Editor's Note: More updates to follow as new bottlings are announced. Bookmark this page!

The world's most famous Islay whisky festival is back for 2023!

Fèis Ìle (pronounced 'feish eel') is the biggest annual Scotch event that all whisky lovers who love peat should know (essentially an age-appropriate Coachella festival for those above 30).

The Scottish Isle of Islay has a modest population of three thousand people. Since 1984, every May, all eyes in the whisky world fall on the Isle where the Islay distilleries come together and welcome close to 10,000 screaming visitors for a week-long festival where single malt and music is enjoyed.

 

This is essentially the Coachella festival for whisky-lovers, and it’s a little more age-appropriate as you pass into your thirties or forties.

As visitors fill up, the isle’s beautiful beaches become adorned with tents and caravans. There're masterclasses featuring exclusive Islay whiskies. There're exciting line-ups of distillery tours. There's live music and dance, and for the adventurous, cave exploration or powerboat trips along the isle’s coastline.

 

The one thing that brings everyone together for an entire week is a shared love of Islay whisky.

Annual Fèis Ìle special edition bottles

Above all, the most anticipated item is the release of highly prized limited edition the bottles by each Islay distillery (and independent bottlers too) to commemorate the Feis. These special festival bottles are known to be high quality and consistently praised by veteran critics.

These limited edition expressions are so highly sought after that hours-long queues have formed outside the Bowmore and Bunnahabhain Distilleries for instance, with many people camped out overnight to be the first in line to buy the Fèis Ìle edition bottles in the morning.

And because not everyone can make it to the festival, past Fèis Ìle bottles have become highly coveted collectibles when released in the secondary market. Each bottle’s price tends to double or quadruple after the festival.

What bottles can we expect this year? So far, 7 bottles have been unveiled.

Ardbeg Distillery - Open Day on 3rd June

Two expressions are expected from Ardbeg Distillery.

Ardbeg Heavy Vapours

The first is another one of Dr Bill Lumsden's whacky experiments: an Ardbeg distilled without a copper still purifier. That would be the apparatus on the still responsible for maintaining Ardbeg’s balance between extreme peatiness and sweet fruitiness.

This means that this bottle would capture the heaviest and untamed vapours created during the distillation process.

This will be bottled at 46% for the mass release and 50.2% for the Ardbeg Committee Release. The 46% Abv version will be available to buy from Ardbeg Embassies, authorised retailers and the distillery visitor centre, for around £120.

Click here for the Ardbeg Heavy Vapour's availability in your country.

Read about Ardbeg Distillery: the Islay distillery with the best marketing team.

Ardbeg Single Cask

There's expected to be a single cask Ardbeg expression. More information to follow in due course!

Bunnahabhain Distillery - Open Day on 2nd June

Bunnahabhain would be releasing 3 interesting expressions of various sherry casks.

Bunnahabhain Canasta Cask Matured

Located in the heart of Jerez de la Frontera, Bodega Williams & Humbert was founded in 1877 by Sir Alexander Williams and Arthur Humbert, and is considered to be a prestigious wine producer.

This Bunnahabhain has been fully matured in rare William and Humbert Canasta sherry casks, which once held a blend of Oloroso (75%) and Pedro Ximenez (25%).

The use of Canasta casks gives Bunnahabhain the best of both worlds with layers of spicy Oloroso and rich and sweet Pedro Ximenez.

This is bottled at 51.2% ABV and would be available at £95.00.

Bunnahabhain 17 Years Old Mòine Triple Cask (Peated)

The second is a sweet and smoky Mòine Triple Cask expression. "Mòine" is used by Bunnahabhain to refer to its peated spirit. This is a blend of 3 casks, all distilled in 2004, and respectively matured in American oak plus first-fill Oloroso sherry hogsheads, ex-bourbon barrels, and American oak plus rum barrels.

It would be interesting to see how rum notes play out for this expression.

This one's bottled at 52.6% ABV. 1740 bottles would be available at £225 per bottle.

Bunnahabhain 1998 Manzanilla Cask Finish

This Limited Edition whisky was distilled on the 28th October 1998 and filled into American Oak casks before being transferred to first-fill Manzanilla sherry casks on the 25th May 2016 to finish.

Manzanilla sherry is famed for being coastal, salty and nutty – characteristics that are similar to Bunnahabhain's spirit character.

This one's bottled at 52.3% ABV, available at £450 per bottle.

Caol Ila Distillery - Open Day on 29th May 2023

Word is out that Caol Ila would be releasing two limited edition bottlings to commemorate the festival

Caol Ila Fèis Ìle 2023 13-Year-Old

Caol Ila would be releasing a 13-year-old that has been matured in 1st-fill Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso-seasoned butts. This is likely exclusively matured in said sherry butt as suggested by the label.

This bottling comes in at 60.4% Abv and is available at £185 exclusively from the distillery. With big sherry and big smoke influences, we'll see how that plays out! 

Exclusive Distillery Manager's Bottling

A more exclusive distillery manager's bottling would also be available for purchase at the distillery. More details would be revealed.

Jura Distillery - Open Day on 2nd June 2023

After a 3-year hiatus, Jura is finally back to participate in the Islay Festival again!

The distillery has announced that an "extremely limited" festival bottling would be released, drawn from a first-fill bourbon Cask 1777 from Warehouse 2 and handpicked by distillery manager Graham Logan.

No label or bottle photos have yet been disclosed. However, this expression is described to exemplify Jura's signature house style. The nose finds toffee, butterscotch and hints of vanilla, Scottish tablet (a milk-caramel confectionary), stone fruits, mandarins, waxy citrus and sticky-sweet and spiced ginger cake. On the palate, there's salted caramel, ginger nut biscuits, frangipani florals, waxy citrus and an assortment of orchard fruits, stone fruits, followed by a bright, fruity finish balanced with gentle coastal influence and a spiced-treacle richness.  

This bottling would be exclusively available from Jura Distillery at £120.

Kilchoman Distillery - Open Day on 1st June

Kilchoman Fèis Ìle 2023, 10 Years Old 100% Islay Casks

Terroir-forward Kilchoman Distillery would be releasing a vatting of approximately 1160 bottles made blended from two bourbon barrels and one sherry butt. The spirit is made from 100% Islay barley grown, malted and distilled at Kilchoman Distillery in 2011 and 2012.

This one's bottled at 52.1% ABV, available exclusively from the distillery at £115 per bottle.  

Lagavulin Distillery - Open Day on 27th May

The iconic Lagavulin would be releasing for the first time an Armagnac cask-finished bottling. The 14-year-old single malt has been matured in a combination of American and European oak, before being finished in said Armagnac casks. 

This bottling is said to maintain Lagavulin's iconic signature smokiness and briny seaweed character but with a fruitier twist.

Released at cask strength, the distillery manager suggests adding a drop of water to highlight the thick and smooth spirited sweetness.

This comes in at 58.4% Abv, available exclusively from the distillery at £220.

Laphroaig Distillery - Open Day on 30th May

Laphroaig Cairdeas 2023 Edition White Port & Madeira

And who could forget the distillery that shares a sibling's rivalry with Lagavulin. Laphroaig Distillery's Fèis Ìle bottling is another one from their Cairdeas series (pronounced "car-duhss"). To provide some more colour to an otherwise very colourful series from Laphroaig, Cairdeas means “friendship” in Gaelic and was first released in 2008, quickly becoming a hit with fans – call it Laphroaig’s little inside joke.

It’s been released annually since then, with each year’s Cairdeas expression unique from the next. In a way, it’s tantamount to Ardbeg’s annual Committee Release bottling – it’s much more experimental and keeps fans salivating, wondering what’s to come next year.

For this year's Cairdeas, it is made from 3/4 second-fill Madeira cask-finished liquid, with 1/4 from first-fill White Port casks.

This comes in at 52.3% Abv.

Click here for more information on Laphroaig's Fèis Ìle open day and further information on the bottle. 

Mac-Talla Whisky

We also have a newcomer in the Fèis Ìle scene! 

Mac-Talla, meaning "Echo" in Scottish Gaelic, is a range of single malt Scotch. It is not a distillery itself but rather a brand owned by the independent bottler, Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers - a family-owned company that has been involved in the whisky industry for generations.

The Mac-Talla range often focuses on showcasing the distinctive peaty and smoky character for which Islay whiskies are renowned.

Not much information had been revealed on this Islay single malt bottling, not even the Islay distillery involved, except that this expression had been matured in sweet and rich Pedro Ximenez butts and hogsheads from a vatting of 26 casks.

This comes in at 54.3% Abv and would be available at a comparatively affordable £72.

Unofficial Fèis Ìle Bottlings

Several other independent bottlers would join the fray as usual, with the Scotch Malt Whisky Society's bottlings likely to draw the most hype.

Scotch Malt Whisky Society

SMWS has at least four bottlings released to commemorate this year's Islay Whisky Festival.

Honeysuckle Petrichor is a Caol Ila single malt aged for 14 years in first-fill & refill American oak seasoned with Pedro Ximenez, and bourbon hogsheads. This comes in at 56.8% Abv with an outturn of about 2,125 bottles. Retailing at around US$300. 

Official tasting notes:

"Honeysuckle came glazed with a cocktail of rose water, bacon jam and barbecue sauce, plus a side dish of crab meat plucked from a vat of clarified butter. Need we say anything else?

To the palate, this dram gifted smoked prune juice and cherry fondant served on driftwood. We also found crushed figs, apricot and brambles singed by a travelling firestarter intent on promoting the skills of cold smoking with peat. Introducing water elevated a smoked apple pie encased in a soft leather satchel, along with potted crab and rye bread. The palate offered a buffet of liquorice, smoked ginger and biltong, served on a bed of ash-dusted pebbles."

Edge of Midnight is yet another Caol Ila single malt, also aged for 14 years but exclusively in a first-American oak hogshead seasoned with Pedro Ximenez. This has a much more limited outturn of only 277 bottles, and comes in at 57.6% Abv. Retails at about US$300.

Official tasting notes:

"Gorgeously sweet and syrupy peat aromas at first nosing, it was an immediate hit with the Panel. With a little time we also found gallons of natural tar extract, iodine drops, bacon jam and smoky black coffee aromas. The sweetness of long-aged PA sherry mixed with hessian, cocoa and peat embers in a sooty hearth - just gorgeous! With water it became superbly resinous and aromatic, giving off intricate notes of sawn rosewood, smoked paprika, homemade spiced ketchup, lanolin and herbal cough syrup.  A waft of pure peat smoke from a kiln.

The palate had plumes of damp wood smoke, dusty coal embers, sweet peat smoke, BBQ sauce, chilli glaze and root beer cordial, followed by more iodine, antiseptic, eucalyptus oils and salted liquorice."

Sound of Singing Sand is a Bunnahabhain single malt aged for 9 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead and a second-fill Pedro Ximenez hogshead. This comes in at 58.8% Abv with an outturn of 287 bottles, and retails at about US$250.

Official tasting notes:

"We were all in agreement nosing neat - a bowl full of herby chicken and bacon lardons with a red onion mash next to a green lentil curry. On the palate, we sat on lovely sun-warmed stones at the beach listening to the calming sound of "singing sand' and eating salty crackers with a smoked tuna dip. Dilution delivered an aroma of peat-smoked marshmallows and charred lobster meat combined with an emerging freshness of sea salt and citrus.

The taste was delicious and so moreish, like pates à la saucisse de Francfort eaten straight out of the frying pan."

The Finesse of a Fragrant Furnace is a Bowmore single malt aged for 18 years in a second-fill bourbon hogshead, and a Spanish oak Oloroso hogshead. 

This comes in at 56.9% Abv with an outturn of 1,173 bottles, and would retail for close to US$400.

Official tasting notes:

"A fine bouquet of fragrant flowers and scorched watermelon mingled with molten wax before it dripped onto tarry ropes. There were also iodine elements of seaweed scattered on a shellfish platter.

The palate had fine finesse - juicy with charred pineapple, but devilishly moreish as butter melted over toasted coconut and just a nuance of eucalyptus converged with powdery coal tar. What could a dash of water do? Now wonderfully clean smoke engulfed the maritime familiarity of walks along the beach. Flowers were dotted about the sand dunes and herbal notes morphed into sweet phenols and antiseptic cream on peach skin." 

Kanpai!

88 Bamboo Editorial Team