Fèis Ìle Festival 2021 with Lagavulin and Caol Ila

Islay’s famous festival of music and whisky, Fèis Ìle is back for 2021 with all events being held digitally, bringing those at home up close to some of the best of what Islay has to offer. As part of the festival, Lagavulin and Caol Ila will be hosting live streamed events from the distilleries.

On 29 May, from 7pm the Lagavulin Distillery warehouse will play host to an evening of performances by Scottish singers, Joy and Andrew Dunlop and the Niall Kirkpatrick Ceilidh Band. You’ll be able to tune in to the virtual event on Lagavulin’s Facebook page, and will also get an exclusive first look at the highly anticipated festival bottling. The live stream will also feature an adventure on Islay’s surrounding sea, a hike around the island showcasing the breath-taking scenery, and a behind the scenes look at a day in the life of warehouse manager Iain McArthur. 

At Caol Ila on 31 May, starting at 7pm on the Caol Ila Facebook page, a night of whisky and music will take place with Glasgow based actor and musician, Patricia Panther, as guest host. Mairi McGillvary, an Islay born award-winning Gaelic singer will share some of her latest music and Alasdair Currie, a Gaelic singer and piper also based on Islay, will join the line up for a special performance. The evening is complete with a first look at the Caol Ila Fèis Ìle Festival bottling, whisky cocktail recipes and a specially commissioned contemporary composition from singer-songwriter Beldina Odenyo. 

To tie in with the festival, and as is tradition for Fèis Ìle, Lagavulin and Caol Ila special edition bottlings will be released. Hand-selected by the distillery teams, the festival exclusive bottles will be available at the Lagavulin distillery shop from 29 May and online on malts.com from 1 June with a pre-sale for subscribers at 2pm (BST) 31 May. 

Each special bottling represents a precious part of its distillery’s rich heritage, offering whisky fans an exciting twist on the core expressions available from Lagavulin and Caol Ila.

Pierrick Guilaume, Lagavulin Distillery Manager said: “Fèis Ìle is an incredible week for the island each year, allowing us to welcome whisky and music lovers around the globe to the island we’re so proud to call home. While our celebrations at Lagavulin Distillery are slightly different this year, we still have a fabulous line up planned who will treat online guests to some of Scotland’s best music and entertainment, as well as an incredible bottling which will excite fans of Lagavulin and the festival.”

Samuel Hale, Caol Ila Distillery Manager said: “This will be my first festival as distillery manager of Caol Ila and although we are unable to host the event in Islay, we wanted to continue to honour the occasion with not only a wonderful online event but also by creating a remarkable bottling. We’re sure it’s going to be extremely popular with Caol Ila fans.”