28.04.2025
Fèis Ìle 2025: Islay’s Biggest Whisky Festival Highlights
Fèis Ìle 2025: Islay’s Biggest Whisky Festival Highlights
Feis ile - Islay's biggest whisky festival
It began in 1986 as a Gaelic Drama and Music festival, showcasing local talent through concerts and cèilidhs (traditional social gatherings with live music and dancing). The idea for the festival was suggested in 1984 by a local committee who noticed that the island's Gaelic traditions were beginning to fade with modernisation. In fact, Islay is one of the few areas in Scotland where Gaelic is still widely spoken.
The current festival as we know it is a far cry from the years that Feis ile has been around for years. Whisky has always been an integral part of the community and everyone knows that just as it is hard to unlearn certain customs, it is hard not to mention the distilleries when you have something to celebrate.
1990 was a turning point for whisky during the festival, when none other than Dougie McDougall hosted a whisky event showcasing Scottish specialities.
Since then, whisky has played an increasingly important role during the festival, and in 2000, they decided to open up to visitors for the duration of the festival, all distilleries that wanted to share their latest news and build better relationships with visitors.
Open Days with master classes, inviting festival guests into their warehouses to taste whisky and learn more about their coveted, heavily peated single malts. This led to special editions of whisky available exclusively to festival guests, and not only distilleries took part in releasing whisky for the festival, but also bottlers associated with Islay.
One thing remains the same - every distillery operating on the island prepares a special edition of whisky, offered to festival participants. This year is no different. We have gathered a list of the individual editions for you. As it turns out, there are distilleries that have prepared not one, but two special festival editions. Others, in turn, have prepared not only whiskey, but also gin. One at a time, though.
This year so far looks like this:
- FRIDAY 23RD MAY
- FÈIS ÌLE OPENING EVENING
- SATURDAY 24TH MAY
- LAGAVULIN
- ISLAY RUM
- ISLAY WHISKY VAULT
- SUNDAY 25TH MAY
- BRUICHLADDICH
- MONDAY 26TH MAY
- CAOL ILA
- TUESDAY 27TH MAY
- LAPHROAIG
- PORT ELLEN
- THE INDIE WHISKY FÈIS
- WEDNESDAY 28TH MAY
- BOWMORE
- ARDNAHOE
- THURSDAY 29TH MAY
- KILCHOMAN
- FRIDAY 30TH MAY
- BUNNAHABHAIN JURA
- SATURDAY 31ST MAY ARDBEG
Here are the bottles you can find at the festival:
Lagavulin 15 Year Old Moscatel Finish Fèis Ìle
Caol Ila 8 Year Old Fèis Ìle 2025
Bunnahabhain Feis Ile 2025 Release: Turas Math No. 1 15 Year Old
15 Year Old unpeated Bunnahabhain, A mix of Bunnahabhain fully matured in Manzanilla married with Bunnahabhain that spent 10 years in ex-bourbon and then 5 years in Amarone casks.
Bunnahabhain Feis Ile 2025 Release: Turas Math No. 2 Palo Cortado Finish (58.4%)
No Age Statement, aged in ex-bourbon casks and finished in Palo Cortado casks. 1438 bottles.
Bunnahabhain Feis Ile 2025 Release: Turas Math No. 3 19 Year Old Armagnac Finish (50.2%)
Unpeated Bunnahabhain Matured in oak casks and finished in a single, hand-selected Armagnac cask.
Mac-Talla Feis Ile 2025 Amarone
Bowmore Feis Ile 2025 8 Year Old
Oloroso Single Cask, 100% floor malted barley, distilled 27/05/2016
Bowmore 2012 Single Cask journey
Distilled 2012 and matured in Virgin Oak casks
Ardbeg Smokiverse
Laphroaig Cairdeas 2025 Lore Cask Strength (59.6%)
The Laphroaig Cairdeas 2025 is another cask strength edition of a core lineup bottling. This year it’s Lore.
Kilchoman 100% Islay Feis Ile 2025 Madeira
Douglas laing: Big Peat Feis Ile 2025 (50%)
Ardnahoe: Feis Ile 2025
Bruichladdich TBD
Port Charlotte TBD
Bruichladdich ROCK’NDAAL Valinch
About the author
Damian Baran
I am in love with the world of whisky since 2021 after the first films about testing and discovering flavors. the story began with a bottle of Talisker 10, earlier of course brands such as glendifich or johnie walker appeared but it was Talisker that opened my eyes to the diversity of flavors and scents. currently with over 800 whiskies tried and head over heels in love with the climates of islay. finds his flavors in bottles such as ardbeg or lagavulin but I also willingly reach for peated whiskies such as glendronach sweet fruity climates of Speyside.
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