichladdich Malt Whisky to be bottled in readiness for me to collect later this month. A few drams of this amazing whisky was enjoyed in the evening...more news about this to follow.

On all of the fishing trips I've organised in the last few years, there has always been at least one person who enjoys cooking for the group and the food has always been very good but this time we had Wesser. His attention to detail was amazing, whether he was cooking the brown trout we'd caught that day or local meat, all agreed that his food was incredibly good. All the veg was Islay grown from the walled garden at Islay House, all the meat was local and fresh. All washed down with a good Islay dram made for a truly unforgettable experience.

Can't wait to be back.....next week!

Thanks lads

Slainte

David

Another Fine Trip to Islay

I've not had chance to update on Angling and Dramming, we've never really stopped for more than 5 minutes between each fishing session.
On Monday morning we set off for Dunlossit estate office to buy tickets to fish Loch Ballygrant. We used two boats on the loch and set our drifts so as to cover as much of the water as possible. Ballygrant is a stunning location, totally tree lined with the Paps of Jura as the backdrop.
We set up with various teams of traditional wet patterns but the fishing proved to be quite difficult and it was only down to the skill employed by Peter Pollock and a wee black sedgehog, that a few brown trout were managed.
Peter and Ian decided that it might be a better idea to get in a spot of sea fishing so it was off to Bunnahabhain to enjoy some fine pollock sport from the rocks beside the wrecked trawler 'Wyre Majestic' . Between them they managed no less than a dozen of these hard fighting fish from racing waters in the rocky depths in front of the distillery.
Mark and I made our way back to Loch Finlaggan. I felt that we'd not taken advantage of the loch, particularly as it had been literally on our doorstep and Mark, writing an article for a fishing publication, needed more pics of the stunning location. So we made our way up the West bank, past the visitor centre and the remains of the ancient causeway that once was the only way of reaching the fortifications on the two islands at Finlaggan.
Once again the fishing was tough and the wind was strong and fresh in our faces but we managed a few fish on our way around the loch. We decided to make our way over to the East bank in search of more favourable conditions and this involved crossing the narrow but incredibly deep burn that flows out of the loch towards Ballygrant and Loch Indaal. We made our way through the trees and high reeds and picked up many a tick on the way and eventually found the tiny footbridge over the burn constructed of just two planks. As soon as I saw it I thought we would have to turn around and return the way we had came as the footings of the bridge on our bank had given way and it was a gamble as to whether we'd make it across without getting wet but Mark convinced me that it could be done and with a little swearing and a bit of a adrenalin rush, I was eventually over and we battled our way through the incedibly tough terrain and fished the other bank in much better conditions and winkled out a few more wee broon troots.
We returned to the house and tucked into a huge lamb stew that Pollock had kindly put together and washed it down with several pints of Saligo Ale.
Yesterday was a chance to show a couple of the lads some favourite spots on Islay, and so, after delivering one or two cases of wine to customers on the island, we made our way to Lagavulin distillery where we enjoyed a dram of the distillery only limited edition.
Lunch was had at Kilchoman distillery and we had the chance to taste their fantastic summer release along with the famous Kilchoman Victoria sponge. It was good to catch up with John Mac and tony, my pal on a free transfer from Bunnahabhain.
Last night we enjoyed great food and the best pint (Saligo Ale) I've ever had on Islay at the Port Charlotte hotel.
And now we're on the boat awaiting a Calmac full breakfast and preparing ourselves for the mainland and the dreaded M6. It will be good to be home but it has been another wonderful trip to Islay in great company and we've stayed in sheer luxury at Finlaggan House.
Our next angling trip will be in April followed by a visit in May during Feis Ile 2011. Places are still available for both trips so please get in touch ASAP if you would like to join us on the magical Isle of Islay.
Slainte
David

David Wood, The Wine Shop, Leek 01538 382408. Mob 07875 405 980. www.wineshopclub.blogspot.com

John Mac Lellan Joins Kilchoman Distillery Team

Great news...we've just been told that John MacLellan, Distillery Manager at Bunnahabhain for the last 12 years, is leaving to step into the new General Manager position at Islay's newest distillery, Kilchoman.

John takes up the exciting position on the 3rd of May and Leonie and I wish him all the best for the future.

Well done John! Keep an eye on our cask of Kilchoman!

Click here for the Kilchoman Distillery website.

Slainte

David and Leonie

New Queen of the Moorlands Bottlings Chosen for Islay Festival of Malt and Music 2010

Last Friday night I met up with Gordon Richards, Jane Jervis and Adrian Shufflebotham to nose, taste and to ultimately select the next whiskies to be part of our Queen of the Moorlands range of Rare Cask whiskies....and what a treat it turned out to be.

We were to taste 4 whisky samples and select whiskies to be bottled in time for the forthcoming Islay Festival of Malt and Music and for the tastings that we do there. One of the whiskies would also go on to be our Queen of the Moorlands bottling especially for the Festival. As far as we know, we are the only independent bottler to bottle a whisky especially for the Feis Ile.

We decided that we would be bottling 3 out of the 4 whiskies that we tasted. All will be bottled at natural cask strength, without any colouring or chill filtering. They will be bottled straight from the cask as always. These whiskies are bottled from one single cask and are therefore extremely limited in number. There will be around 200 to 300 bottles of each whisky, and when it has gone, the flavour unique to each individual cask will never be repeated. Each bottle will be hand labelled and individually numbered.

One of the three whiskies was chosen as our Islay Festival Bottling 2010, and this was to be the Bunnahabhain 1997 heavily peated from a sherry hogshead...wonderful stuff!

Queen of the Moorlands Rare Cask New Bottlings 2010 Tasting Notes

1. Queen of the Moorlands Rare Cask Bowmore 1999 10 years old

Nose: Sweet, light and heathery at first with slowly building peat

Palate: Again sweet but incredibly smokey with a very oily mouthfeel

Finish: Smooth, medicinal, peaty and very long

Max 200 bottles available. £49.99 per bottle

2. Queen of the Moorlands Rare Cask Laphroaig 1996 13 years old

Nose: Light peat smoke followed by red fruit and spice

Palate: Very sweet, phenolic, bonfires, oily mouthfeel

Finish: Huge peat smoke aftertaste that lasts forever

Max 200 bottles available. £59.99 per bottle

3. Queen of the Moorlands Rare Cask Bunnahabhain 1997 12 years old Islay Festival Bottling 2010

Nose: Classy and rich with raisins, smoke and the seashore

Palate: Smooth with vanilla, olorosso sherry notes, fruit and nut chocolate, raisins and hints of the sea, oh and lots and lots of peat smoke

Finish: Rich and clean, the sweetness and peat smoke lingers for an age

Max 300 bottles available. £59.99 per bottle

All of these whiskies are still in cask at the moment, awaiting to be bottled shortly, but if you would like to reserve stock, please don't hesitate to contact us to secure a bottle or two of these fine drams. The Bunnahabhain in particular will sell very quickly.

We don't ship overseas but if you live on Islay or if you are visiting the island during the festival, we can take payment and arrange to deliver to you between the 22nd May and June 5th.

Don't forget we'll be holding our whisky tastings during the festival week where Adrian, Jane and I will be happy to talk you through the new whiskies.

Slainte

David

New Queen of the Moorlands Bottlings with the Islay Festival of Malt and Music 2010 on the Horizon

Dates for the diary:

Tuesday 13th April - Single Malt Whisky Tasting

The Wine Shop, Leek. A chance to taste through the range of The Queen of the Moorlands Single Malt Whiskies. Please contact us ASAP to reserve your place. 01538 382 408. Please see below for more info.

Saturday 22nd May to 29th May - Islay Festival of Malt and Music 2010

Once again we will be holding whisky tastings to showcase our Queen of the Moorlands Single Malt Whiskies, including our very own Islay Festival Bottling 2010. Please contact us ASAP to reserve places on these events or to pre-order bottles. More info below.....

Saturday 22nd May 2010 is an important date in the diary at The Wine Shop in Leek, because that is the first day of Feis Ile, the Islay Festival of Malt and Music. It is hard to believe that in 11 or so weeks time, we'll be on Islay in much warmer weather, and if the last three years are anything to go by, glorious sunsets at 11.30pm. I cannot begin to describe how beautiful Islay is at that time of year, and I for one, cannot wait to be there.

We shall be holding a series of whisky tastings during the festival. Venue, dates and ticket prices are to be confirmed but usually they take place in Bowmore. We'll post details nearer the time but if you would like to express interest in attending, please contact me ASAP to reserve a place.

Usually, we taste through 4 or 5 whiskies in each session and typically, there will be around 50 guests in attendance at each event. Each whisky will be from our very own, award winning Queen of the Moorlands Rare Cask range of Single Cask Single Malt Whiskies and it is a chance for the consumer or collector to taste and secure a bottle or two of these incredibly rare delights. Guests also get a chance to meet up with the people who select our whiskies from cask samples, our panel of lucky customers who form our whisky committee.

With all this in mind we've only got a few weeks to finalise our latest Queen of the Moorlands Rare Cask Single Malt whiskies, and samples have started to arrive. All of our Rare Cask whiskies are selected and approved by our whisky committee, a dedicated band of hardcore whisky enthusiasts.

This Friday, 26th February, some of the committee members are meeting up and we are going to taste some whiskies, some of them will hopefully become our new bottlings. I'll be posting the results and tasting notes here. If you see a dram you fancy, please don't hesitate to contact me as, although the whiskies are still in cask, the popularity of our bottlings means that they will pre-sell quite quickly. As always, anybody on Islay wishing to reserve a bottle or two should contact me ASAP and I will save the stock for you and deliver to you between Friday 21st May and Saturday 5th June.

The Whiskies that we will be sampling this week are as follows:

Bowmore (Islay) 1999 if bottled will retail at £49.99

Laphroaig (Islay) 1996 if bottled will retail at £59.99

Bunnahabhain (Islay) 1997 if bottled will retail at £59.99

All of our Rare Cask whiskies are bottled at natural cask strength with no chill-filtration and no colouring. Each bottle is hand labelled and individually numbered and presented in it's own gift tube. There are usually a maximum of around 200 bottles per edition making them highly collectable

We are hoping that we will be able to bottle at least a couple from the list above but we are also looking for one very special dram to become our bottling specifically for the Islay Festival of Malt and Music. This will be our third Festival bottling, the previous being our Rare Cask Port Ellen 1982 (2008 Festival) and Rare Cask Laphroaig 1996 (2009 Festival). As far as we are aware, we remain the only Independent Bottler to bottle a whisky especially for the Feis.

For enthusiasts closer to The Wine Shop in Leek, we'll be holding a whisky tasting on Tuesday 13th April, and this will be the first time that the new whiskies will be on show. Tickets for this event will be on sale at just £10 per head, please contact us ASAP if you would like to reserve tickets. There are only 20 places at this event as we will be holding at in shop.

If you would like any information about our whisky tasting events, new bottlings or how to join our whisky committee please don't hesitate to get in touch.

We hope to see you at Feis Ile 2010!

Slainte

David

01538 382 408

email: david@rarecask.com

PS On the angling front, I will be joined by Stoke - on - Trent's 'vital spark', none other than Glen Pointon from Oshbonk and we'll be fishing Lochs Gorm, Skerrols, Ballygrant and Finlaggan. There's never a dull moment with Glen as anyone who has had the pleasure if meeting him will declare, so I should have plenty to blog about in June!

Islay Hogmanay 2009

We're sitting in the dining room of the CalMac ferry," The Isle of Arran", the smaller of the two vehicle ferries that service the Hebridean Isle of Islay. 

I've just polished off a huge breakfast and am sitting reflecting on the amazing eight days we've spent on the Hebridean island of Islay whilst the ferry makes it's two hour journey from Port Ellen to Kennacraig on the mainland.

Bunnahabhain Distillery, our home for the week

The Paps of Jura, the view from number 5, Shore Road, Bunnahabhain.

Probably the most surprising aspect of our holiday was the weather. It was perfect. We had clear blue skies all week and the only rain we had was as we left number 5, Shore Road, Bunnahabhain Distillery this morning.

It really annoys me when folk, (usually English folk!) Presume that when you say you holiday in Scotland, you spend the whole time being rained upon and in desperate misery....and that is just the summer. I've visited Islay on around 30 occasions in the last 5 years and I can honestly say that, on the whole, the weather is always much warmer, and sunnier on this wee Hebridean Isle, than it is back home in the Staffordshire Moorlands. Yes, the weather can be extreme, there will be gales of frightening wind speeds and torrential rain, stopping air flights and ferry trips, but these are days for spending in front of a roaring fire with a large dram and a good book, or for tying a few loch patterns for the new Trout and Salmon season to come.

Saligo

Our trip began on 27th December. We left Leek at 6am so as to allow plenty of time to battle through any snow in order to get to our 6pm ferry on time. We arrived 3 hours early, the only snow we encountered was on Shap where the M6 was down to one lane.

After a busy Christmas at The Wine Shop, we were determined to have a relaxing week and we packed the van with enough food and beer, wine, port and whisky to feed an army for a month. We found that we weren't dashing around the island, ticking off must visit spots as we have done in the past, but instead, visiting one place per day and spending a good amount of time there. It was a joy to be back in front of a huge fire each night with a large dram to hand...usually Glendronach 18 yrs old or good old Cask Strength Laphroaig.

Loch Gorm, looking much different to the last time I visited it when I fished it with Glen Pointon and Peter Dracup in September.

Our most memorable outings were to Machir Bay (Kilchoman) and to the lovely beach at Saligo where the huge Atlantic rollers crashed onto a deserted, white, Hebridean beach, devoid of any other people or even any footprints of visitors from earlier In the day. A truly magical place. The river that flows into the sea here is sizable (by Islay standards), and flows from nearby Loch Gorm. I look forward to having a few casts for Sea Trout in the summer months.

The lighthouse at Port Charlotte, overlooking Loch Indaal towards Bowmore

As ever the bird life was amazing. We saw many Buzzard, Hen Harrier, Curlew and on our walks on the "Peat Road" at Bunnahabhain, we were guided by a relay of eager Robins, much to the delight of the chasing Katie, our less than intelligent Flat Coated Retriever. There were not many deer to be seen and the closest I got to one was late last night whilst walking Katie on the beach in front of our cottage in the dark. I heard and then saw, a large stag skitter up the pebbles and rocks on the shore. I presumed that, food being scarce during the big freeze on the hill, he'd ventured down on to the shore to look for scraps among the seaweed, flotsam and jetsam.

Geese making their way towards Loch Gruinart

Islay is home to much birdlife. This pic looks over Loch Indaal towards Bowmore, the round church just visible on the sky line

I'm still on the Isle of Arran and we're just passing the island of Gigha. The weather, quite predictably, is becoming much more dull, overcast and grim, as the distance between ourselves and Islay grows.

In October 1974, the Fleetwood trawler, "The Wyre Majestic" struck rocks whilst navigating the Sound of Islay. There it has sat ever since, just down the shore from Bunnahabhain Distillery

We enjoyed many evenings with friends from Islay and it was good to catch up with a few glasses of wine and a large dram or two....by far the highlight of these drams being a Single Cask 12 year old, incredibly heavily peated Bunnahabhain which was simply stunning. By contrast, we got to taste Bruichladdich's brand new blended Scotch Whisky...."Jim McEwan's Symphony number 1"...for reasons of diplomacy, no comment!

Much of my time was spent plotting and planning my fishing trips to Islay in the season to come. Where will I try this season? With what flies and techniques? Last year I had great fun with wee dry flies, largely ignored by local anglers. Their preference tends to be traditional wets such as Soldier Palmer, Kate Maclaren (Green Tail rather than Yellow), Butcher or Peter Ross. In September, Glen Pointon and I were having great fun taking dozens of fish on the dry LTD ("Living The Dream") and the F Fly. I'm certainly looking forward to trying these again in the season to come along with a few terrestrials.

Many of the waters looked totally different to how they are in the summer months, mostly iced over and where they weren't the water was deadly still with no sign of life whatsoever. I can remember many times making a mental note not to fall in!

Looking towards Bruichladdich and Port Charlotte from Black Rock, The Rhinns of Islay in a stunning winter sunset

Yesterday, we spent the entire afternoon at Black Rock on the Shores of Loch Indaal, Leonie being lucky enough to receive a kayaking lesson from Islay Studio's Mark Unsworth, as we enjoyed a Kelly Kettle brewed hot chocolate on the beach. I'm not saying that it was t-shirt weather, but it is good for the spirit to spend a good few hours in the sun in the depths of winter.

Looking towards Bridgend from Blackrock

Leonie in a Kayake in Loch Indaal on the 3rd of January 2010, as Leek sits under a blanket of snow and ice

Mark and Leonie return from their trip

If you are into fishing, birding, walking or simply having a wonderful, relaxing time, I would recommend the Isle of Islay above and beyond anywhere else in the United Kingdom. Yes, it's heaven to the whisky enthusiast, but Islay is not just about distilling, it is an Island rich in flora and fauna, steeped in history and of incredible natural beauty. We're incredibly gutted to be leaving it today.

Another amazing sunset, this time at Kilchoman (Machir Bay)

Nothing but bugger all separates this Atlantic Shore from Canada. A very peaceful place to be

We're heading in to Loch Tarbert and the small port at Kennacraig. The weather is dull and we are faced with a boring motorway drive this afternoon. Tim has just called to say that Leek and the Staffordshire Moorlands is under snow and that there are abandoned cars all over the place. We've called a couple of friends for weather updates desperate to hear that conditions are too bad to continue our journey back, eager to get straight back on the ferry and return to Bunnahabhain, and Islay.

Roll on the next time we're "Westering Home" to Islay.

I am looking forward to fishing Dovedale though!!

Anyone wishing to join us on one of our whisky or fishing trips (or both), please get in touch.

Feel free to leave a comment.

Slainte

David

Dovedale Christmas Day 2009

Merry Christmas All,

After tucking in to a massive breakfast this morning, we decided to have a run out and a wee walk up Pointon's Glen at Dovedale. After a misty start the weather turned out to be fantastic.

We saw lots of people out and about sledging and walking and I was surprised to see just how many cars there were when we arrived at Dovedale car park.

From the footbridge, the Dove looked perfect, running low with the slightest hint of colour. The paths are very icy but if you've got studded soles on your wading boots you'll be fine. Walkers were finding the paths quite hard to negotiate the paths and I even saw a runner give up and turn back towards the car park.




I couldn't resist a few casts with my new 6ft 3wt Hardy glass rod...or "The Brook" as they have christened it. I've not got myself any 3wt line yet so I loaded it up with 4wt and it was casting like a dream. I can't wait for the trout season when I shall arm myself with this nifty little rod, I can imagine it being perfect for narrower stretches like those found in between Ilam Rock and Doveholes.

No fish to report I'm afraid, after all I was only there for 20 mins, but it was great to be there with the snow around and in the cold fresh air.

Its off to Islay for us in a couple of days and have set myself up with some sea fishing gear so that I can have a go at landing a few Pollock from the rocks at Bunnahabhain distillery.

Slainte

David

Glendronach 18 Year Old Single Malt: An Early Christmas Tip

I've got a dream job. I work, with my wife Leonie, in a whisky shop. One of my tasks, and, it goes without saying, one of my very favourite tasks, is quality control. I get to taste many whiskies, whether it may be samples that arrive when I'm at work, or when I'm out and about in the bars of Glasgow, Islay and other places whisky related.

More often than not, I find that one dram struggles to differentiate itself from the next, surprises are few and far between and it doesn't always follow that paying a premium guarantees a quality dram, furthermore, sometimes a product that looks good, but has an inexpensive price tag, can turn out to be incredibly uninteresting.

Last week I received a a consignment of many different whiskies from our main supplier. As ever, I enjoyed looking through the boxes to see what new treasure might lie within. I'd ordered a few bottles of each of the new(ish) range from Glendronach and was glad to see that there was also a sample bottle for us to have a wee taste of.

And so, on Saturday night, I sat in front of the fire, armed to the teeth with a bottle of St Peter's Ruby Red Ale, and a large glass of Glendronach 18 year old Highland Single Malt.

The first thing I noticed was the deep burnt orange colour, (the label had spoken about 100% Olorosso Sherry cask maturation, which sounded very promising). I stuck my nose in and immediately got Xmas pudding, and rich, sweet, toffee aromas...on the palate the Sherry was obvious but pretty sweet for Olorosso. The finish was immense and everlasting, all in all a classic whisky and I have to say a real surprise given the price tag of £52.99 which is nowt for an 18 year old dram of this quality bottled at 46%, with natural colour and no chill filtration.

I've a friend who works for BenRiach Distillers who own Glendronach and I contacted him immediately so that I could source some direct as these whiskies will be terrific for us at The Wine Shop for the Christmas period as they will make the perfect gift recommendation.

As well as the stunning 18 year old expression, there is a 12 year old (£31.99), a 15 year old (£41.99 which apparently, is better than the 18 year old!!) and a 33 year old which I know absolutely nothing about only that it is about £130 per bottle which is incredibly inexpensive for a whisky of that age bottled by the distiller.

So there you have it...an early Christmas 2009 Whisky recommend whether it be for a gift or for drinking in front of the fire on Christmas day. It's not often that we taste something so exciting at that price point and is certainly in the league of the greats at that age such as Bunnahabhain 18 years old, Highland Park 18 years old and dare I say it...even Macallan 18 years old. Call in at the shop and we'll give you a taste....if I haven't drank it all in the meantime!

Slainte

David