New Blogposts on WordPress

I made a number of blogs on WordPress That May interest you:

• 2016 Whisky Nerd Awards
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2016/12/27/iladdie-whisky-nerd-awards-2016/
• Highland Park Fire Edition
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/02/03/highland-park-new-make-12-and-fire/
• Bruichladdich Black Art 05.1
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/02/03/bruichladdich-black-art-05-1/
• Highland Park 12 yo
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/01/29/highland-park-12-yo/
• Highland Park Fire Edition
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/01/27/unboxing-highland-park-fire-edition/
• Whisky Tasting Note: Kippery
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/01/24/rswfw-a-peaty-2-smokey-kippery/
• Whisky Tasting Note: Woodsmoke
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/01/22/rswfw-a-peaty-2-smokey-woodsmoke/
• Whisky Tasting Note: Ash
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/01/16/rswfw-apeat-1-burny-ash/
• Whisky Tasting Note: Soot
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/01/15/rswfw-a-peaty-1-burnt-soot/
• Whisky Tasting Note: Tar
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/01/07/rswfw-a-peaty-1-burnt-tar/
• Whisky Tasting Note: Glossery
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2016/12/31/rswfw-whisky-congeners/

A Laphroaig 10yo to warm me up?

Today I went for a rather long bicycle ride with my 6 yo son! It's around freezing point here in the Netherlands so it was brisk to say the least! 

Ones home the little dude is happy to sit at his WII U Lego game, which gives me the time to enjoy a wee dram to warm me up! 

Standing in front of my "non-Bruichladdich" part of the cupboard I was thinking and debating which dram to have!

It was definitely not going to be the Akashi White Oak! That was a mistake to buy but you only find out what you don't like by trying. 

So the Aberlour then? It's warming yes, but more a dram for later at night! 

So maybe the Ardbeg 10? The Talisker Storm? Nope I choose the Laphroaig 10yo to warm me up! 

So while the kids watch Dora and play on the WII U, dad gets to put his feet up and nip on his dram! While at the same time writing this blog! 

So does it warm me up? Well that's where it gets weird! I do enjoy the Laphroaig 10yo a lot but somehow it's not bringing me the warmth I was looking  for. Yes there is peat! Yes there is a peppery note for sure but ones swallowed it doesn't quite warm me inside as I would have hoped! 

Can this be the "only" 40% vol that just doesn't give the warning effect? Maybe! Can I be that the room I'm in is cold? Plausible! Most probably it's the combination and these facts and that my 3yo daughter keeps pressing her cold hands in my face and that bear of hers! 

So now I have finished my dram, this blog is about to end with an observation. If you want to get warm with a dram, don't have cold bears around! 

Now that if had my dram and I'm correcting spelling errors I do feel some warmth from within but not the rush of warmth I was hoping for. So next time I want to warm up with a dram I will select another of my bottles and see how those do! 

This only shows that the only way to learn about whisky is by experience! To quote Adam Hannett:"interesting!".

 

Preparing a trip to Islay, Scotland

I want to visit Islay, Scotland, with my wife!

This blog entry will be my notebook on how to get there, where to stay, where to eat, what to see, etc. 

Useful link I got from people on Twitter: http://www.islayinfo.com/travel.html

How to get there

By plane, Schiphol to Glasgow then on to islay airport. The only way to get to islay seems to be flighing in from either Oban or Glasgow. So Glasgow it is! The air service from islay to Oban is not flying to Glasgow as far as I can see, but I was not intending to go to Oban anyways. Well not on this trip I am not. 

Just for fun I tried looking up what a trip in the beginning of March would cost. Turns out the costs are not to bad! For about € 250 per person we can make the  trip! The prices are dependent on for when you book and how much time in advance. I will do some further checking on Flybe.com to see if I can find a most cost effective connection. 

Update 16/08/2016:

Turns out that I got myself a round way ticket for €54,-. I had saved up so many frequent flyer miles that the only things I'm paying now are taxes. Normally I would have payed around €150,-

Ones on/in Islay we we need to get around. The options would be to arrange transport by taxi, public bus, rental car or an organised touring company. 

Two car renstal are available on islay. Both Islay car rental companies offer pick up at airport, islaycarhire.com & carhireonislay.co.uk I won't be considering this option because of two reasons. One is left hand driving and the other is finding a designated driver. The extra costs are also a reason for choosing another option.

Since my higher education I have always traveled by public transport and since all the distilleries are all located near a bus stop I choose to take the public transport option. If need be I will get a taxi. 

Public transport is available and a timetable can be found here: Timetable

The photo below indicates the routes available on islay for public bus transport.

Update 16/08/2016:

After figuring out all the ferry sailing times I found out that, in my case, none really connect back well enough to allow me comfortable travel to and from Islay without not making the ferry or the flight back using the bus. Also the connecting bus to kennacraig departs from mid city Glasgow and this adds to travel time. 

So in the end we decided to get a rental car and this allows us to comfortably make crossings in time. I found out that my employer has a discount arrangement with Hertz which is saving 10-20%.

Update: 18/08/2016

I learned that booking the ferry works like this if you want a spot on the ferry. If you can book it, then its available. So, if you can select a time on the booking site of the ferry, it means that the ferry was not full at the moment you are booking. If it doesn't show up in the booking options while booking that ferry is full! At the end of the online booking session you get a two page pdf confirmation via email.

Where to stay

For accommodation I was adviced to check out multiple options by contacts on Twitter. 

Right next to Bruichladdich distillery is An Taigh Osda bed and breakfast. Great views and excellent food. For max of £80 per person per night. 

The ballygrant inn is good and price is ok and easy enough to get to Bruichladdich.

On the other side of the loch is The Bowmore House (about €114 per night) which is centrally located on the Island and would make excellent starting point for visits to both Bruichladdich on one side and Ardbeg / Lagavulin / Laphroaig / Caol Ila on the other side

Update 16/08/2016:

Here the date of booking really limited our options for finding an accommodation. My advice in retrospect is to BOOK EARLIER!!! Lol! Now we ended up in the hotel of one of the most popular pubs on Islay! The horror!! And that for €80,- pppn. The Lochside hotel in Bowmore is our home for three nights.

Where to eat?

I like to taste the local kitchen. Since Islay is obviously an island seafood would be on the menu. Filtering this on trip advisor I got this listing. 

Summering the estimated costs:
Flight : €251 (Amsterdam-Glasgow-Islay round trip)
Bed and Breakfast : €114 per night
Transport by bus on islay : €10 max per day
Diner : max €50 per person per day
Tour at Bruichladdich: €33,55 for the wearhouse experience
Bottle of valinch: £ 75,-

So in total a trip would cost about €618,- 

Update 16/08/2016:

- ticket : €55,-

- rental car : €150 (cost of €300 split by two)

- ferry : € 37,50 (cost of 65 split by two)

- Diner : max €50 per person per day
- Tour at Bruichladdich: €33,55 for the wearhouse experience
- Bottle of valinch: £ 75,-

- hotel : €80,- per night

Total cost for three nights will be about €650,- increased with cost for additional tours.

Personally I think it would be well worth the trip since this idea has become something of a "bucket-list" goal in my life. Why that is is not for this blog, but I believe more and more that delaying the opportunity  to life now is not a wise thing to do. You may not be around to live a dream. So don't delay what you can do now!

I have been talking to Matt Goodwin! He spend Some days on Islay and was kind enough to give me some advice. Please look at his trip on YouTube: 

http://youtu.be/yzeuOl4PaBU

Thank you Armin of Islay Blog for the answers to many questions!! Check out http://www.islayblog.com/ for his blog! 

Hunting for Old Pulteney 17 yo

Today I watched a Review by Ralfy on YouTube that features Old Pulteney 17 yo. I always enjoy the reviews of Ralfy since they are honnest, straat forward and non-commercial. Go Watch it.

Photo by oldpulteney.com

I wanten to see what the price level would be for this Dram, so I did my normal scan along all the retailers I know here in Holland.

Turns out that here in Holland my options are: 

• Drank.nl : € Not Available 
• Drankgigant.nl : € 72,50
• Drankdozijn.nl : € 72,50
• Mitra.nl : € Not Available
• Gall.nl : € Not Available
• Bestofwhisky.com : € 79,70
• onlinewhiskybestellen.nl : € Not Available
• Whisky-on-line.com : € Not Available
• passievoorwhisky.nl : € Not Available
• Masterofmalt.com : € 81,41

Apparently this malt is not meant for the general public since they are not sold in the Gall en Gall en Mitra stores. This means you will not run into it when shopping at a supermarket or a mall here in Holland. You will have to go in to a specialist store or shop at one of the above mentioned sites.

This time Drankdozijn and Drankgigant are ex aequo in first place. Drankgigant is again the best in price.

Hunting for Lagavulin 16 yo

This Blog was originally posted on my iRomby Blog. (iromby)

I wanted to find out what I would need to pay for a bottle of #lagavulin 16 yo 700 ml, 43%

Photo by : https://thesinglemaltsnob.wordpress.com/tag/lagavulin/

Turns out that here in Holland my options are: 

Drank.nl : € 48,50

Drankgigant.nl : € 48,50

Drankdozijn.nl : €44,50

Mitra.nl : € 63,99

Gall.nl : € 54,29

Bestofwhisky.com : € 54,70

http://www.onlinewhiskybestellen.nl :€ 57,95

Whisky-on-line.com : € 53,12

passievoorwhisky.nl : € 59,95

Prices mentioned are valid on the 30th of December 2015.

There is a clear winner Drankdozijn.

Whisky or Whiskey

Why is Whisky spelled as Whiskey too?

Whisky (plural Whiskies) is used as the official spelling in Scotland.
Whisky is used as the official spelling in Canada.
Whiskey (plural Whiskeys) is used as the official spelling in Ireland and the USA

It is interesting how different languages spell whisky in different ways.

In Dutch it is allowed to use both, but it shows that you know something about Whisky is you use Whisky to tell something about a Scotch. The plural in Dutch is Whisky's according to the Van Dale dictionary.

In German it is spelled as Whisky with Whiskys as the plural.

In French and Spanish it is spelled as Whisky with Whiskies as the plural.

In Norwegian and Italian the spelling is Whisky for both plural and Singular

In Russian it is another word altogether :  виски [ви́ски] 

To stick to English/American spellings. Is one way of spelling better than the other? Nope! It is just a spelling, but it can help keep track of what your blogging about. So I will be using Whiskey and Whisky to indicate if I am talking about Irish/American Whiskey or not.

The iLaddie blog

This blog will be About my quests in the wonderful world of whisky.

I have been learning about flavour profiles in the last view days. The blog I used to post on was iromby.blogpost.nl which I will probably still use, but not so much for whisky. 

The whisky I'm most proud of getting till now is the Bruichladdich 2001 resurrection dram which was bottled to honour the reopening in 2001 of this distillery. 

I had to really look all over Dutch websites to find it. Eventually I located a store in Enkhuizen that had one bottle available. 

Having sold some good amount of Lego I decided to get this bottle for €171,- 

I'm still debating if I'm ever going to open it, but it looks like I will!