6:30 AM: Serge writes from Port Askaig: We're about to take the ferry to the mainland, and then drive to Glasgow and... back to reality. It's been a great week, indeed - more to come on maltmaniacs and whiskyfun. Roger.

Johannes adds: Now, here`s a picture of the REAL `Lord of the Isles`. Charlie isn`t just a whisky oracle - he`s a fountain of knowledge on the rich history of Islay. I was actually quite appalled when I learned that this historical title for the rulers of Islay now officially belongs to the reknowned philanderer Prince Charles of Wales. `The git of the isles` would be more appropriate, if you ask me...

<<< - Charlie on the beach at Machir Bay.

8:00 AM: Johannes writes: The people on Islay seem unusually preoccupied with the weather, but I`m slowly starting to understand why that is. In the short time we`ve been here we`ve seen the weather turn from wintery storm with gale force winds to summery skies with tropical temperatures - and back again. Yesterday was a chilly day with cloudy skies, but that didn`t keep us from having lots of fun.

We had actually planned to have that fun in the form of a bunch of samples from `obscure` distilleries like Glen Spey and Glen Keith, but just after breakfast Charlie dropped by our house to invite us to the Kilchoman distillery for a tasting session. Not a tasting of Kilchoman spirit, mind you - sadly enough Anthony Willis won`t be able to distill his first spirit this week like he originally planned. This session was built around samples from eight privately owned casks of Balvenie from 1973. The owner had asked the maniacs to review the samples and of course we were more than happy to oblige.

Anthony Willis was kind enough to offer us the use of his tasting room and it goes without saying that the maniacs used the opportunity to ask him for a quick tour of the distillery. That was quite an interesting opportunity, because the work on the distillery is far from finished. While Anthony showed us around he told us about his ideas for Kilchoman and the maniacs liked what they heard. Anthony plans to experiment a lot with changing a bunch of variables in the distillation process and - oh joy - put details about these variables on the label of his bottlings. Excellent idea; this is just the sort of information that people eager to learn more about malts are interested in! By the end of the Kilchoman tour we got to talk about yeast strains and we were happy to plant a little seed in Anthony`s mind: instead of using `commercial`yeast for the fermentation, Anthony may opt for natural, local yeast strains instead. More proof that Kilchoman could very well become Scotland`s most innovative distillery.

That`s it for now - we still have more than 100 samples to try this week and time is running out...

10:15 PM - Serge writes: We could taste the new Ardbeg bottling for the festival yesterday. Well, there were two, actually. Here are my notes...

Ardbeg 1975/2005 (44.7%, OB for Islay Festival, fino, Cask #4719, 188 bottles) Colour: gold. Nose: exceptional, a superb mix of peat smoke and tea. Some meaty notes, oxtail, smoked ham. Develops on herbal notes, hay, with very little fruitiness. Very maritime at that, and also quite medicinal. Great, as expected. Mouth: not extremely powerful and rather dry attack., like a peppered tea. Then some tropical fruits do appear, but it’s still dry. Very strong tea, with lots of tannins, cocoa, and quite some oak. Long but austere finish, always very dry. 92 points.
Ardbeg 1975/2005 (47.2%, OB for Islay Festival, oloroso, Cask #4704, 270 bottles) Colour: gold. Nose: sweet and marvelously smoky, with some notes of tea and herbal tea again and lots of dried fruits (banana, apricot, pear). Notes of coal smoke and garden bonfire. Quite some minty notes and a bit of camphor, and also some biscuit. More accessible than the fino version, I’d say. Mouth: rather sweet attack, with lots of apple juice, fruit salad and pepper. Gets quite spicy, tary and gingery, it makes me think of the old 10yo’s. It gets also a bit bitter after a moment and the finish is very peppery, with some grapefruit. I like it a little better than the fino, although most other maniacs preferred it to this excellent oloroso that I’d rate 94 points.

Now, as for the prices, they sell both for £180 a bottle. Last year it was £150 and in 2002, I remember it was £100. Sure, both are fantastic drams, and nobody's obliged to buy them, but still, now we know how it feels to be a cow – when it’s milked. Not too enjoyable. Sure I bought some, and my tits are still sore...

June 29, 2005 - added comment: I've got a few friendly complains (not from the distillery) about what I had written 'on the spot' and I agree maybe I've been a bit hard. As Ian pointed out, I should have looked at what the other distilleries charge for 30 YO releases: Aberlour £295, Balvenie £239, Brora £189, Edradour £195, Glenfiddich £279, Glenmorangie £189, Glenturret £145, Highland Park £189, Isle of Jura £220 and so on. I agree, but let's put it this way: maybe they could have made a small effort for all the people who keep flying to the festival each year, and come up with friendly prices for these special releases. Just like Laphroaig did this year. I met some guys there who told me 'I came from Wisconsin (whatever) and I'd have loved to bring back a special bottle from the festival but at that price, I can't afford it anymore'. So, maybe Ardbeg could rather bottle some younger cask and keep the prices 'affordable'. On the 'open market', I wouldn't mind, everybody is free to buy a £180 malt or not, but for all these guys who save money the whole year long to afford the trip and then discover that 'the festival Ardbeg went up again', it's perhaps not very fair, because it's kind of a 'captive market'. So, what happens is that some wealthier people buy bunches of bottles (some will end up on eBay), while the 'poor guys' can buy nothing. This is perhaps not what I'd call a 'festival release', even if I really loved both bottlings. - Serge
PS: Ardbeg, we still love you! ;-)

20:00 PM - Johannes writes: We`re now halfway through our Islay trip and it just keeps getting better and better. Well, apart from the `midges`- tiny mosquitos that can make life a living hell during the summer on Islay. When I stepped outside this morning to soak up the sunshine and the view across Lochindaal I was mistaken for a walking buffet by these nasty buggers. It wasn`t long before I was chased back into the house. Fortunately, the midges only come out in the morning and evening, so after half an hour we could safely leave the house to drive to Laphroaig for a tour and a tasting. Laphroaig could possibly be the distillery with the most beautiful ocean view on Islay. The distillery tour was interesting enough, but the real treat was a tasting of an upcoming batch of the Laphroaig Quarter Cask. Just like the first batch it`s a very fine dram - and its performance becomes even more impressive when you know that it hasn`t matured as long as the standard Laphroaig 10yo. After having matured for about five years in regular bourbon casks the whisky is `finished` in special smaller casks for an average of 8 months. Another thing that surprised us was the fact that these `quarter casks` (more like `half casks` at +/- 100 litres; half the size of the bourbon barrels that are now used exclusively at Laphroaig) are especially made on the mainland from the staves of regular casks before being shipped to Islay to be used only once for the maturation of the quarter cask bottling.

The tour was followed by a wonderful uphill hike to the water source of Laphroaig.
At the summit the Laphroaig folks poured the Laphroaig 15yo that we all know and love, but the maniacs (including Belgian maniac Luc Timmermans whom we've met at the distillery.

Next, we hurried to the Ardbeg for a lunch / blind tasting that was put together by Gordon Homer from `Spirit of Islay`. The PLOWED gang was there as well - in fact, we seemed to run into them several times a day, no matter where we went on the island. Gordon pours a very generous dram, so the maniacs had to leave before the lunch was over and the identities of the six drams that were poured was revealed. We managed to taste two spectacular other samples before we left, though - see Davin`s `daily dram` contribution for more details on those... (More details to follow tomorrow...)

<<< Serge, Olivier, Johannes, Luc and Davin at Laphroaig's water source (we forgot its name - too much whisky.)

Davin's Daily Drams - 11:00 AM - Davin writes: A sunny day began with skalks, a half a dozen of them, the best of which was a stunning Kinclaith whose nose was ripe with honey accented with wax, hints of pine, flour paste and wax. A constant undercurrent to the nose was orange water which translated into Gran Marnier on the palate. It was a rich, viscous palate with an absolutely marvelous passion fruit riding high on the bitter marmalade licorice and celery. Olivier called it "old Bowmore" on the finish. Kinclaith 26yo 1975 (52.3%, JMcA) 90 points.

Bruichladdich Day at Feis Ile was typically festive. An absolutely amazing array of old Laddies (all new releases) provided the theme for another Jim McEwan SRO performance at the Masterclass. Don't ever miss a chance to see Jim in action. The daily dram emerging from this session was a new Bruichladdich 1968 Legacy 35yo (40.7%, OB) 92 points. But all six, and a whole slew of Murray MacDavids on offer by the reasonably-priced dram in the sunny courtyard. When I travelled a lot for businesss, my past-time was looking up relatives on both the de Kergommeaux side ane on my mother's side: the Wisharts. Serious Wishart family history buffs have wishart.org to get in contact, but my Scottish family presented itself to me in the courtyard of Bruichladdich in the form of distant cousin and whisky author David Wishart (Whisky Classified) along with his simply charming wife Doreen.

Dinner at Martin's house brought a Nikka surprise (that antipodan tropical fruit note was ever-present). As was Dramming at Claggan with PLOWED where the Plowed Society Port Ellen blew us away achieving a well-earned 95 points.

<<< In the news this morning. We can asssure you he wasn't a malt maniac (the whole truth and nothing but the truth)

2:00 AM - Johannes writes: Oh boy...
We`ve just returned from a truly magnificent dinner at Martine`s house. After a gorgeous meal (several courses of seafood accompanied by Islay malts to match, including lobsters that were `hand-molested`by Peter and TWO fabulous deserts) we were surprised by an impromptu concert of Norma Munro (www.normamunro.biz) in Martine`s living room. What a voice! Mere words can`t describe the experience...
That would have been a perfect conclusion of the day, but when we dropped off Peter at PLOWED HQ with the ManiacMobile we were invited for a few drams to finish the evening - or rather start the new day... Great fun was had by all.

Chef Martine and Sous-Chef Peter preparing some wonderful lobster and scallops for us. Yummy! >>>

18:00 PM - Johannes writes: The guys (Serge, Olivier & Davin) are still at the Bruichladdich distillery where I had the pleasure of meeting Martine and Thomas for the very first time. Several hundreds of people (both local `Ileachs and visitors of the festival) that had gathered at the distillery were a testament to the good work that Mark Reynier and his team have been doing at Bruichladdich in the last few years; they have turned the distillery from `the gimp of Islay`to the hottest ticket in town. To my amazement, the predictions of several maniacs came through - after three days of wintery wind and rain the weather had turned and we had lots of sunshine and (relatively) mild winds.

As you may have learned from earlier entries in mi `Liquid Log, I`m not a big fan of crowds and bagpipes, so by the time the masterclass started I had more than my fill and decided to take advantage of the glorious weather and take a long walk along the shore instead. This gave me the chance to soak up the landscape and the lovely peat reek that can be enjoyed throughout the entire island. What a lovely experience!
Next: Diner at Martine`s (prepared with the help of sous chef Peter Silver.

10:15 AM - Serge writes:
We had some great Lagavulins yesterday - including some at our place. These were:

Lagavulin 12yo (43%, OB, 80’s) Colour: dark straw. Nose: stupendous balance. Lots of fudge, peat smoke and tropical fruits. Lots of sour fruits too (cider apples, white peaches, kiwi). Getting rather rubbery, with some silver polish. A bit of liquorice, and then the peat arrives. Really beautiful. Apple juice with pepper. Mouth: much punchier than the 43% would suggest. Sharper than the 16yo, much more a straight shooter. Rooty, peaty, with some lapsang soochong tea, celery. Quite some oak and tannins… Rather long finish, perhaps just a bit bitter like some infused tealeaves. A legend , for sure, very different from the current 16yo,(much rougher and less sweet). 91 points.
Lagavulin 1979/1997 Distiller’s Edition (43%, OB) Colour: full amber. Nose: quite some sherry but it’s not overpowering. Dried fruits, herbal teas, caramel, fudge. Lots of cappuccino, herbs, Hints of soy sauce, Barolo wine (Nebbiolo). Absolutely beautiful. Lots of coffee, caramel cream, even some animal notes. Superb. Mouth: perfect balance again. Lots of peat and lots of sherry that melt perfectly well. Quite some pepper and all sorts of spices. Totally thrilling, one of the very few finished whiskies that work perfectly well – and it even beats the legendary old 12yo we just had. Wow! 92 points.

The shore of the Lochindaal this morning, just in front of our house. It always rains on Islay, yeah, yeah...

Davin's Daily Drams - 8:15 AM - Davin writes: Day Four arrives and the dram data is mounting steadily in our (re)search for the perfect dram. Fifty-nine and counting so far. Thursday, while waiting for Serge & Olivier, Johannes, Peter and I toured Glengoyne and tasted some simply fabulous drams. Glengoyne is definitely making a big move towards the connoisseur's market and we tasted several cask samples including a marvelous 7yo sherry cask Glengoyne and a superb 10 yo. The winning malt of the day was the Glengoyne 31yo Vintage 1972 (57.9%, OB), cask 2968 at 92 points. We tasted this last year on the pirate ship Taora as a cask sample and it has translated well into the bottle.

Friday's Daily Dram winner has to be the the Oban 32yo we tried at the distillery, a fabulous vatting of five casks. I rated it Oban 32yo (55.1%, OB) 93 points. Dramming later at the Ardsheil Hotel in Campbeltown with The PLOWED Society a Dailuaine 1966 27yo (45.7%, Cadenhead) came a close second at 92 points.

Some fabulous drams were tasted Saturday including an old Lagavulin 12yo (43%, OB) from the early '80s; a wonderful dram that must have been the inspiration for the current 12yo cask strength. Fabulous at 92 points, but not as fabulous as a 1973 Longrow consumed on the (very) high seas on the ferry across to Islay. Longrow 1973 (46%, OB) 93 points.

Serge has described our time at Lagavulin but forgot to mention the days-end feasting on Islay seafood at the Port Charlotte Hotel with the folks from Bruichladdich. Duncan remembered Ho-Cheng from his time at the Academy last year. Jim McEwan was the star of course, with his stories. At one point he had about 3 people holding his various glasses while he used his hands to illustrate a point. It's easy to see why he is such an icon at the whisky festivals. Ho-Cheng: - a big hello from Duncan, and from the Maniacs, a big thank you for some spectacular tasting sample; it's gonna be tough to taste all the whisky we've got with us - probably close to 200 samples; Ahh - - check the Matrix in a few weeks if you really want to see some progress!

Reports in from Klaus and Mark this morning support my runaway facial hair. Klaus says it reminds him of a Canadian trapper. It's getting close to 9:00 this sunny, sunny, sunny Islay morning and the drams are calling. Bruichladdich open day awaits this afternoon, but first - on to the samples. More of Davin's Daily Drams in my next update.

9:20 AM - Johannes writes: The ManiacMobile and four of the maniacs, waiting for the ferry at Kennacraig and more than ready to proceed with some serious dramming on Islay... As you can see, we plan to leave a lasting impression on the island - and if we get in the mood to invite some sheep over for a few drams we won't have any problems `giving them a ride`, so to speak. The ManiacMobile will be officially christened on the ferry: the only problem will be finding a bottle that;
A) Won't damage our chosen mode of transportation;
B) We won`t mind too much not drinking ourselves.

I voted for the (less than impressive) miniature `for visitors`that we received at the Springbank distillery - but you`ll have to wait a while for my heartfelt rantings about Springbank until I`ve settled down a bit...

Serge speaking – The day started perfectly as we drove from Inveraray to Oban under the sun. Err, I mean, it wasn’t raining yet. Willie MacDougall showed us around Oban - a very nice in-town distillery (much more to follow on maltmaniacs). He brought out bottles of the excellent 20 and 32 years old for us to taste and when he told us he had tasted the old 12yo only once, Olivier couldn’t resist and pulled two minis from his pocket. Willie was very pleased and did a H2H with the 12yo and the current 14yo. He liked both, it appears! Anyway, all that was great and it was already lunchtime when we headed towards Campbeltown.

<- Willie MacDougall (Oban) doing a H2H with our old 12yo and the current 14yo.

Just a few tasting notes now - part of the drams we had at the George in Inveraray (but we brought the samples):

Brora 29yo 1971/2001 (50%, DL Old Malt Cask, bottled April, 258 bottles) Colour: straw. Nose: extremely Ardbeggish at first nosing, but with some added complexity, it appears. Big, bold peat smoke together with some pink grapefruit and lots of coastal notes such as fresh oysters and seaweed… Extremely clean for such an old malt. Hints -just hints – of perfumy notes à la Bowmore. Hints of cold ashes and wet stone too, caramel crème. Really beautiful, even if a little austere (which I like). Mouth: wow, very punchy and starting on some big, bold notes of liquorice drops. It’s then very peaty, but in the Talisker vein rather than like an Islayer (although it’s much peatier than Talisker).. Huge smoke and lots of pepper and smoked tea, thyme, dried parsley. Hints of bitter orange, crystallized kumquats, mastic candies. Beautifully complex and superbly balanced. Finish: very long and dry but not overpowering, on lapsang souchong tea and green pepper. In, short, a classy Brora, even if it’s very dry and less directly enjoyable than the totally stunning 30yo OB bottled in 2004. 93 points (and thanks Bert).
Ledaig 1972 (40%, G&M Connoisseur’s Choice old brown label) Colour: straw. Nose: very medicinal, although quite light at first nosing. A very nice and delicate peat comes through after five minutes, Hints of cough drops, pine needles, eucalyptus… Very, very good. Mouth: beautiful attack , with lots of tropical fruits, mainly kiwi, and lots of peat, whiter pepper and tea. It’s fantastic in fact. Develops on lemon peel, grapefruit, dried ginger… Lots of oomph and something that makes me think of the old peated Broras. What a great surprise, one of these superb old Ledaigs they made at the beginning of the seventies. Extremely interesting! 90 points.
Clynelish 13yo 1990 (59.3%, Blackadder, cask #3593, sherry finish) Colour: straw. Nose: astonishingly peaty for a Clynelish! Probably the most peaty Clynelish I ever had. Some celery, liquorice roots, wild carrots, with some whiffs of seaweed. Not too complex but what a beast! Mouth: very sugary, with some liquorice drops and again lots of peat. Lots of roots, herbal tea, American coffee. A very long, salty and peppery finish. A most unusual heavily peated Clynelish – a monster in fact. And, good news, not a single hint of sherry. 84 points.