Filling samples at a Bruichladdich warehouse tasting, Isle of Islay

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Picture of filling small sample bottles with a valinch from a cask
Filling samples at a Bruichladdich warehouse tasting, Isle of Islay

In November 2022 I was able to do something I had long wanted to do, a warehouse tasting at Bruichladdich distillery on the Rhinns of Islay. Among other reasons that I was staying in Port Charlotte, allowing me to walk to and from the distillery along the Loch Indaal coastal path (although for the return leg a kind member of the distillery staff gave me a lift by car, for which I was very grateful). At the end of the tasting we were able to fill our sample bottles with a proper valinch directly from the cask. I’m not sure which cask I was filling from here, most likely a Port Charlotte from a wine cask.

After the tasting we went over to the visitor centre where I also filled a valinch bottle.

Starlings on power lines at Kilchiaran (2), Isle of Islay

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Picture of Starlings sitting on three parallel power lines overhead
Starlings on power lines at Kilchiaran (2), Isle of Islay

A different angle for the view of the Starlings on power lines at Kilchiaran, taken as I was leaving for my walk back across the Rhinns of Islay to Port Charlotte.

Laggan Point in the evening light from Port Charlotte, Isle of Islay

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Picture of some cliffs seen across a sea loch
Laggan Point in the evening light from Port Charlotte, Isle of Islay

A view across Loch Indaal from just outside Port Charlotte on the Rhinns of Islay on a November late afternoon, sunset rapidly approaching. Laggan Point visible on the other side of the loch, Laggan Bay behind it.