Here is my trip I took last year to the Feis Ile in Scotland. It's going to be a long thread so bare with me. I figured this would be the place to post this type of thing and if I end up going overboard, let me know.

The Feis Ile is a whiskey and music festival Click Me were each of the eight Scotch distilleries on the island hosts a different event and has an open house at their distilleries. It was a whole lotta fun and a whole lotta drunken debauchery! If you love Scotch this is THE event to go to.

Here is a Google map of my trip, more or less: (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=e...,2.164307&z=10). If I set the map up right, you should be able to navigate on it and see each of the lettered destinations. I'll post in each post which lettered destination corresponds with the post so you have a general idea of where it was.

All of it is up and I apologize if there are too many pics but these are just a few that I took!

Also if anyone is wondering, these were all took with my XTi using the EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM. It's all the equipment I had at the time but I still made do!

[jealousy]i hate you.[/jealousy]

I flew into Glasgow (Location A on map) and then had a two-and-a-half hour drive to the town of Tarbert (Location B on map). Because of the ferry schedules and also this was a very last minute trip, I had to take what was available for rooms on the island so I ended up staying in Tarbert for two nights which actually worked out well. Unbeknown to me, there was a yacht race the same weekend I arrived that was based in Tarbert so I was able to see a whole lotta boats coming into the harbor.

I don't seem to have a picture of the harbor before the arrival of the yachts but take this picture and remove the yachts and that's what it looked like!



This is looking into the town from the B&B I was staying at:


At night this place was incredibly busy, you couldn't even drive down the road they were so busy. Couldn't even tell you how many people there were.

This is looking down on the town from on high:


Here is a close up of the church from above:


Here's a couple more that just came out pretty good:

The second day of being based in Tarbert, I took a drive around the Kintyre Peninsula just to check it out. If you look at a map, I took the A83 south from Tarbert to the B8001 which is a single track road across the peninsula and let me tell you, that was an experience. I've driven in Scotland before but I'd never gone down a single track road like that. They were very good at putting the passing places in just the right locations!

Here is an example of the roads. Only wide enough for one car:


Following the B8001 to it's end, there is the Skipness Castle and Skipness Chapel (Location C on map).

This is a building at the entrance of the road:


And some flowers along the way (which is now my laptop background):


Here are some castle pics:






Here is the really weird thing, there was this huge stone arrow in the ground next to the chapel that pointed directly south. There was no plaque or anything describing why it was here but afterwards I determined it was bombing directions for WWII bomber pilots on their practice runs. Here it is:


From Skipness I went south to Campbeltown and checked it out a little. Had I been thinking about it, I could have gone to the Springbank Distillery in Campbeltowne but I was too focused on Islay (at least that's what I'm saying)!

By this time, it was getting late and I had to get up around four in the morning the next day to catch the ferry to Islay so I headed back to the B&B in Tarbert.

After the early morning rise to catch the ferry, it was a two-and-a-half to three hour ferry ride to Port Ellen on Islay (Location D on the map). I didn't take any pics of the ferry since it was damn cold out and windy as all hell causing much spray from the water. It was still fun, I just didn't take the camera out.

Here are a couple of Port Ellen:






From Port Ellen, I cruised up to Lagavulin Distillery (Location F on the map). The tasting wasn't until 12:30 and since I'd arrived there around ten I decided I'd skip up to the Kildalton Cross (Location E on the map) which is an 8th century cross that is still in remarkable shape. Here is the cross and the chapel next to it.













This is the country side around Kildalton:

Aaahhh Lagavulin! (Location F on the Map)



I'd scheduled a tasting and tour here and it kicked some major ass! This was my first "real" tasting and of all the tasting I had over there this was the most informative, professional and interesting. Here is the placemat when you walk in and sit down:


Starting from the left, you can see the New Make which is straight out of the still! It's about 70% alcohol so it burns like an S.O.B. but you can still taste the wonderfully smoky peatyness that is Lagavulin. Next to it is the 12 yo which was tasty but just their normal Scotch, nothing special but still good.

Each of the distilleries had a special bottling that was only available at the distillery during the festival and at the top of the place mat was Lagavulin's festival. It's a 14 yo and is mucho tasty! This is one of the bottles I brought back. Next is the 21 yo and I thought the 12 yo was better. It was ok but very harsh. Finally the 25 yo and that was very, very good. If you can find a bottle of the 25, I highly recommend it!

I'd been drinking Scotch for a couple years but I'd always ordered it neat and that was how I drank it. After this tasting, I found out what water does to the flavor and, let me tell you, I was amazed! I couldn't believe what I'd been missing! In a controlled environment like this it was really easy to taste the differences of adding the water and seeing how the flavor changes with the addition of food. The smoked cheese went with the 12, the chocolate & smoked salmon the festival, the chocolate the 21 yo and the blue cheese (or Stilton as they call it) went with the 25 yo. I really didn't like the chocolate combination since the sweetness screwed it all up with me but the other three rocked and I highly recommend trying it next time you have a drink.

Ok, on to the tour!

Here are the Fermenting Bins:


We were able to try the wort straight from the bins and it was a very, very sweet light beer flavor and kind of thick in texture. I really didn't like it. There was a flavor in there that just didn't agree with me.

These are two of the four stills they have and are called "onion" stills:


This is where all the magic happens, the Spirit Safe. This is where the distilled new make flows and they determine what percentage of new make to keep. When the distilled liquor first starts to flow, it's called Foreshot and is the oily and somewhat toxic part of the distillation process. They dispose of this as it has more impurities than alcohol. They then keep a certain percentage of the spirit and when the alcohol percentage drops off to a point that is undesirable, the rest of the distilled alcohol is now termed Feints and is re-distilled to get all of the alcohol. Here is the Spirit Safe:


They really didn't have much of a "festival" here since it was the opening day and not a whole lotta people so this is what the live music consisted of:


But there were a couple swans and a castle ruin to go explore:






And lastly looking at Lagavulin from the castle ruins:

On to my most favorite distillery, Laphroaig! (Location G on the map)


Here is were those special few of us who are Friends of Laphroaig (or at least those who signed up) are able to see their square foot plot of land and receive their bountiful rent of a dram of Laphroaig's great 10 yo which I did and it was quite tasty.

Here I went on a tour and also enjoyed a tasting. They didn't have as nicely done presentation and it was held in the smoking building so it was to dark to take pictures (this was before I had a decent flash). But I did take one by leaving the shutter open with the camera looking straight up. I think it came out pretty good actually. Focus was a little off though.


I don't remember fully what we had tried but I can tell you one of them was the 30 yo and holly crap that was a good dram of Scotch! It'll be expensive but if you can get a hold of it I recommend it. This tasting was hosted by Simon Brooking who is the Master Ambassador to the U.S. He had some of the funniest stories to tell and it was a really good time.

Afterward I went on a tour and here is a pic from the malting floor:


From the malting room we went into the wash bin area were we were given a nice desrciption of how Laproaig does it by one of their top guys. He's the one in the middle. The chick in black with black hair was the tour guide and damn was she fine! Sorry no pics from the front.


From here we went to the still room:


Afterwards we had ourselves another dram which was also quite tasty!

Outside after the tour I found the two swans again. Don't know if they were the same ones as at Lagavulin but I think they were and were following me.


So, have yourselves a dram of Laphroaig and celebrate one of the finest Scotches in all of Scotland!

Traveling on to Bruichladdich (Location P on the map), I had the pleasure of being at the opening of the new distillery at Port Charlotte (Location Q on the map) which is down the road of Bruichladdich. The only one I have of it is a pic of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment Bagpipers who flew all the way over there specifically for the opening!


Here is one of Bruichladdich and they had a wee bit o' fun with the sign!




Here is the view from the front of the distillery and the two hills in the center are the Paps of Jura and are the tallest mountains on the Isle of Jura.


And here is a pic of the town of Bruichladdich:


During Bruichladdich's open day the bagpipe band Celtic Spirit played and were mighty good. The big dude was hilarious!

Taking an afternoon off from visiting the distilleries, took a little drive out into the countryside on the Mull of Oa (Location S on the map) and made a friend. This little guy was just hanging out at the side of the rode looking pretty for a picture:


And then there was this little guy who definitely needs a haircut!


Heading out further onto the Mull of Oa, I took some pics of the cliffs to show how high we were. Was also able to see the coast of Ireland in the distance from here.





And down below, climbing along the rocks, was a nice little wild mountain goat.


Out on the Mull of Oa is the American Monument which is a dedicated in honor of the ships HMS Tuscania and HMS Otranto which were both sunk off the coast of Islay during WWII.

Next on the trip was the Port Ellen Maltings (Location D on the map). This is where almost all of the barley used for whiskey on the Isle of Islay is malted. Only Laphroaig and Bowmore still malt some of their own barley the old fashioned way on the malting floor (which I had the opportunity to rake and turn at Bowmore!)


Inside on the tour, went through and learned quite a bit about the process of malting barley.

Here's a couple pics but most places we went were far to dark to take good pics and since I didn't take a tripod, I was outta luck.

After Port Ellen, I was off to Bowmore! (Location I on the map)


Along with the Distillery, Bowmore has the infamous Round Church (Location H on the map):




Had a lotta good times here. Went on a malting class with the head malting guy and was shown how it was done in the olden days. It takes a whole lotta work to rake and turn that barley and in 12 to 17 years, some of you will be drinking Scotch made from the barley that I turned, raked and walked upon! Take that bitches!








Here is a cask of very, very old Scotch. As you can see, the date on the oldest cask is 1957. Yes, this is when it was filled. The bad part is that since most of the alcohol has evaporated (it's called the angel's share) it is below the legal limits of what is considered Scotch. The only way it can be sold as Scotch is to blend it with something of a higher percentage. In other words, in can only be blended with a younger Scotch and then it can only be sold with a label with the year of the youngest Scotch it was blended with.


Next to the very old casks is a cask owned by the Prince of England.


Here is a final departing view of Bowmore:

The next part of the journey is a trek to the Isle of Jura. Since I didn't need to at the Isle of Jura until around three in the afternoon, I decide to hit up the two distilleries on the North side of the island: Bunnahabhain and Coal Ila. Bunnahabhain (Location M on the map) had their open day at the same time as Isle of Jura so I wasn't able to attend it but I was able to snap a pics while I stopped by and visited the gift shop.




After that I went to Coal Ila (Location L on the map) who didn't have an open day which I was very disappointed with since Coal Ila is one of my favorites. Coal Ila 18 is da' bomb!




From there I headed to Port Askaig (Location J on the map) to catch the ferry across to Jura. You know when you have a certain image in your head about what a place will look like? Yeah, this place was nothing like I expected. I was thinking it was going to be a nice small town with a few houses. A nice village town. Well, all it was, was a huge, steep hill into a port with a small shack as a store and the Port Askaig Inn. I wish I had taken a picture to show what it tooked like, but I didn't so here are a few that I did take and yes, that is the ferry I took across.

After taking the ferry across to Jura, we had a nice long drive to the distillery and was able to see the countryside some. Didn't take any pics on the way since we were a little late and had to get there for the tour. I definitely plan to come back at some point and hike the island some. It's only has a couple hundred inhabitants if that so it's pretty unspoiled.

When we arrived at the town of Craighouse (Location K on the map) where the distillery is located, I was able to take a few pics while waiting.

Don't know her name but I do know she was from Sweden. Her and her husband were staying at the same B&B as I was. I was waiting to get a pic without anyone but she wouldn't move so I thought I'd get her when she was standing perty and make it look like she was posing.


This is of the hotel right next to the distillery.


Some pics of the town:






During the tour, I thought I'd get a little artsy-fartsy with this one:


During the tour we went up to one of the sitting rooms. You can stay here and "work" at the distillery for a few days in an "ambassador" program. Look on their website and you can see more info. The guy on the right, standing, is one of the owners and used to live in this house. His family used to own the distillery outright but sold part of it and he runs it with a few others.


When crossing on the ferry, I carpooled with the guy who I met at Laphroaig who happened to have married my high school classmate (it's a small world after all!) but he had to much to drink at Jura so I was able to drive his rental back. He had the Euro spec Honda Civic and I have to say that it was a lot of fun to drive! I wish they'd bring it to the states! It had a decent amount of power and handled quite well. On the way to the distillery I was a little worried with his driving but it was a manual and he'd rarely ever driven a manual before so on the way back I was able to show him what it could do! Yeah, I made it sideways in a couple school zones but sadly there was no kids there, dammit.

After Jura (or before since I can't really remember which it was) I stopped at Finlaggan to check it out. It's a really, really old set of ruins to one of the lordships of the islands. But before I went to Finlaggan, I stopped at an old run down house just to take some pics of the sheep outside and the countryside and inside I found this little guy taking a nap in the fireplace:


He barely moved as I crept in. Kinda opened one eye and then went back to sleep. The flash didn't even bother him. Where the mother was I have no idea.

Here is his house:


And here is Finalaggan. Not much left of it at all sadly but they did have a wooden pathway built so people can walk to the island without getting wet and they had really nicely done information plaques but I'll spare you the boring info plaques and give you the ruins.

The final stop on the distillery tour: Ardbeg (Location T on the map). Of the whole time I was on Islay, it only sprinkled once but wasn't bad at all until this day. All day it was miserable with off and on showers and a constant drizzle so I didn't get very many pics at all. I did sneak off in between showers and get this one of the standard distillery name on the side of the building. However, as you can see, they had a little fun.


The theme of the day was, well, "big" as you'll see later. They had made many things over sized and it was a scavenger hunt to find them all. We pretty much had free reign across the entire distillery! And yes, of course, there were sheep.




Of all the distilleries, I have to say that Ardbeg's was the funnest! Walking into the gift shop, you had the choice of buying a glass or borrowing a glass to sample their Scotch! Have yourself a dram, then go on back up and have yourself another dram! I was able to weasel myself onto a tour and since Ardbeg's day was the last one of the festival, the tour guide was like: "Ok, you all know how it works since they're all basically the same so we'll walk through the distillery and I'll tell stories about it and we'll have ourselves a dram afterwards."

So we walked through into one area where all thirty of us were standing in one of the old barley storage bins on a catwalk were he was telling us a story. And he just kinda stopped, turned and saw all of us standing there and said "I don't think this is really sturdy enough to hold everyone so we should probably continue to the next room where I'll finish the story" We were on a wooden catwalk that had been built quite a few decades ago. It looked sturdy enough but it's hard to say.

Here's one of the pics I took was one of the wash tuns and I was trying to do the artsy thing again.


Anyways, after the tour, we went into the filling room, which was out of the rain, and there, sitting on a counter were a couple bottles of Ardbeg 10yo and a couple bottles of Ardbeg Uigeadail that you just help yourself to. Once these were gone, there were a couple guys walking around with huge tophats on that said "Bar 1" and "Bar 2" and you just ask them for a refill and you're good to go. At this point I was pretty well trashed and didn't take to many pics but I was able to snap a few in between the drams!




These two were of a group of Scotsman on leave from the military for the festival and asked me to take their picture. They were mightily drunk but having a grand 'ole time!





About when they were closing down, the rain slacked off enough and everyone who didn't have a ride started walking back to town with a group of bagpipers in the lead and a bottle of Ardbeg 10 floating around! Everyone was just hitchhiking back to town or just trying to sober up. Man it was one hell of a good time!

Well this was the last of the pics so I hope everyone enjoyed them! Next year, I hope, I'll be going back and be able to take pics of everything I missed!

Slainte'!

Wow great story, and what a bump of the thread! I don't drink scotch, but after reading all of that, I kinda want to.