Islay Festival whisky offers – save on your favourite drams

It’s that time of year again. If you know any whisky geeks online, then Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are probably already filling up with pictures of the Scottish countryside, Calmac ferries and the Port Askaig petrol pump – it’s time for Fèis Ìle, the Islay Festival of Malt and Music.

Unfortunately, the blog team aren’t going to be on the island this year, but here at The Whisky Exchange we believe in bringing the festival into people’s homes. By which we mean we’ve got a load of special offers on Islay drams – you can find them all on our Islay Festival Favourites page.

We’ve got 17 whiskies with 17 great offers

The festivities kick off today, but the whisky programme proper starts tomorrow with Lagavulin’s open day. It’s the distillery’s 200th anniversary, and while details of the special bottle that will be on sale only at the distillery are somehow still secret, the limited-edition celebratory 8 Year Old is available from our website  – you can read all about it here. Or if you’re after something richer and more relaxed, we have £7.70 off the ever-popular Lagavulin 16.

The weather forecast suggests that it may not be like this at Bruichladdich this weekend…

Sunday is traditionally the biggest party day on the island, as most of the residents aren’t working and can join in. Bruichladdich has snagged it for its open day and fills its courtyard with drams, music and more. It’s a big year for the Bruichladdich team, as it’s the first without recently retired Jim McEwan – former production director and brand ambassador since the distillery reopened in 2000 – but they seem to have everything under control. Keep an eye on the blog next week to hear from head distiller Adam Hannett, but in the meantime we’ve got £10 off the hard-to-find Bruichladdich 22 Year Old.

Mr Chilton in his…element? (No bad puns. You have been warned – Ed)

If you are heading up to Islay, then don’t miss out on a pair of excellent tastings on Monday, presented by our occasional colleague and blog contributor Oliver Chilton. He’s donning his Speciality Drinks whisky-creator hat and will be pouring both the Elements of Islay and Port Askaig ranges on board Irene, a beautiful ketch moored in Port Ellen during the festival – you can grab tickets here and here. But don’t worry if you can’t make it – join in the fun with a bottle of Elements of Islay Peat poured in the comfort of your kitchen, now £3 off.

We’ll have more about the festival next week, but for now head to our Islay Festival page to see all of the offers.