A Love Letter From Islay

A Love Letter From Islay
Panza and Skye

Well all the fuss over tinsel and lights has finally subsided in the house and my family has got back to a proper routine of correctly timed dog walking – phew, I was beginning to think that everyday would include left over turkey in my dog bowl rather than the delicious dog food that we are normally presented with first thing in the morning.

Now breaking news – I’ve fallen in love!


Yup, I might only be 14 months old (about 6 in human years) but the girl of my dreams bounced her way into my life when my humans took me to Islay for a long weekend in early January for lots of dog walking and seagull chasing……..Skye (what a beautiful name) is 3 years old and a very slim, lively, black Labrador.

We immediately bonded and proceeded to leap around the house that we had all moved into. Never mind the crashing through the wine glasses, falling over tables and hogging the fire, Skye was just my best mate ever.

She’s nothing like my grumpy mum and aunts who take every opportunity to give me a hard time, Skye just loved doing what I liked doing, in the main this involved chasing balls, running around on the beach and play fighting throughout the house.

Speaking of Islay, even a dog recognises that there are some places on earth designed to make you relax and chill – just the deal after 2 weeks of friends, family and Hogmanay. Beaches that go on for miles, hills that disappear into the clouds and very few other dogs and people to spoil your fun. My humans did seem to enjoy taking us to odd looking long white buildings with lots of wooden casks outside.

They would head off into a small room and then emerge slightly flushed carrying bags and saying things like ‘loads of peat in that and it tastes of seaweed’. I have begun to wonder why they drink such stuff but then again, I rather enjoy drinking out of muddy puddles so I’m not one to judge!
 

I’m told that I will meet Skye again – our parting was such sweet sorrow.




I’ve also been asked to say that Tarbraxus Distillers had a very busy December. Some of gin journeyed as far afield as New Zealand and Antarctica but some nasty courier people stopped the bottles heading to the USA.

However, our international ambitions will continue once we have sorted out this small faff. In the meantime, there is a lot to look forward to in 2019, we have begun to expand our storage capability and are applying to be a ‘bonded warehouse’. The events calendar for this year is already quite full and Pentlands Hill Gin will be on show in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth and Anglesey (a full list will be on the website by February).

So as the snow moves in and thoughts turn to feet and paws in front of the fire love is most certainly in the air. I can think of no finer way of showing your loved one how much you care than by giving them a fantastic bottle of Pentland Hill Gin on Valentines Day.

I, on the other paw, have my eye on some rather splendid sausages which Skye is most certain to like – I know the way to a girl’s heart.
Panza