Welcome to the 2022 edition of the Feis Ile bottles guide!

This year it seems like the festival is returning to almost normal operation with daily negative COVID-19 results or with vaccination proof along with masks for indoor events.

What does it means for festival bottles? I think it’s safe to assume that some distilleries will retract the ability to buy them online, making them available for those who travels to the island. I do hope that it will be a hybrid model with an allocation available for festival visitors and an allocation to sell online but only time will tell.

Anyway, as usual bookmark this post as this post will detail all the available information on the festival bottles and will be update each time more details will be revealed.

 

Updates:

06/06/2022 – Added Jura, surprise Bunnahabhain 1989, Ardbeg single cask, Octomore Valinch and Finlaggan bottles and a few missing info bits of Feis Ile 2022 bottes.
27/05/2022 – Added Bruichladdich Feis Ile 2022 bottes
20/05/2022 – Added Hunter Laing Kinship 2022 bottes
12/05/2022 – Added Islay Mist Feis Ile 2022 botte details
09/05/2022 – Added Douglas Laing Feis Ile 2022 botte details
05/05/2022 – Added Caol Ila and Lagavulin Feis Ile 2022 bottes details
03/05/2022 – Added all Bowmore Feis Ile 2022 bottes details
28/04/2022 – Added all Bunnahabhain Feis Ile 2022 bottes details
20/04/2022 – Added Kilchoman Feis Ile 2022 botte details
17/04/2022 – Dramfool celebratory bottles for the Festivals season
07/03/2022 – SMWS celebratory bottles for the Festivals season
30/01/2022 – Initial update with Ardbeg, Laphroaig and Bunnahabhain bottles.

Let’s get to the list of Feis Ile 2022 bottlings and the available information, all sorted by Festival dates:

Lagavulin – Open day on Saturday 28th May 2022

• Lagavulin 12 Year Old  Virgin Oak Finish Feis Ile 2022 (57.70%, £165, 6336 bottles)

An unusually rich, full-bodied, and sweet-spicy Lagavulin in which powerful oak spice seems to control the smoke until water releases it to pour forth from its hiding place; forward in style and bursting with self-confidence.

First Feis bottling under the new Distillery Manager, Jordan Paisley.

Bruichladdich – Open day on Sunday 29th May 2022

• ROCK’NDAAL 01.1 (50%, £125, 2,500 bottles)

The first of the two releases, this is a vatting of Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte and Octomore from several different vintages.

100% Islay-grown barley and bourbon-matured, it is a classic, unplugged single malt, that exposes the DNA of our spirits in all their elegance and complexity.

 

 

 

• ROCK’NDAAL 01.2 (50%, £125, 2,500 bottles)

Rock’ndaal 01.2 is the counterpart to 01.1; again uniting vintages of Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte and Octomore but with the powerful influence of five different cask types from Europe’s finest wine and sherry producers.

This electric fusion creates a deep and spicy single malt that’s rich and flavourful. The dark to 01.1’s light.

 

 

• Octomore Valinch 9 Year Old (150.2PPM, £275, 61.9%, 500 ml)

Virgin Oak cask, 664 bottles.

Caol Ila – Open day on Monday 30th May 2022

• Caol Ila 15 Year Old Virgin Oak Finish Feis Ile 2022 (55.20%, £165, 3702 bottles)

Extraordinarily punchy and sweet-spicy, and simply huge in spirit, this is a very well-structured Caol Ila; sure to persuade anyone who may not yet realise just how fine it can be.

Laphroaig – Open day on Tuesday 31st May 2022

• Laphroaig Cairdeas 2022 Warehouse 1 (52.2%)

The Laphroaig Cairdeas 2022 will ditch the finish theme. Instead it will be a whisky fully matured  at Warehouse 1 at Laphroaig distillery (right on the shore).

Cairdeas 2022 is exclusively matured in first-fill Maker’s mark bourbon casks, aged in Warehouse 1.

Bowmore – Open day on Wednesday 1st June 2022

• Bowmore 15 Year Old Feis Ile 2022 1st Fill Bourbon (£135, 54.7%, 3000 bottles)

A 15-year-old bourbon cask matured single malt, specially selected for Fèis Ìle 2022. With notes of ripe exotic fruit, vanilla, green apple and toffee.

two bottles per person.

• Bowmore 25 Year Old 1996 Vintage Feis Ile 2022 Oloroso (£490, 51.2%, 250 bottles)

Matured for a quarter of a century in our finest oloroso sherry casks this expression offers the perfect blend of complexity and elegance. With notes of dark rich chocolate, stewed fruits and Seville oranges.

Ardnahoe – Open day on Wednesday 1st June 2022

• TBD

Kilchoman – Open day on Thursday 2nd June 2022

• Kilchoman Feis Ile 2022 16 Year Old (52.1%, £150, approx. 900 bottles)

The Feis Ile 2022 release is a vatting of five 16 year old bourbon barrels filled in 2006. The barrel selected are from some of the first 50 casks ever filled at Kilchoman. This is the first ever 16 Year Old bottling from Kilchoman.

Limited to one per person, available exclusively from the distillery shop on the Kilchoman Feis 2022 day; Thursday 2nd June 2022, £150 per bottle, approx. 900 bottles.

Bunnahabhain – Open day on Friday 3rd June 2022

• Bunnahabhain Feis Ile 2022 ABHAINN ARAIG (50.8%, £95.00)

Bunnahabhain matured in small PX octaves, married with Oloroso and Bourbon matured Bunnahabhain. So for the first time in a few years, the accessible and cheaper expression isn’t a heavily peated Bunnahabhain.

 

 

 

• Bunnahabhain 2004 Mòine Tokaji Cask Finish (52.2%, £199.00, 1693 bottles)

this sweet, smoky dram has been finished for just over a year in Hungarian Tokaji white wine casks. With notes of white chocolate, floral fruits, citrus and gentle woodiness, it’s not one to miss!

 

 

• Bunnahabhain 1998 Calvados Cask Finish (49.7%, £400.00) 

After spending two years finishing in French Calvados casks, this Fèis Ìle limited edition is a sublimely sweet and characterful dram.  Aged for 23 years, this sweet and fruity whisky has a really powerful spicy finish – definitely not one to miss!

 

 

• Bunnahabhain 1989 1989 Oloroso Finish Whisky (45.4%, £750, 286 bottles)

Our second Distillery Exclusive whisky created to celebrate Fèis Ìle 2022 was launched as a ‘surprise’ on Bunnahabhain Day.

Distilled on the 15th of December, 1989, and filled into whisky refill casks, this whisky has been slowly maturing in our coastal warehouses for over 30 years, developing its complex, rich character.  Transferred to casks that once held premium Oloroso sherry on the 25th of May, 2016 to mature for a further 6 years.  This exquisite dram is explording with fruit and spices with the signature Bunnahabhain ‘oily’ feel.

Bottled with an abv of 45.4%, non-chillfiltered and natural colour.

 

Jura – Open day on Sunday 6th June 2021

• Isle of Jura 2007 14 Year Old Fèis Ìle 2022 Edition (57.2%, £120)

Cask 1982, Fully matured in a refill ex-sherry butt, filled 12.09.2007

Ardbeg – Open day on Saturday 4th June 2022

• Ardbeg Ardcore (46%)

Created with Black Malt Barley, so using some heavily roasted malt and creating a more chocolaty Ardbeg. Or just the Ardbeg equivalent of Signet. A stronger ABV variant will be released to the Ardbeg Committee members (at 50.2%)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Ardbeg 15 Year Old Single Cask (51.8%, £555, 699 bottles)

Cask 9099, 1st Fill Black Sherry Butt, bottled 21.01.2022.

 

Dramfool

Dramfool with their strong relationship with Jim Mcewan are releasing three Islay Festival editions to be launched at The Indie Whisky Fèis Ìle at the Bowmore Hall on May 30th and a single mysterious Speyside for Spirit of Speyside Festival (will be launched at the Dufftown Whisky Fair on 30^th April)

• Port Charlotte 2002 20 Year Old (Bourbon Barrel, £295, 188 bottles, 57.9%)

Will be bottled just as it turns 20 Year Old and so it will be the oldest Port Charlotte out there (Until some 2001 casks will be released).

• Port Charlotte 2002 20 Year Old (Sherry Barrel, £345, 188 bottles, 57.9%)

Sister cask of the bourbon barrel above – both are to be bottled as they turn 20 year old. This one spent 16 years in ex-Bourbon Hogshead and then moved to 1st fill Sherry Hogshead for 4 years.

• Dramfool’s Jim Mcewan Octomore 2008 12 Year Old (167 PPM, 62.8%, £99, 330 bottles of 250ml)

The third release will be an Octomore from a first fill Bourbon barrel that held in it less than expected so it was bottled in 250 ml bottles to make sure more people can buy it (and to make it cheaper)

• Glenmarvellous #3, 11 Year Old (1st fill PX, 269 Bottles, 58.7%, £120)

This is the Spirit of Speyside Festival 2022 bottling from Dramfool. Earlier editions of Glenmarvellous were oloroso and port expressions and now it’s a PX cask.

SMWS (Scotch Malt Whisky Society)

No Feis Ile releases, but as usual the SMWS celebrates the festivals season with a few dedicated bottles for all the spring festivals.

• 18 Year Old Glen Garioch (Distillery 19) in Celebration of the Highland Whisky Festival 2022 (1128 bottles, 55.6%)

• 17 Year Old Bowmore (Distillery 3) in celebration of Islay Whisky Festival 2022 (1326 bottles, 57%)

• 18 Year Old Auchentoshan (Distillery 5) in celebration of Lowlands Whisky Festival 2022 (930 bottles, 55.8%)

• 8 Year Old Caol Ila (Distillery 53) in celebration of Islay Whisky Festival 2022 (2677 bottles, 58.4%)

• 8 Year Old Glen Scotia (Distillery 93) in celebration of Campbeltown Malts Festival 2022 (1460 bottles, 59.7%)

• 10 Year Old Benrinnes (Distillery 36) in celebration of Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2022 (1391 bottles, 57.6%)

Hunter Laing

• Kinship 2022

This year Kinship series contains the following:

• • Bowmore 33 Year Old 47.7%
  • Bruichladdich 31 Year Old 54.6%
  • Bunnahabhain 32 Year Old 46.2%
  • Caol Ila 32 Year Old 48.1%
  • Laphroaig 31 Year Old 47.1%
  • Jura 29 Year Old 48%

Douglas Laing

• Big Peat Beach BBQ Edition Feis Ile 2022 (54.2%, £50.99, 3000 bottles)

Big Peat Beach BBQ is a small batch whisky of just 3000 bottles, and has been bottled without colouring or chill filtration at its cask strength of 54.2%. This will be a humdinger, and Big Peat’s Islay malt whiskies released for Feis Ile 2022, Douglas Laing’s Big Peat Beach BBQ edition is a cask strength small batch bottling.

 

Islay Mist

• Islay Mist 21 Year Old Feis Ile 2022 (40%, 60 bottles)

Limited to 60 bottles & matured in ex-bourbon barrels, it is exclusively available at the Islay Whisky Shop in Bowmore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finlaggan

• Finlaggan Single Cask Release Feis Ile 2022 (50%, 890 bottles)