Excerpts from issue 53/15 2 May 2026
This ten-wheel tractor, cuts peat for Bowmore Distillery, extracting the peat from below the surface of the moss, allowing the top to heal very rapidly. Suntory are currently engaged in peat restoration projects across Scotland.
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Stewart Laing
Stewart Laing, founder of Islay's ninth distillery in 2018 at Ardnahoe, passed away on Wednesday 8 April, at the age of 79, having been in poor health for several years. The distillery said, "He bore the health difficulties of his latter years with characteristic stoicism and good humour, drawing comfort from those closest to him."
Mr Laing spent more than six decades in the Scotch Whisky industry, having served his apprenticeship as a young man at Bruichladdich distillery.
The major part of his career, however, was spent at Douglas Laing & Co Ltd, the blending and bottling company established by his father, Fred Snr. In 2013, he formed Hunter Laing & Co Ltd with his sons, initially continuing as an independent bottler, but at the age when many of his peers had retired, Stewart became involved in the setting up of Islay's ninth distillery, with assistance from Jim McEwan.
Stewart Laing was not only a Keeper of the Quaich but was inducted as a Master in 2022. He was also a Liveryman in the Worshipful Company of Distillers.
According to the distillery, "One of the final activities of his career was on 10 May 2024, when he spent the day in Edinburgh signing bottles of Ardnahoe's Inaugural Release - his own whisky.
"Thus the last act of his career was also the proudest."
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Ardbeg's new Visitor Centre manager
Ardbeg Distillery has announced that Sharon McHarrie will take over as Visitor Centre Manager on Monday 4 May.
Sharon brings a wealth of experience from diverse sectors, including hospitality, distillery visitor operations, financial services, and local government. Most recently, Sharon served as the Assistant Visitor Centre Manager at Kilchoman Distillery, where she co-managed a five-star rated visitor centre, led diverse teams, and ensured premium guest experiences.
Her new responsibilities will also included overseeing compliance, managing operations, and delivering engaging tours and tastings to an international audience. Prior to this, Sharon worked in the financial services sector, where she provided banking support and managed high volumes of customer enquiries. She also contributed to community initiatives as a Member Pioneer Coordinator for the Co-operative Group, building partnerships and organising community engagement events.
For several years, Sharon also contributed the 'Grumble from Gruinart' column in the Ileach.
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In this week's issue:
For peats sake, Police to wear body cams, Address your bins, Stewart Laing, EV chargers on Jura, Islay {Pharmacy Bra Bank, Allt Dearg Trust, Ardbeg's new visitor centre manager, Motor Club's 'Drive-it Day', Book Review: Wiskies Galore - Ian Buxton, Music Review: The Unpredictability of the Sea. Jed Levy-Phil Robson Quartet, Scottish Election candidates, Community Media calls for greater support.
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Book review
Whiskies Galore - a tour of Scotland's island distilleries. New edition. Ian Buxton. Birlinn paperback. Illus. 288pp. £12.99.
This revised edition of Ian Buxton’s excellent book initially provided something of a conundrum. Proudly displaying a 'New Edition' badge on the cover, at first read, several chapters seemed remarkably out of date, adhering to the contents when first published in 2017.
Visiting Arran for the first chapter, still has James MacTaggart as manager, despite his having retired almost three years ago, and Arran's second distillery at Lagg, not having even reached the status of a building site.
The latter has now been open since 2019 under the management of Islay's Graham Omand.
Matters were compounded on reaching the three chapters devoted to Islay, when Port Ellen was still closed, Portintruan had yet to make its mark, Laggan Bay was still a field, and Jean Donnay was still prevaricating over a small distillery at Gartbreck.
As it transpires, but not mentioned until the last paragraph of those three chapters, updated information about Islay and its ever-increasing number of distilleries surfaces in a new chapter, several pages separated from the orginals.
I can't help feeling that the book and its readership would have been better served, had those original chapters been re-written. But there's no update for Arran and it does leave me wondering how up-to-date are the others?
That said, Mr Buxton pointed out in his introduction, that most whisky books are out of date before they've even gone to print, though I believe he was referring to those concerning themselves with the more common arcane statistics and tasting notes.
Here you will find very few, if any, of those; the author provides a brief history of the many distilleries, replete with several observations from his time within the industry, including as Marketing Director of Glenmorangie.
The narrative is confident, frequently opinionated and often humorous, though he does display an eccentric pre-occupation with fountain pens.
While there are as many, or more mainland Scottish distilleries, it is the islands which allegedly prove the greatest draw for single malt aficionados, and in that sense, 'Whiskies Galore' does not disappoint.
Some of the typesetting is a bit inconsistent, but on the whole, this is the perfect book for even those with little interest in the actual whisky, and perhaps even no desire to become the inadvertent casualty of CalMac's current woes.
Caveats aside, definitely worth reading.
bp
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This is Islay
2026 Podcast of the Year featuring individuals, personalities and features of Islay and Jura. Listen now at https://anchor.fm/thisisislay
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