Whisky ghost stories to tell around the campfire!
As we mentioned in our last post, we’ve reached out to some distilleries to find out what terrifying tales have taken place in their magical booze factories.
Everybody loves a good ghost story. They appear in most cultures for good reason. We hear them first as children, an age when we are susceptible to the anticipation, drama and adrenaline they create. Ironically, they make us feel closer to each other, as we scream together and squeeze each other’s hands. As adults, this love doesn’t diminish. We can appreciate the nostalgia and memories of starry nights, the bonds we made and laugh at the silliness of it all.
So, whatever your plans are for Halloween, make sure you take a moment to turn off the screens, gather round together, pour a dram and tell a creepy tale. Here’s a couple of good ones to get you going. Are you sitting comfortably, preferably with a torch pointed at your face? Good, then let’s begin.
Bowmore’s Headless Horseman
First we head to the oldest distillery on Islay, Bowmore, which has its fair share of creepy ghost stories. A resident ghost is said to inhabit the distillery’s vaults, while the Devil himself once visited the Islay town and hid in a round church which had "no corner for the Devil to hide in" (not the greatest life choice from Lucifer) and was chased out. He ran to the distillery where he hid inside a barrel on its way to the mainland. This inspired the expression The Devil’s Casks, so it could just be marketing bumf, which is actually more scary than any ghost, in our opinion.
However, the most well-known Bowmore tale regards its supposed phantom patron. Picture the scene: it’s a dark and stormy night. Crofter Lachlan Bàn is on his way home. Suddenly he sees the ghostly silhouette of a headless horseman galloping away from his house. While lacking a head, the horseman apparently had impeccable manners, because when Bàn walked in he saw a bottle of Bowmore on the table. He noticed a large dram was missing (no head = big sips, I’d imagine) and, utterly petrified, did something truly horrific. He threw away the bottle. I told you this story was scary.
According to the distillery, Bàn’s brother later told him he had passed by during the storm and brought a bottle to share but couldn't wait long. So he took a quick dram and rode home. The kicker? He pulled his cloak tight over my head to keep it out of the rain. Bàn, too embarrassed to reveal the truth to the islanders, understandably said nothing and the story lived on. All that means a true Ileach will always open a fresh bottle for guests, throw the cork in the fire, just in case the headless horseman returns to join them.
Jura’s Twin Phantoms
For our next set of ghost stories we’re off to Jura, which, we know, isn’t actually a part of Islay. However, the neighbouring island always features in Fèis Ìle and we’re an inclusive bunch here. So we’re going to Jura.
First, we’ll tell you the story of Laird Archibald Campbell. Just 29 years after he initially outlawed distilling in 1781 (that’s not the scary part), Campbell woke in the middle of the night to see a ghostly old woman hovering over his bed. She gave him a good telling off for this nonsense. Seeing the apparition supposedly persuaded Campbell to reverse that decision and open a distillery at an old smuggler’s cave in 1810. To ensure that no more ghosts appear to chastise politicians, it’s said that a bottle of 16 year old whisky is still left in a secret cave somewhere on the island.
The ghostly goings-on didn’t stop there, however. Fast-forward to 2010 and two journalists visited the distillery to investigate the old ghost stories. A collar with a webcam was attached onto Elvis to see if he could get a view of any apparitions/ghosts that he may come across. A collar?! Well, yes. Elvis is a cat. He belongs to Sue Perrit, who works as the mash/still operator at Jura Distillery, so Elvis is known as the distillery cat. With his stylish cat-cam, he caught a ghostly woman and a psychic, Joan Charles, was called to investigate. She sensed the presence of Elizabeth Quinn, an authoritative and kind spirit. Former distillery manager, Willie Cochrane, confirmed there had been a teacher called Elizabeth who lived on the island many years before. What did she want? Why was she there? Maybe we’ll never know. Although, she probably just wanted some whisky. My kind of ghost!