In early 2018 Islay’s ninth operational distillery, Ardnahoe, is due to open. In the meantime we are delighted to welcome to Islay House Square the Ardnahoe Visitors Centre. Islay Studios have moved across the square to a bigger and better equipped location and as a result Ardnahoe Distillery is […]
Islay Estates Farming Update
New developments on the Home Farm include the purchase of a new bull, Jawbreaker, cutting hay and the addition of 14 Luing heifers from Oronsay. Last year we bought 6 Luing heifers from the RSPB; they had been brought up on Oronsay and so were well acclimatised to life on the west coast. They fared […]
Islay Show
Islay Show 2015 was a great success. Against the backdrop of a very wet summer, the sunshine on Show Day brought the crowds in. Competition was fierce in all sections and the entrants really enjoyed the chance to relax after the judging. Islay Estates had some entries for the first time in about 30 years […]
Mulindry Farm
AN OFFER TO RENT MULINDRY FARM HAS BEEN ACCEPTED – THEREFORE IT IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE Mulindry Farm is the first residential mixed farm available on the open market for let on Islay Estates for about 30 years. Details of the farm can be obtained through CKD Galbraith LLP; the letting agent is Niall Macallister-Hall. […]
Farming Update
Have a look at Emily’s video to see the “Livestock of Loch Indaal”!!
Walk Islay
Islay Estates are delighted to help with WalkIslay, an annual week of walking on Islay, Jura and Colonsay. We are taking part in two walks this week, one on 13th April at Bridgend, the other on 14th April at Bunnahabhain. Information on how to take part is at www.walkislay.co.uk We do, of course encourage people, […]
Farming Update – Tups Come to Islay Estates
Having bought some Blackface hoggs in May, we have now purchased some Blueface Leicester tups to start our own flock of Scotch Mules. The Mule is generally considered to be a good breeding sheep – the hardiness of the Blackface combined with the size and composition of the Blueface Leicester creates a sheep that is consistently […]
Whisky Rocks – An Islay Odyssey
As I turned the RIB out of Port Askaig basin at 0945hrs on the 13th of Sepetmber 2014 I had no idea what lay in store for the rest of the day. Being a sunny Saturday with high pressure sitting over the country I was fairly confident that the weather would remain calm for the […]
Harvesting Underway
We started to harvest the barley at Gartbreck on Monday only to find the endrows were a bit too green and not really ready yet – this grain went into the duck pond! The rest of the field was then cut on Wednesday and Thursday with moisture levels just below 20% – hopefully this will […]
Farming on Islay Estates – Update
Last week we bought 6 Luing heifers from the Islay market. They had been reared on Oronsay so are well acclimatised to to west coast climate. they are currently grazing at Gartbreck and have been named as Blondie, Brownie, Ginger, Chantelle, Sybil and Justine. The explanation for the names is a little obtuse – blame my […]