Kilchoman Competition; SWA Report; Tiree Charity Auction; Islay – Party Island

Hello everyone

First off, you may remember that, last year, Kilchoman Distillery on Islay ran a cocktail creation competition, Kilchoman Shake the Farm. It is being repeated this year in similar format which, they tell us, „…will challenge bartenders across the UK to create a cocktail which showcases one of our core range whiskies alongside a single standout ingredient farmed right here in Britain“.

As in 2024, creative bartenders are being asked to highlight the connection between whisky and agriculture. This year‘s candidates will compete to win an all-expenses paid hands-on apprenticeship at the distillery. The overall winner will get the opportunity to select an exclusive single cask bottling (and to take six bottles of it home with them). Their cocktail will also be featured as Kilchoman’s official drink during Feis Ile 2025. As one of the UK‘s major whisky events with many overseas attendees, that will be a great showcase for the winner and his/her bar.

This year‘s rules and application details are:

• Cocktails must contain a minimum of 25ml of Kilchoman Machir Bay, Sanaig or Batch Strength.

• The recipe must contain one UK farmed ingredient.
• Creations must be easy to replicate and made using tools and ingredients commonly found in bars.
• Drinks must not contain more than 6 ingredients (excluding garnish).
• The use of homemade ingredients is greatly encouraged but not necessary.
• Entries must be submitted before 23^rd March 2025 at midnight.

Application:

• Recipes must be submitted via the entry form athttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfewvUruj52kcOR99ku52mNm_JNDjnrEiBlJK-8SVYRuuEgyA/viewform and you can also find it by going to the Kilchoman website.
• A picture of your cocktail must be shared on Instagram tagging @kilchomandistillery, @kilcho.man and your bar with the hashtags #shakethefarm #kilchomanwhisky #barleytobottle.
• The cocktail must be available within the candidate’s bar offering.

Selection:

Three finalists will be shortlisted based on their online submission and Instagram post. The following criteria will be used for the selection process:

• Drink’s name, story and visual appeal.
• Choice of farmed ingredient.
• Instagram post originality.

Finals:

The finalists will then be invited to an all-expenses paid hands-on apprenticeship at Kilchoman distillery on Islay from April 21^st – 24^th so you must be available on those dates, also allowing yourself time to get to and from Islay so you may need an extra day or two for travel. During these four days, you will stay on the farm, learn about distillery production and have a hand in making Kilchoman single malt, finishing up by competing to become the 2025 Shake the Farm champion.

So, as we say in Scotland, come on if you think you‘re hard enough!

On the – sort of – subject of Islay, one of our national newspapers, The Sunday Times, recently featured an article on the UK‘s most desirable postcodes or „hottest neighbourhoods“. One of those was Port Ellen. Now, I love the place – indeed the whole island – but feel „party island“ is a misnomer. Yes, Islay has a few great events each year and Port Ellen has a new hotel (not yet open) in the shape of Ardbeg House which looks wonderful, as well as existing good places to go e.g. the Seasalt chip shop, but party island? No. One of the hotspots they mention is the newly recreated and internally fabulous Port Ellen Distillery but the complimentary tour is only available one day a month (must be booked in advance) and the other two tours are priced at £250 and £900 respectively. Not for the casual island visitor. I do read this paper but am fairly frequently amused at the recommended hotels and other facilities in their travel section as I can‘t imagine all the readers are made of money (case in point being me).

 

News from the SWA this last week that Scotch Whisky exports in 2024 went up in volume (by 3.9%) over 2023 but down in value by 3.7%. We exported the equivalent of 1.4 billion 70cl bottles. The value is up 10% on pre-pandemic levels (2019). By volume, exports are up 7% on 2019 figures. Since that time the industry has been recovering somewhat.

Largest market by volume was India (France was second) with USA the biggest by value, followed by France. Indicates that The Auld Alliance between Scotland and France may still count for something! China saw a large drop in value terms but not quite so large in volume so presumably the wealthier citizens are having their taste for Scotch dampened by economic conditions and trade squabbles.

UK position isn‘t mentioned, being the export report, but we‘ve had more duty hikes here in the last 18 months by governments treating it as something of a cash cow. This current lot are as bad as the last in that regard. I‘ve often met overseas visitors who are puzzled as to why whisky costs more in its homeland than it does in their countries. It‘s not a good message to send those who would seek to apply high tariffs and duties and is something I‘m fed up having to keep mentioning but it needs to be said.The situation will surely not be helped if a certain Mr. Trump decides Scotch will be subject to more of his tariffs. If you want to delve a little further into the numbers, go to https://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/newsroom/2024-export-figures/ . Final comment on the UK situation is from SWA CEO Mark Kent who states that, “At home, distillers are being stretched to breaking point, as consumers bear the brunt of a 14% increase on the tax on every bottle of Scotch Whisky in the last 18 months alone. The cumulative effect of inflationary impacts on input costs such as cereals, energy and shipping, and the increased tax and regulatory costs, including the substantial cost of EPR coming later this year, are being fed through to consumers when they are tightening their belts“. 

Lastly for this time, Ian and Alain, the co-owners and distillers at Tiree Distillery have been in touch to say that bottle numbers 1 – 10 of their first ever whisky bottling in January this year raised a little over £10,000 at auction though it wasn‘t clear if there was still auctioneer commission to be deducted. Anyway, that means they will have raised around £1,000 for charities on Tiree. Beneficiaries to be decided. As you might expect, bottles No. 1 and No. 2 raised the highest prices at £2,650 and £1,650 respectively. I would have thought No.3 would come next but, oddly, No.6 was next at £900. Well done to the guys and we can look forward to their next bottling of a different expression in the summer.

I, however, will be back with you end of this month.

Till then, happy dramming.

Slainte mhath,

Caroline