THE CELBRATION OF ISLAY

You are not alone in these strange times

The world is a rather strange place at the moment, but strange isn’t always bad. Sometimes chaos can help us to find and experience new things by making us aware of how much of our lives we conduct on autopilot.

Whisky should never be consumed on autopilot. Other than that it is really up to you how you consume it; whether it is over ice, neat or as a whisky sour (although please don’t do that with any of our drams, it is not the point). But in this period of autopilot disruption, when many of the things we enjoy have been taken from us, whether it be the weekly night at the pub or our yearly trip to a festival (of whisky, music, art, sport…) we can take the opportunity to explore the new and find enjoyment in the changes we find ourselves living in.

We can run our business from home, and while it may not be illegal as many of the early distilleries were, we feel like it as equally intrepid decision to try and fill your glasses with Scotch and help you to enjoy each precious sip. We don’t have to hide on remote Hebridean islands and smuggle our Islay whisky to the mainland; but we do have to brave the post office queue to get them to you.

Enjoy whisky with your friends

Hopefully some of you saw our last newsletter (and if not you can sign up here). But please remember that staying at home doesn’t mean we can’t share our time and experiences with friends. There are some great video calling apps out there where you can do group calls and share your time as mates while still staying home and doing your bit to help slow the spread of this virus. Zoom and Houseparty are two of the ones we’ve heard of so far, and I’m sure if you can find a person under the age of 25 they can probably tell you 10 more.

On to the whisky

So without further ado, what exactly have we got in store for you in our next release? These two bottles are from two of Islay’s most iconic distilleries, Bowmore and Bruichladdich, and are both from classic pre-millennium expressions.

CBTD NO.19 is a 17 year old Bruichladdich, and the last time we released a 17 year old Bruichladdich it sold out under the month, so we’re expecting this one to be popular. Bruichladdich are an icon of Islay but their standard malt has always gone against the local norm and this classic release from before their temporary closure is no different; an unpeated malt from an island renowned for its peated whiskies.

CBTD NO.19: Bruichladdich 17 year old, 1990s

CBTD NO.20 is a classic Bowmore 12 year old. Anyone who missed out on winning our launch competition last year will hopefully be especially excited for this dram (and maybe those who won too) as it is a slight variation on the bottle released as NO.C1. This is an iconic Bowmore 12 year old from the 1980s with the classic dark brown bottle and gold label from before Bowmore was taken over by Suntory. As with many older examples of standard bottlings you can expect some variation between batches so even if you were lucky enough to try C1 you may want to try this one too.

CBTD NO.20: Bowmore 12 year old, 1980s