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An Islay Miscellany
Thursday, August 28 2008
When the Islay Museum celebrated its Silver Jubilee in July 2002, the Museum's Management Committee decided that one way to celebrate this achievement was to publish a book called An Islay Miscellany. It's a collection of short extracts from the Museum's large library and archives, and it ended up to become a fascinating book. From what I'm told, the book was sold out after a couple of years and was reprinted in 2007. Fiona MacGregor was kind enough to mention it to me and sent a copy to my home address last week. I was very pleased when I saw the book for the first time and wondered why I never heard of it before. It really is a fascinating book to read and there are so many interesting stories. They are all printed in several different chapters; the people, the sea, far off times, conflict, the land, myths and legends, poetry and an introduction by former museum curator Gordon Booth and the present curator Malcolm Ogilvie. To give you an idea of the stories you can find in this book I have quoted a couple of stories in this post. The first story is called "Pigs, Dunghills and Short Cuts", and is an extract from the Stent Book of Islay.
Pigs, Dunghills and Short Cuts
Bowmore 11th April 1804. It has been now represented to the meeting that the town of Bowmore is very much annoy'd by a destructive crowd of pigs running up and down the streets, and that many of the inhabitants, regardless of propriety, keep their dunghills upon the streets. This meeting consider themselves authorised to order a better police, appointing Archd Adair & Mr Hector Simson as superintendents, who are hereby recommended, to publish all the inhabitants of Bowmore, that eight days after the date of that publication, each owner of a pig which shall be found loose upon the street shall pay a fine of not exceeding 2/6 Sterling for each offence. Continue reading......
Another Car Hire Website on Islay
Wednesday, August 27 2008
In January I wrote about Scott Urquhart from Bridgend who started a new Islay Car Hire business next to his existing accommodation at Sornbank. Nowadays a business can't do without an online presence so Scott built a website for his new venture called www.islaycarhire.com. When I met Scott in May he told me the Car Hire was doing really well, not strange if you consider tourism is booming on Islay and flights are getting cheaper all the time.
Back then he wasn't the first with a car hire company on Islay. D&N MacKenzie, a well known name on the island, offered similar services but weren't available to the online community, which does make a big difference nowadays. That has now changed since D&N MacKenzie have their own online presence. Their new website is called www.carhireonislay.co.uk. D&N MacKenzie, in business on Islay since 1926, are located opposite the airport and have a wide selection of vehicles such as VW Polos, Golfs, Passat estates and even mini buses. They can be contacted by phone on +44 (0) 1496 302300, by email at enquiry@carhireonislay.co.uk or through the contact form on their website
Islay Pipe Band New CD - At Long Last
Tuesday, August 26 2008
Black Bottle Islay Pipe Band CD - At Long Last
The new Black Bottle Islay Pipe Band cd, At Long Last, is now available. The price is 12 pounds and copies can be purchased in various shops on Islay or you can order a copy by e-mail at islaypipeband@hotmail.co.uk. The cd will also be available from the Islay Pipe Band website at www.islaypipeband.org.uk.
Islay Nature Report 33 - Martin Clunes on Islay
Tuesday, August 26 2008
Welcome to this weeks Islay Nature and Wildlife report. I was going to publish this last Sunday evening and realised that Jeremy is off to his gathering down south but did manage to submit a report today.
Last week a crew from ITV were on Islay for a new series about the islands and Islay, which will be on tv in the autumn or winter. The crew spent a day with Gus Newman diving around ship wrecks, they spent a day at the Bruichladdich Distillery and they were guests of Jeremy Hastings too. And Donald Fletcher from Persabus even went for a night's filming with them at Dunlossit to soak up the other island culture... On behalf of Meat Islay, Chloë Randall, from Dunlossit Estate, organised a spit roast pig and assembled farmers from the island at Balleachdrach Barn. Francois Bernier prepared a vast range of pig dishes, accompanied with lots of whisky while the camera’s rolled. Bruichladdich referred to this as men behaving badly, or is it just men having a good time? Martin Clunes who is quite a famous TV actor was up doing the presenting. Looks like they had a really good time! In his news blog on Thursday Jeremy writes: "Today I was out with Martin Clunes of ITV making part of a programme about islands and Islay especially. We were watching and filming a great big dog Otter, trying wild food and having fun in the wilderness! Yesterday was spent preparing. Excellent chap, good fun crew to work with." The Bruichladdich distillery issued a press release about Martin Clunes on their website and were kind enough to include some pictures. Back to more wildlife snippets. Continue reading.....
Another Ride of the Falling Rain Report
Monday, August 25 2008
At the beginning of August I wrote about the Ride of the Falling Rain and today I found another very interesting report from the ride by a guy called Kev who runs his blog called Amateur Etape with Roy. They both ride for charities as well, which is perhaps one of the reasons Kev joined the ride on Islay. A quote from his report:
I have only done a couple of Sportives so far but this one was definately the most fun. We left Debbies cafe at Bruichladdich at a very sociable 10am after a quick caffiene hit to get you started. The ride is completely unsupported and open roads. The beauty of it though is none of this matters. There are few cars and they don’t tend to be in a rush. Just about every time we came across cars on a narrow road they would just pull over and wait for you to pass with a friendly wave. The whole event was then wound up at the Port Mor centre (which is also the campsite) with an evening Pasta party and a couple of beers. Special thanks should go to the velo club d’ardbeg who organise the event and have a website with all the details about cycling on Islay. If you buy the club jersey you become a life time member.
Brian will be pleased to read this report and it will hopefully bring more people to Islay for next year's Ride of the Falling Rain, and that, hopefully, is including myself as well.
Campbell Butchers Port Ellen Islay
Monday, August 25 2008
One of the advantages of running the Islay Directory is that you get to know new Islay websites. Usually people send me an email mentioning that they have a new site and now there is a possiblity for people to add a new site themselves. That's how I found this one, although I had seen it before some time ago. The new site belongs to the Campbell Butchers on 56 Frederick Crescent, Port Ellen. During our visits we have been to his shop several times and enjoyed the excellent quality meat. I was really surprised to find out they have quite a big website with a few interesting options. What I like most though is their slogan: Pleased to meet you, meat to please you! They are also a member of Meat Islay, but until the new Abattoir at Avonvogie is fully licensed they get their meat from the mainland. You can find their meat in several restaurants on Islay such as The White Hart Hotel, Lochside Hotel, Croft Kitchen and Lochindaal Hotel. And their products are also available at the Ballygrant shop and Debbies Mini Market, Bruichladdich. Continue reading....
Bruichladdich Distillery Pushes Forward
Sunday, August 24 2008
The Scotsman published an interesting article today about Mark Reynier, managing director of the Bruichladdich Distillery. In the last year the distillery received several bids, which were kindly refused. Instead the target for the distillery is a strong growth from 35,000 cases to 150,000 cases which would take the distillery past the £10m mark. A very impressive target and one they will certainly meet given the fact that the planning permission for the Port Charlotte Distillery is finally there. A quote from the article:
The interest in Bruichladdich comes on the back of similar approaches to Perthshire-based distillery Tullibardine and the sale of Pernod Ricard's distillery Glendronach to a South African consortium headed by whisky veteran Billy Walker. Sources say individuals representing Russian and Indian consortiums have been scouring the Scotch whisky industry in the past 18 months in a bid to acquire a distillery and tap into the growing demand for Scotch worldwide.
Mark Reynier said: "In the past year we have had around four enquiries, and a few, as a board, we are duty-bound to weigh up and consider, which we have and to date have rejected each one. "It would have to be a pretty exceptional deal to get us at all interested. We enjoy what we do. "Technically, we could grow this company into a 150,000-case distillery with a £10m turnover. The question is do we want to? We think it is a question of slowly, slowly catchee monkey. Since we acquired the company in 2001 we have gone from zero to 35,000 cases. Reynier describes Bruichladdich as the "fastest-growing single malt whisky distillery brand".
Tag: bruichladdich mark reynier distillery whisky
The Golden Hour on Islay's Saligo Bay
Saturday, August 23 2008
I always thought that taking a picture of a nice (Islay) sunset had to be done before the sun actually disappeared behind the horizon. There is however another way to take beautiful sunset pictures... When Mark Unsworth of Islay Studios invited us to a late night photo shoot at Saligo Bay he told me that the best "sunset" pictures can be made after sunset. Mark referred to this as the after glow and in photographic terms the Golden Hour. This Golden Hour can take place an hour before sunrise and an hour after sunset, hence the Golden Hour. Most photographers agree that some of the best times of day to take photos are during these hours. I found a very nice description somewhere: "During Golden Hours, the atmosphere is often permeated with breathtaking light that adds ambiance, interest and drama to any scene. There can be spectacular variations of colors and hues ranging from subtle to dramatic during the Golden Hours. Even simple subjects take on an added glow." Sounds good doesn't it? For some reason it never crossed my mind to take pictures during these time periods but that has changed now. Mind you, if you want to try this yourself you need to realise that sunrise on Islay takes place around 4am and the sun sets around 9.15pm in June. That leaves little time to sleep if you want to make the best of these Golden Hours. Visiting Islay outside the summer season is an option if you want to get the most of these conditions. Continue reading......
Round Britain Experience Promotes Six Isles Blend
Friday, August 22 2008
The Press and Journal reports today about a yacht that's sponsored by Ian Macleod Distillers, who created the Six Isles blended whisky, and you guessed right, here is the connection with Islay. The yacht, named Six Isles, sails around Britain to promote the blend and arrived in Oban last week. I'm not sure though if the yacht visited Islay already. A quote from the article:
A yacht promoting a blend made up of malts from Scotland’s six whisky-producing islands called at Oban over the weekend, as part of an adventure sail round the British Isles. The crew has been provided with stock and point of sale to promote The Six Isles throughout the voyage in more than 60 UK ports, including all the Scottish whisky islands that make up The Six Isles blend. Created by the malt team at Ian Macleod Distillers, The Six Isles is a blended island malt made with the best of mature malts and selected from casks drawn from distilleries on Islay, Jura, Mull, Arran, Skye and Orkney.
Apparently this whisky is on the market for several years now given the reviews I found. Jim Murray's Whisky Bible wrote: "The best standard, non-deluxe vatted malt I have found in my lifetime" and "Wow! Fresh, alluring, sensuously smoked with an underlying intense barley charisma... beautifully oily and lush; long, increasingly spicy: a glorious array of vanilla and barley."
There Will be no Barrel to Spot
Thursday, August 21 2008
After reading the Laddieblog tonight about the cancellation of the Spot The Barrel competition, I had some very mixed feelings. I couldn't believe it at first so I checked with brian and he confirmed that there won't be a barrel dropped from a plane, no competition, no prizes up to £250,000, no supporting of charities and no refund of your night's stay at the new hotel. According to the Laddieblog there were only 1000 tickets sold of the projected 40,000. This must be a very sad day for Roland and his team and most likely a financial set back. Also many participants in the competition will be very disappointed and might wonder "and now what"?
From what I read, all the monies will be refunded which will be a huge and expensive operation. I'm sure this is not what Roland had in mind and perhaps there is someting "we" can do. With "we" I mean all the participants in the competition. If we all unite and support Roland with the new hotel and let him keep our money, he could give half of it to the charities on Islay and keep the other half to cover all the expenses he has made. And he could still give all the participants a refund for £25 when they stay in the new Islay Hotel, which would certainly be a worthwile marketing initiative.
I'm not sure what you all think about this idea, you probably think I am very naive and you are probably right. I also don't have a clue how to "organize" this. Perhaps you can send me an email or put a comment below this post and let me know your opinions. Thanks!
