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WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT THE IWA DIPLOMA COURSE?

IWA DIPLOMA week is the Thinking Persons Whisky Course! It is also the person who enjoys a good laugh and likes meeting new friends course.

IWA DIPLOMA is also a great way to add some structure and depth to your Islay Trip. You don’t need to be an expert in whisky, you don’t need to be going to build your own distillery. You can just be a group of friends who want to come to Islay for a great trip and learn a wee bit more about what happens in these magical still houses and warehouses.

We know you can pick up some very good books these days and peruse some very good websites and learn lots about Scotch whisky production and drinking without a journey to Islay – but really, what’s the point of that? !

At the Islay Whisky Academy we are not so interested in talking about things you already know. We want you to learn new facts and, to learn about distilling in relationship to everything else around you.

Why do we want you to think about things and not just learn facts by rote – because when you UNDERSTAND what you are learning, and see WHY things happen in the way they do you are able to better problem solve. You are able to adapt and overcome issues that may arise.

(This is not just the case in whisky production – it is also the case in life…)

You are able to be in harmony with the land you are working on.

You learn to think through everything before you high kick jump start off to fulfil the projections from your accountants.

You will learn to not build your distillery where the environment cannot support it. You will learn to think about the elements required in whisky making and where they come from – for example

WATER – thinking about the Water Table and how much water can be extracted by you – but in good relationship to the requirements of other beings around.

POWER – how much electrical power is required to run your plant, your distillery? How can this be generated? Have you designed your building in such a way that it requires very little power to run it, or is this something you have not even considered.

Have you considered that “resources” are no such a thing – that they are actually Gifts from Nature, and we should be grateful for every drop of water and Robin feather that comes our way.

Before we even consider the profits we can make after we build a distillery, we need to look at the infrastructure of the area around where we build.

No supermarket or chain owned pub would dream of siting their business in an area that did not have achievable 360 degree access to it .

How will the raw materials get to where they are required, how will we get our finished product to our customers? Not in an abstract way – but how will it physically happen? Every step needs to be visualised and thought through. Otherwise your production plan is untenable, and unsustainable.

What is the type of land you are building on, where will you get rid of your pot ale?

What about the environment you are thinking of coming into – it is already an urban area, or do people live there because they want a peaceful life in nature. To create big roads and lots of housing is not always the answer. And to talk about jobs as a holy grail and not qualify what a job is, or what it is actually for is a philosophical issue that needs to be thought about.

RECIPROCITY is word that we want our students to learn. Also KINSHIP.

DISTILLATION IS ALCHEMY – but, what does that mean? Find out the answer at IWA DIPLOMA.

CULTURE, COMMUNITY, CARE are other words we hope our students engage with, in addition to BARLEY, PEATS, DRAM, STORY & STILLS

Scotch Whisky and Scotch Whisky production is about SO much more than the practicalities.

At Islay Whisky Academy we are

SHARING THE SPIRIT OF SCOTLAND

To sign up for October IWA DIPLOMA week 27 – 31 October

6 Nights Fully Residential.

Ever Wonder what draws you to Distilleries - apart from the drams, of course!

People make pilgrimage to Islay. People make pilgrimage to visit our distilleries.

Distilleries are a modern day equivalent of sacred sites. The soul is very literal – perhaps it allows us to replace one type of SPIRIT for another…!

People have come to these islands on quests and pilgrimages for centuries.

Most holy spaces originate around a spring. The Spring is the life giving blessing of our Holy Mother Earth. She provides water. She provides nourishment. This is why we have fonts in churches and chapels. In the first instance people were nourished and replenished by the water of the spring, and the stones were built around this life giving water creating the building of church or chapel.

Water is a holy blessing in and of herself. People came here for the original sustenance. People came to drink from a perceived place of Spirit in the landscape.

We see the same today. People come from all over the world – sometimes making the trip of a lifetime, to ritually drink from a place in the landscape. People come here to drink the spirit made in a place in the landscape – an Islay distillery, a Scottish distillery.

People come to drink the spirit of place – to drink whisky/UISGE BEATHA – WATER OF LIFE which is created here.

They toast to life and friendship and kinship and love and all good things. People come here alone, with friends, with family, in business groups. Scotch whisky binds us together in community and Kinship. This is why the Club associated with The Islay Whisky Academy is named THE KINSHIP.

It is said that architecture developed from people making pilgrimage to holy wells at specific times in the year, and architecture developed from their ritualised movements around these springs or wells.

Are distilleries the holy wells of our secular world? In a similar way that Raves were the ecstatic cathedrals of worship of the 80’s and 90’s.

There are such levels of emotion flowing to these places. Can we imagine distilleries being today’s version of the holy sites people invested emotion and hope and faith in in days of yore. When Bruichladdich sold out to Rémy Cointreau in 2012, people were crying, they were phoning the distillery. It was like their favourite Aunty had died. It’s not just the place, it’s the connection to spirit and place and the Kinship that people felt.

Driving into Bowmore village from Port Ellen direction, I say … “and here is the Round Church, built this way so there are no corners in which the devil can hide” … and as we slowly drive around the curve and drive on down Main street, I say;

” …and we have a house of the spirit at the top of the street (referring to the Round Church)

… and a house of the spirit at the bottom of the street” –

by which time they are looking at Bowmore Distillery!!

To Experience more Magic and Learning about Scottish Spirit and Culture, sign up for IWA DIPLOMA Certificate Teaching week in Oct 2025.

Book Here CLICK FOR MORE INFO.

5 Days of Indepth Whisky Making and Scottish Cultural Experience on the Isle of Islay.

Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2014

Tasting notes

Monday 19 Aug 2024.

Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2014 Tasting Notes

Misty, damp day in Islay. Not cold. House door open to the weather.

Unpeated. 50 % abv – which is standard Bruichladdich. This higher alcohol content balances the creamy sweetness of this dram.

8 years old. Barley is grown in Islay at Crusach, Craigens, Island, Dunlossit Estate, Coull, Rockside, Mulindry and Sunderland farms.

This whisky is also unchill filtred and colouring free.

First Nose: Damp green vegetal barley, like in the malt barns when the floors are first laid down with grain.

White nougat. Lovely tingle into the nose. The essence of warm sand dunes. And the sweet fleeting aroma of white candy floss. Honey and ripe bananas.

Then in the heart the distinct aroma of freshly made Scotch broth – made with lots of barley, of course! Undulating warm waves of pink honeysuckle. Runny honey slathered on hot buttery toast.

Milk chocolate and a flash of freshly harvested celery. The slightest hint of crispy bacon! and a fresh vegetal sharpness.

On the palate:

So creamy. A satin mouthfeel. Lovely buzzing on the front gums, and a tickling dry tightness on the insides of the cheeks.

A feeling of structure and fresh young vigorous strength, and a sort of warm comforting security as the dram slides over the back of the throat. This feeling from the barley and the wood balances the sweetness and freshness of the clean, wholesome dram. Ending with a warm sunshiney glow into the chest.

A perfect dram for a day like this!

Fèis Ìle 2024 ~ Laphroaig & Port Ellen

Another fantastic day at Fèis Ìle 2024.

Who are we to let a raindrop stop play! Great set up at Laphroaig, lots of local stalls, food and fun and drams.

Reely Jiggered were excellent – both at singing and empowering the crowd. Love your vibe girls!

We bumped into a former Laphroaig hand, John Campbell – and we wondered if he was home to put in his application to be the new manager of Laphroaig… I think his credentials would put him at the top of the queue! – Notice, when I asked the question… he did not exactly say “No!”… 🙂

The next visit was the old/new Port Ellen to catch up with Manager Ali, and friends old/new!

Chilled sophisticated vibes were the order of the afternoon here. And a few nice drams to enjoy!

Another great day was had Fèis Ìle 2024.

Thank you to all involved for your hospitality and hard work.

Slàinte Mhath!

Feis Ile 2024 ~ Caol Ila & Islay Ales Open Days

What can we say…?

One of the best days so far, catching up with great friends and seeing something new coming to fruition.

Oysters, drams, great tunes, and catching up with Billy Stitchell former manager of Caol Ila – maker of old spendid drams – right on the edge of the Sound of Islay made for an excellent late morning. Billy is now usually to be found on the other side of the camera – his photos of the Northen Lights are amazing!

I could learn a few camera selfie tips from this expert for sure! 🙂

It was also so good to meet up with Graham Omand, Manager of Lagg Distillery in Arran. What this man doesn’t know about starting up an new distillery and creating excellent whisky, isn’t worth knowing!

I was also very happy to meet my friend Glenis who is an Islay lover, a whisky lover and a Lover in general! – And, 20 years ago, Glenis and her lovely husband, John got married in Islay…!

As you can hear, Glenis likes to drink whisky that is older than she was when she got married… being a very young bride at the age of 17 years… 🙂

Glenis also loves the Bruichladdich drams – knowing the notes, flavours and tastes – but by dram six of Adam’s Tasting can’t just recall the name of the dram…!

(understandable to many of us…)

The new thing coming to fruition is Islay Ales Brewery opposite Islay Airport.

Not only was it the Open Day for the Islay Boys – it was also the OPENING DAY- as no one before had seen inside the building!

Islay Ales Brewery and the soon to come Laggan Bay Distillery share this site. Islay Ales beer tastes great and as I’m sure it will, if the Laggan Bay drams are half as good, then we will have another fine Islay dram to enjoy in the years to come.

Again, we were blessed by the sun, and I am looking forward to the rest of the Feis Ile days ahead.

Thanks to Donald and Gordon for their time and for sharing their passion and work with us.

Slainte Mhath!.

Feis Ile 2024 ~ Bruichladdich Music Fiesta

Bruichladdich day chat with our Italian friend and roving reporter, Samuele Rossi

It felt similar to fiestas we have in Italy to honour each village Saint. People come and listen to music and eat the food of the area. It did not feel so much like a Whisky day.

With the bold modern coloured graphics and the young pushy vibe, is Bruichladdich moving into Music festival consciousness with whisky thrown in for good measure on the side?

The day appears to have been less well attended than usual, perhaps this is due to the £20 entrance fee…

There were craft stalls with other amazing Islay producers – painters, chocolate makers, jewellery makers and authors.

Because Bruichladdich have long been used to large numbers attending their day there was not a great focus on tables or seating due to lack of space. However, if the event is taking a different slant now with less visitor numbers, then could there be room for more tables and chairs and a slower pace.

The drams in Adam’s morning Masterclass were great, with very strong bright graphics on the Tasting mats – certainly woke everyone and got them fired up for morning!

The T -shirts of the staff were very much admired, but not available for purchase by the public. Perhaps this is a nice way to connect visitors with the distillery going forward – let guests buy and wear the same clothes as staff, keeping a tight connection and bond between both.

The big wheel always turns and it’s the nature of the world for things to change. I’m getting the feeling this Feis Ile that the two big open days are not Bruichladdich and Ardbeg – but perhaps Lagavulin is gaining in popularity and, Kilchoman offers a great party.

I always like Bunnahabhain too when the sun shines

Lets hope it shines for the rest of the week.

Thanks to everyone who works so hard to make this a special week. Your endeavours are much appreciated.

Slainte Mhath!

Photo credits to Samuele Rossi

Harbingers Drummers giving it laldy!

Feis Ile 2024 Lagavulin & Islay Rum

IWA are out and about in Lagavulin on Day 1 of Feis Ile 2024.

Lovely 29 year old Lagavulin purchased by my friend tasted “dram” fine splendid – open ashy smoke, citrus and sour – I loved it!

The 10 YO is also excellent – and a lot less expensive coming in at £175 instead of in the thousands of pounds…

We met lots of fantastic people, friends old and new – enjoyed the dancing and especially enjoyed the sun!

A great summer day here in Lagavulin.

Met author of A Passion for Whisky, Ian Wisniewski in person – we met before online when Ian contacted me while doing research for this lovely book, so it was great to catch up real life.

Also – I was delighted to hear the true and wise words spoken by Salvatore from La Maison du Whisky

” First of all – whisky is all about the people. And in Islay, it is completely about that!”

On the way home we called to visit Islay Rum who had a lot going on – not least their lovely spiced Islay rum!

A nice chill vibe in both places today. What more can we ask for?

Islay, Sun, Whisky, Rum, great craic, laughter, music, friends and joyful happiness and optimism.

Gotta LOVE Feis Ile.

Feis Ile 2024 Opening Day

Welcome Home! to all who have been here before – and Welcome Home also, to

Islay Whisky Academy arethose who haven’t. having a different Feis Ile this 2024. Instead of hosting an IWA Open Day in Portnahaven Hall as we usually do, we are going to spend the week visiting every where else, talking to people and sharing the whole week with you on line.

Today we went to Port Ellen for the Feisl Ile 2024 opening festivities.

We spoke with Florence Grey – Madam Chairwoman of Feis Ile committee to find out what she was most looking forward to for the week ahead…

Florence says that sharing drams and sharing the new Tartan which the Feis Ile committee organised from the competition last year, are special aspects of the week.

All the school children were invited to design a Tartan that reflects the island and the atmosphere of the Feis.

The winning design was woven into a beautiful cloth which reflects the sun, sky and golden drams that are all part of Islay.

Now we have stylish items including bags, throws, purses and the like all created using the winning tartan design. Everything is available to purchase by people who wish to take a wee part of Islay and the Feis home with them.

This feis is all about fun and has a focus on Olympic style and power!

What’s not to like?

Bringing the young ones into the body of the feis allows us to keep the traditions going and maintains our culture and energy for the future.

Tomorrow IWA will be at Lagavulin, reporting back on the drams and doings from there.

Slainte Mhath!

Enjoy your drams and all the brilliant days ahead in this amazing Feis Ile week – which is more than a whisky festival – it’s a FEIS!

Photo credit of Olympic Feis winners to Ben Shakespeare and Feis Ile.

An Ode to the Islay Whisky Academy

Islay Whisky Academy Kinship Host, Neill Murphy, reflects on a magical Spring Residential Diploma.

The Islay Whisky Academy Residential Diploma for Spring 2024 has wrapped. It doesn’t quite seem real. Those six days spent on the whisky isle felt like a whirlwind. A hurricane of information and experience, of new friendships and new perspectives and of whiskies so good, you could spend a lifetime trying to describe them. This is not my first time helping out with the Academy. In fact it is my 6th, yet somehow I still find it difficult to make sense of it all. Things seem to happen there that don’t happen anywhere else. It’s like the Residential Diploma takes place on another plane where the normal laws of the universe don’t apply.

I feel almost shell shocked. I’m a tumble of emotions. Sadness at leaving Islay but happiness at coming home. Joy at seeing my family but despair at bidding farewell to the group who were my constant companions over those insane six days. I feel an inability to process the events of the week. Like there was so much to take in and each part of it felt crucially important to understand, for a dozen different reasons. It’s as if the experience cannot be described or defined using any terminology I possess.

I had prepared for the trip for what seemed an age. For weeks, even months, I exchanged messages with the guests who would be joining us. I gathered bottles together. I wrote notes and made plans. Sometimes it felt like the time would never come. Then, one Sunday, I stepped from the MV Finlaggan and was swept off my feet by some unseen force that didn’t put me down again until I reached the mainland the following Saturday. It was a smooth sailing on that return trip but I stepped from the ferry with legs like jelly and nerves jangling, as though I’d just come off the world’s most intense roller coaster.

You’d think I’d be used to this by now but maybe I don’t want to get used to it. Maybe it would be a terrible mistake to take such a beautiful thing for granted. Anyway, no Academy experience has ever come close to being the same. The lectures, the distilleries, the tastings… all vary from course to course and the island’s famously temperamental climate creates a new and unique atmosphere every day, complete with bespoke mood lighting. Then there’s the students. We’ve had people from all over the world attend the diploma and their characters, their personalities, shape the occasion. The Islay Whisky Academy prides itself on providing our guests with new perspectives that can deepen their understanding and enjoyment of Scotch whisky but we in turn gain from them. Through their questions and their insights, we enhance our own thinking and the week shifts and evolves around them.

The Islay Whisky Academy concept starts (and ends) with Rachel MacNeill, a Colonsay-born, Islay resident. Rachel was writing about whisky for women and women in whisky before it was on the radar of most. She sees and understands the world in a unique way and it is that maverick spirit that produced the Academy. Rachel’s understanding and appreciation for the old ways, her love for the technical detail that makes Scotch and her ability to relay information in new and colourful ways are some of the key elements that define the diploma.

You may think then, that there’s no mystery. You might think Rachel’s formidable skill set, placed in a land of rich history and staggering natural beauty, with distilleries in abundance and eager whisky lovers from all over the world should guarantee a good time and maybe you’d be right but there’s something else. Even for me, a man who considers himself very sceptically minded, there’s an indefinable magic involved that I can’t quite fathom. It’s almost a feeling that we are somehow being generously rewarded for learning and appreciating whisky in a way that’s respectful of the land and the culture that birthed it.

As for our students, we were, as always, blessed with a brilliant bunch. They came from Poland, from England, from Guernsey, from the US, the Netherlands and Germany. They came from different cultures, different backgrounds, different careers, different belief systems, but they came with an open mind and a desire to learn and have fun. I hope they achieved that. I know I did. I also know that I feel wiser and richer for having met them and hope I continue to know them for many years to come. The same goes for all the students from previous courses. I remember each and every one and am thankful for the time I’ve been able to spend with them, even if I often greedily wish for more.

I’m not sure any of this has actually helped me, in any way, to process the events of the Spring 2024 Residential Diploma. I haven’t even mentioned the trip to the museum in Port Charlotte, or the visits to Kilchoman, Port Ellen, Ardnahoe, Laphroaig and Bunnahabhain, or the whisky tastings, or the traditional storytelling, or the Highland Dancers, or the lectures and presentations, or the peat cutting, or the opera singing (!) but maybe expressing my feelings of gratitude for the experience is the first step to understanding the whirlwind. Or maybe, no matter how hard I try, I’ll never quite grasp it fully and maybe that’s OK. Maybe I don’t need to understand the magic, maybe I just need to feel it and acknowledge it.

Our Celtic ancestors believed in the Otherworld, a sort of afterlife that presented as a realm of everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy. It was said to lie somewhere in the western sea. I think I’ve just been.

Residential Diploma 2023

Islay Whisky Academy Kinship Host, Neill Murphy, previews the 2023 edition of the IWA Residential Diploma.

Everyone at the Islay Whisky Academy is getting a little excited as we draw towards the end of October, and it’s not because Hallowe’en is coming (though there may be a few witches involved!). It’s because the 2023 edition of the IWA Residential Diploma takes place between the 23rd and 27th. Students that are as thirsty for knowledge as they are for whisky will descend upon Islay from all over the world to take part in a five day extravaganza of Scotch in context.

IWA founder, Rachel MacNeill, has put together an extraordinary program of lectures, talks, distillery experiences and tastings that will cover everything from the processes involved in making Scotch whisky to the Gaelic culture that birthed it. Students will learn about history, geology, language, culture and much more, including, of course, whisky.

Mornings will be spent at the beautiful Ionad Chaluim Chille Ìle (Islay Gaelic Centre) in Bowmore, with lectures provided by industry experts like Graham Omand, Distillery Manager at Lagg in Arran. Graham spent 7 years at Arran’s Lochranza Distillery before making the transfer to the south of the island where he has guided Lagg to the launch of its first single malts in 2022.

Joining Graham will be Ron Welsh, Master Blender for Beam Suntory. Ron is responsible for more than 800,000 casks from distilleries like Bowmore, Laphroaig, Glen Garioch, Auchentoshan and Ardmore. He’ll be talking the students through his day-to-day job, working with some of the most iconic malts in the world.

The students will learn more about the role of independent bottlers from Artisanal Spirits, owners of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. Laura Hardie, Gary McGrath and Calum Lawson will discuss everything from cask selection, warehousing and maturation to flavour profiling and bottling.

On Thursday, things will take a different approach, as the class goes “on location” with Geologist David Webster to learn about the formation of Islay and the effect geology has on the pH of the island’s water.

Perhaps most fun of all, afternoons will consist of distillery visits where the students will see theory put into practice. The course will visit Islay’s oldest distillery in Bowmore and its newest in Ardnahoe. They’ll see traditional farm distilling at Kilchoman, learn about the terroir of barley at Bruichladdich and enjoy some wonderful cask samples in the Ardbeg warehouse.

Evenings will offer the chance to take part in tasting events including The Enchanting Scotland Show, which explores the history of Scotland and its people through the medium of whisky, Ceòl agus Craic, a whisky and music pairing exercise with Kinship Host, Neill Murphy and a Scotch Malt Whisky Society Tasting with Master Ambassador, John McCheyne. Finally, the whole week will culminate in a special Graduation Dinner, held at the beautiful Port Charlotte Hotel, overlooking lovely Lochindaal.

There’s a magic to the Islay Whisky Academy Residential Diploma that’s hard to put into words. Complete strangers come together from different cultures and beliefs to immerse themselves in an intensive exploration of Islay and its whiskies. They find themselves surrounded by beautiful scenery, wildlife and ocassionally at the mercy of weather that could never be accused of predictability. They enjoy good food, fantastic whisky and on occasion, conversation that lasts into the wee hours. At the end of the week, those strangers leave Islay as friends, forever connected by the dreamlike time they spent together on the whisky island. I, for one, can’t wait.