I have a couple of interesting Islay whisky news items for you. The first one comes from Kilchoman Distillery: "We are delighted to announce that John MacLellan will be joining us as General Manager. John has worked in the whisky industry for over 20 years and for the past 12 years he has been the manager at Bunnahabhain, so brings with him lots of experience. He starts on the 3rd of May and will be responsible for the day to day running of the business, freeing Anthony up to concentrate on developing sales around the world." Congratulations to John MacLellan and Kilchoman and it will be interesting to see who will become the new manager of Bunnahabhain, will it be someone from Islay?

More news comes from the other side of the island where Ardbeg Distillery won two awards: World’s Best Single Malt Whisky at the World Whisky Awards and Single Malt of the Year by Malt Advocate Magazine. After rigorous blind tastings by Whisky Magazine’s panel and industry experts Ardbeg Corryvreckan, at the recent Whisky Magazine’s World Whisky Awards ceremony in London won “World Best Single Malt Whisky”. Earlier in February Ardbeg Corryvreckan also won “Single Malt of the Year” from the US Malt Advocate magazine. John Hansell, publisher and editor of Malt Advocate Magazine described the Ardbeg Corryvreckan as “an invigorating, complex, and meticulously cared for whisky.” Hamish Torrie, Brand Director, Ardbeg commented on the two wins saying, “We are thrilled to have won these prestigious awards. With the hundreds of single malt whiskies that are entered for these competitions it is a great testament to the hard work of our Distillery team on Islay and the whisky creation team led by Dr Bill Lumsden.” Dr Bill Lumsden, Head of Distilling and Whisky Creation, explained: “Experiments initiated in 1999, and continued ever since, have created parcels of Ardbeg stock slowly maturing in French oak casks on Islay. These are at the heart of Corryvreckan's perplexing character, teasing spicy and sumptuous sweet fruity notes from the maturing whisky.”

Tag: kilchoman bunnahabhain ardbeg whisky distilleries