A Cracking Start for Fly Fish Islay

Blimey! What a busy start to the summer. The weather has been terrible in the Staffordshire Moorlands, so it is with great fortune that Glen and I found ourselves spending much of the early summer enjoying the fine weather on the magical Isle of Islay with 3 separate groups of guests, all determined to enjoy themselves through catching a few wee broon troots and enjoying a wee dram or two...

We were joined on our Fly Fish Islay trips buy 3 groups of smashing ladies and gents from all over Europe. Some new to Islay, some new to fishing, some experienced anglers, all up for a good laugh.

I haven't had time to write blog posts after each of the trips, excepting the first in April but here follows a selection of pics....(There are many more on the Fly Fish Islay page on Facebook).....

Loch Gorm proved to be a favourite of many of our guests. Fished from boat with an outboard so as to cover as much of this vast machir loch as possible, Richie enjoyed 2 days on the loch and enjoyed some spectacular sport.....

A first for Fly Fish Islay was an outing to 3 hill lochs by way of Islay Estates' Argocat. Guests were guided by head game keeper Scott Brown. One of the lads had never fly fished before our May trip but he still managed to land a couple of stunners to around 2lb from these remote hill lochs.

Popular as ever as a fishing venue was the beautiful Loch Finlaggan, not least because Finlaggan House was our base during the May trip. On the last day we held a small comp....the winner would be the angler who landed the most fish in 4 hours. Kev Pollard came out tops and went away with a nice couple of drams and some cracking fishy memories.

A month later and another set of guests arrived. Glen had his eye on the sea fishing, he new that come June there would be more fish near the shore on the sea lochs. This our base was at Octovullin by Loch Skerrols.

Sean Ruffell carefully selects his weapon...a 28g Dexter Wedge.




















We arranged a clay pigeon shoot for the guests at Octovullin House. It was hilarious watching Pointon firing at clays with a semi automatic shot gun. Scott the keeper couldn't keep up with loading shells as Glen was firing it like a machine gun and still managing to miss.....

Plentiful brown trout were had from all of the lochs that our guests fished throughout the 3 trips, and all were amazed at the differences that could clearly be seen between the different strains of fish from each loch.

On the final day of the last trip we bumped into Justin Ruthven-Tyers at Islay Studios. Both Glen and I had recently finished reading his new book 'Phoenix From the Ashes' which is a belting read.......Justin lives on Islay with his wife Linda and their boat 'Caol Ila' can often be seen moored in Lagavulin Bay.

Justin was never really a joiner / carpenter before his house burned down and he decided to build a new one....oh, and he also decided to build a beautiful boat...'Caol Ila'...the book tells all and is an incredibly enjoyable read.....

The most memorable moment of all the trips this year has to be Glen catching a 2.5lb sea trout. I am proud to have shared the moment with him...read all about it on his blog....www.glenpointon.blogspot.com

I hope to update this blog on a more regular basis, but may just post pics and a few words from now on. Expect many more pics from Islay because as of this Saturday, I'll be living there....:-) :-) :-)

Slainte

Woody

My Top 3 Festive Drams

I thought I'd post a wee note or two about my favourite whiskies that I was lucky enough to taste and imbibe over the festive period. These are 3 amazing whiskies each with their own individual characteristics. All are incredibly complex, all suite my palate perfectly, all were perfect for Xmas drinking, and 2 out of the 3 are incredibly rare.

Festive Whisky Number 1

Caol Ila Single Cask Bottling Feis Ile 2010
Islay Single Malt Whisky 
Filled to cask 19th August 1999 
Bottled 2010
Bottle Number 064 Cask Number 305646
61.9% abv

Nose:  Cinnamon, winter spice, honey marmalade, rich red fruit, raisins, sultanas, hint of bonfire smoke
Palate: Winter spice and marmalade right at the front of the tongue with an amazingly rich and oily mouthfeel
Finish: The red fruit and winter spice are huge with a fading waft of bonfire smoke

What a monster of a winter dram! This Caol Ila has been bottled from a single sherry cask and the overwhelming characteristics are of red fruit and sweetness rather than the usual, medicinal, peaty flavours of this Islay classic.What a Caol Ila to taste at Christmas. Bottled exclusively for the Islay Festival of Malt and Music 2010, I probably should have kept this beauty for another couple of years just to keep an eye on it's value as rarities like this can quickly sneak up to a price tag of £500 per bottle. I'm glad I opened it though and it is one that I shall enjoy sharing with friends over the next year or so....

Festive Whisky Number 2

Glen Grant Single Cask Bottling Feis 1987
Speyside Single Malt Whisky 
Distilled December 1987
Bottled March 2010
Bottle Number 104/272 Cask Number 44648
57% abv 

Nose: Olorosso sherry, raisins, vanilla, parkin, bled radiators.
Palate: Huge hit of Xmas cake and parkin then classic Spanish oak vanilla.
Finish: Very long, deeply rich finish, perfect accompaniment to rich festive deserts.

This was a gift from Leonie for Xmas and is just a classic, does what it says on the tin, sherry cask matured Speysider. If you don't like this, you don't like whisky. The type of sweet sherry monster that took us on trips to Speyside again and again to look for the odd special bottling forgotten about in a dark corner of a whisky shop or bar. Cigar anyone?

Festive Whisky Number 3

Benriach 'Importanticus Fumosus' Tawny Port Finish
Peated Speyside Single Malt Whisky 
Aged 12 years
46% abv 

Nose: Strawberry jam, cranberry, peated barley, a hint of peat reek
Palate: Strawberries, raspberries, giving way to increasing peat smoke, tar, and jeyes fluid
Finish: Drying, the peat smoke quickly takes over from the red fruits.

I'm a great fan of what the Benriach Distillery Company is doing with it's range of Speyside whiskies from both it's Benriach and Glendronach distilleries, the latter having been acquired by the company in the last two years or so. Although it does produce non-peated whiskies, of late, Benriach has become more renowned for it's peaty spirit. The company has also dabbled in 'finishing' some of it's peaty whiskies in particular in different pre-used casks. On the whole I'm not a great fan of these finishes, particularly when the spirit has been decanted into ex wine casks as I think that the whisky can become overpowered by the previous occupant of the casks very quickly. Benriach, however, always seem to manage to get the balance right where the second cask has added an interesting subtle twist of flavour to the whisky without detracting from the intended distillery character. In this case, the peat is predominant with an extra dimension of red fruit that hasn't overpowered the whisky. It makes a good introduction for those who haven't dabbled into the world of peaty whiskies, it being not too much of a monster. For those already used to a little waft of smoke, the addition of the fruity factor does make this a little too easy to drink! Unlike the previous two whiskies, this is not a limited edition bottling and you should be able to find this at any decent whisky shop, especially those found in Russell Street in Leek......

Slainte

David

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