Odd people...

This trip is all about 'experiences' and I'm certainly getting my fair share.

This afternoon I went to another distillery, Bruichladdich, to have a look a round. I have liked their whisky since Alexis first bought me a bottle as a wedding present. I've also been collecting some of their rarer bottles, but one particularly valuable one was worrying me because it has no number printed on it. (It should say something like No 1234 of 3000, but my bottle is blank). If it wasn't genuine then it was worth nothing.

I took it with me today and at first the ladies in the visitor centre were reluctant to make any definitive comment about it, though when they compared it to one of their own they were certain it was ok. One of them, Helen, offered to take me to see the guys in the bottling department to see what they thought. As we walked acros the yard we saw two men walking towards us and Helen said, "Oh, maybe Jim can help". I then realised that I was being introduced to the Master Distiller, Jim McEwan, who is quite a name in this industry. He's bluff, straight talking, no nonsense, and didn't fiddle around. He looked over the bottle, said it was fine, then took me inside, and signed the bottle for me.

So, not only do I have a genuine bottle of Port Charlotte PC5, it's now autographed by the guy who made it.

From Bruichladdich my next stop was Islay Ales. The brewery is about the size of my kitchen, and the adjacent shop only slightly larger. I got chatting to brewer, shopkeeper, and delivery man, Steve, who was an interesting guy in himself, having formerly worked at Bruichladdich.

While we were chatting and sampling some of the beers, the lady from the chocolate shop next door came in with a big jar of Rhubarb & Custard sweets. They were very tasty, but a terrible mix with the real ale. She was as mad as anyone I've met on Islay. I didn't learn much from her other than that her favourite word of the moment was 'behemoth'. I offered 'serendipity' as a possible next favourite word, which I think she appreciated. She returned to her shop, I bought a case of Islay Ales, and then left.

Even though Alexis might have liked some local chocolates, I decided not to drop in to the shop, just in case I got into another discussion about interesting words - we could have been there for hours!

I don't know whether it's the weather, the remoteness, or the whisky fumes, but there are some fantastically interesting people around here, if a little crazy. I feel like I could fit right in!

Now I'm off to take some photos. Cheerio!



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