Bruichladdich Day Feis Ile 2024- Mind your Ps and Qs
What a day Bruichladdich Day was!! When you ask anyone on Islay about their favourite day, Bruicchladdich Day is very often the first thing that pops out. Why? It’s a PARTY!!!
If it’s a party, where’s the whisky? I would really consider Bruichladdich Day in two parts. There is a tasting (and with the luck of the draw and £100 per person) you can take part. It’s based on luck because it’s a random allocation from all who express their interests. For the past two years in a row, we have not been lucky and didn’t take part in Adam’s Master Class. But, it’s still a great day! There are so many bands you don’t want to miss, drams to try, craft artists to visit, and whisky to buy and try.
While I was thinking about how to thematise this blog day post, it all comes back to rules. Mind your Ps and Qs really is more than minding your pints and quarts, though that is also important too.
There are tons of reasons to go and take part in Bruichladdich Day and one of the two days where you are most likely to find locals from Islay. It’s their celebration too!! But before I give advice on the specific experience and what you might do, the BIGGEST question is really about how to get to/from Bruichladdich. It’s a large-ish island and the buses simply don’t run on Sundays. There are a few complimentary shuttle buses (TWO) but they run from Bowmore OR Port Ellen around 9am directly to Bruichladdich. We took this option as we didn’t want to bother hiring a taxi. After all, Bruichladdich distillery always claims that it’s sunny, good weather for their day. “Always” they say.
While we arrived early enough for the Master Class (starting at 11am), we didn’t get tickets. We paid the £10 per person entry fee instead. That also meant that we couldn’t enter until 12:30. We were actually around number 10-15 in the queue, which meant we would enter as soon as it opened and really about 3 hours from the time we first arrived at the distillery. It was cold (though not rainy) and there was a tiny cafe that normally isn’t opened, but was open serving coffee and snacks. There was a group sense of community as some were sharing drams and others were passing along snacks. I grabbed a mini Snickers for myself and shared it with S. Plus, we had a bit of time to snap some pics of the coast and the decor for the day. Meanwhile, a drone buzzed overhead to get shots for the day and we waived t the camera taking photos of the front of the queue.
Last year, we arrived at the queue perhaps 45 minutes to an hour before the entry time and we were wrapped down the building and curved into the parking area. It also took about 30 minutes from the entry time until we arrived. This year, the queue was only maybe 30 people deep until 11:45-12:00. So, definitely a decrease in queuing (we noticed this at many distilleries).
As we were going on Island time, island time is very ‘ish’ and fuzzy. Doors ended up opening at 12:45ish. When we entered, we went straight to the queue to try the bottles/buy the bottles. They don’t display signs that you can, but you can ask for a wee sample. The samples are presented in tiny paper cups (S and I shared) a sample of both Port Charlotte and Bruichladdich. I would say it’s not enough time to think through and I didn’t even write down any tasting notes because there was not time to appreciate it. I think that happened moreso in the Master Class. The question was- did you like it or not? Is it worth buying? We had already bought the Port Charlotte on pre-sale and we planned to cancel it (if we said no to these questions) given our limited space to bring back bottles in the plane.
The Port Charlotte bottling was quite nice tasting, rich and complex with delicate smoke coming through on the nose and palate. Mixing Bourbon and Sauternes casks, this is actually the oldest Port Charlotte to be released (20 years old!) and was priced at £225. I thought that this was a good price considering the bottles released were on the lower-end (1,500) and this compares with Bowmore’s 19 year old (£200 with 3000 bottles) and a much better deal than the Diageo bottlings from Lagavulin (10 year old) and Caol Ila (13 year old) at close to the £200 point.
We did not buy the Bruichladdich as we prefer peat, even given the nice price point (£100; 3000 bottles) and the mix of different casks (sweet wine, ex-brandy PX, sauternes) was a bit too on the experimental side for us. For me, it was a bit of competition between the notes. But, again, that was a 2 sip speed nosing and tasting. I could be wrong.
By the time we made our decisions, the queue for the bottles was quite long! And, we went over to the shop (which of course, opened at 1, or just after). We waited and then flooded through. The Doctor really wanted a bottle of the Octomore 14.4. We split our attentions, as they do also sell bottles at the dram stations. You can try, buy drams, and buy bottles, though they only have a limited number for sale in these areas. It can be frustrating waiting behind others as there are separate queues for each bartender and some move faster than others. Some people might want to try more and buy more than others, so it is the luck of the queue. The Doctor was sorely disappointed as the bottles sold out there. Luckily there were plenty in the shop and he found his bottle! We ended up purchasing a 50cl Port Charlotte Valinch PLC02 Heavily Peated bottle single cask (405 bottles) distillery exclusive. It weighed in at £90, boasting 59.9% ABV. Cask number 2733 aged 11 years. It was distilled 26 July 2012 and filed into 3rd fill Pessac-Leognan wine casks. This was a blind purchase, as you can’t taste in the shop on Bruichladdich Day. There were also Bruichladdich valinch bottles as well.
After this purchase and saying hi to our amazing friend Ruby who we met our first trip to Islay at Ardbeg (she now is at Bruichladdich and I hope to be on a tasting with her in the future!!), we went to grab a complimentary drink (you get two with your entry ticket) and find something to eat in the food area. While we sat down and ate, we noticed that the queue was still wrapped around the distillery with many people still waiting to get in. I’m glad we arrived early!
There is TON to do at Bruichladdich Day! We visited the craft area next, which featured local artists and entrepreneurs. You have to move quickly if you want first pick. I watched as the marmalade I wanted was sold out. But, we did buy the lemon and Islay gin marmalade as well as the Laphroaig orange marmalade. S dreamed of buying this again as he went through our jar from last year too quickly!
From there, we walked back and forth between the different areas, tasting our free drams, paid for drams, and gin. I would even really recommend the Cask Aged Gin. I tried this neat and with soda water (recommended). I really enjoy gin but it had such depth and flavour and the woodiness and nuttiness that you might find in a whisky. YUM!
https://www.thebotanist.com/products/the-botanist-cask-aged-gin
Another highlight of the day is the entertainment! This is something they prepare you for before their day. They introduce the performers and tease you with a sample of their songs with Spotify. https://festival.bruichladdich.com/pages/meet-the-bands
S really enjoyed Talisk and have now added them to Spotify!! Along with the bands, the Highland Dancers also make an appearance and show off their talent!! I think that this is the reason that so many locals go and part of what helps to promote the party atmosphere! Bruichladdich Day knows how to ROCK! That’s maybe why they call it Rock’ndall (a cutesy mix of Rock n’ Roll and Loch Indaal (the water source for their whisky).
We ended up leaving back to Port Ellen on the first bus (just after 4pm) as there are two shuttles. We had another tasting to get to and didn’t want to be late.
What else can I say about the day? Well, I have a few tips that I can provide.
Be prepared for colder weather. There could be some rain and might be chilly. It was chilly and next year, I want to take some Hotties (hand warmers).
Be careful where you place your drink. It’s a locally attended event and there are families. Keep an eye on your drink so a cheeky teenager doesn’t try to nab it. I saw a visitor get booted from the Bruichladdich Day event because he was careless about this and a teen ended up with his dram. Please mind your Ps and Qs (literally!)
If there is a disagreement or issue, be polite. It really does go a long way. The same visitor argued with the bouncers and a police officer. He nearly was arrested because he said some nasty things to the “Scottish people”.
Don’t drink and drive. It’s not worth it. In Scotland (especially on Islay) there is zero tolerance. There are undercover police who watch people at these events and will arrest you. The taxi drivers and others also police this. If they see that you have been drinking, they will not let you drive yourself. Getting a taxi might take some time to wait for, but it’s much better than getting arrested. I like to keep a list of taxi drivers and their contact details just in case. You never know!
Bring your patience. Be prepared to queue for everything, especially on a popular day like Bruichladdich Day!
Drink your water! As part of Bruichladdich Day entry, you also will be given a refillable water bottle. There are tons of areas to fill this throughout the distillery. Keep hydrated.
Bruichladdich Day is also great because the distillery shares the event with you via email (and YouTube) so you can reexperience it and all of the fun!!
Recapping the entertainment
Recapping the Master Class with Adam
And that’s a wrap!!
If you’ve been to Bruichladdich Day, what is your favourite part? Do you have any other tips for enjoying the Day?