IslayBlog.com -> 2007 ->
Saturday, 22/Sep/2007
More from Dave and Martin on Islay
On Wednesday I had mentioned Dave's and Martin's visit to Islay, promising an update if any further information from their visit to the Bruichladdich Academy became available. Time to follow up on the promise:
Dave was so kind to share his Islay trip photos on FaceBook. Quite a few pictures of him and Martin working at Bruichladdich, but also visiting some of the other distilleries. There's also a picture of deer on Jura, so I'm guessing they had an excursion over to the Isle of Jura as well.
Yesterday Bruichladdich Distillery sent out some information, including the picture of Martin and Jade shown above. Some quotes from their release, including thoughts from Mark Reynier:
The ultimate test in sensory perception – sound, smell and touch – took place this week at the Bruichladdich Distillery on the Island of Islay.
Martin Roberts from Ipswich – a self-confessed “bolshy, abrasive, blind bastard” – and David Williams from Worcester, both blind since birth, donned overalls to distil.
Bruichladdich MD Mark Reynier: “I was more than happy for Martin and David to give it a go. They’re no shrinking violets these guys, expecting special cotton wool treatment... they just get on with it”
The two blind men took part in the whole of the distilling process from barley to bottle culminating in filling their own cask of Bruichladdich that they had helped make.
Their heightened sense of smell was an advantage in blind tasting. And their extra sensitive hearing won them the record for being the fastest at bottling.
I don't know what their plans are, but I hope Dave and Martin will return to Islay some day. For some inspiration may be read Case Study: Scotland's Independent Spirits, with Port Charlotte and Bruichladdich getting a prominent mention for Islay.
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