Harvest 2024

As every farmer knows, success in agriculture is often at the mercy of the weather, and 2024 proved to be no exception.  We started ploughing on 7th March in the Smiddy Field, but the unsettled weather meant we took longer than normal and this delay impacted our sowing schedule.  Typically, we begin sowing barley around the 15th of April and finish within five days. However this year, the cold and wet soil meant we couldn’t start until the 27th of April in the Flat Field. The final field, Creag Field, wasn’t completed until 8th May but we remained hopeful that it wouldn’t have a significant impact.

In total we sowed around 155 acres, growing two varieties of spring barley – 50% Diablo and 50% Laurette. We’ve had success with both varieties in previous years.  Not only are they high performing in the field, but they also create a balanced flavour profile for our single malt.

The weather continued to throw challenges our way during the growing season with a mix of cold, damp days and a lack of warmth.  The barley in lighter soils struggled as the weather alternated between being too dry and then too wet – farmers are never happy with the weather!

Harvest time brought a welcome change. We were starting to wonder if the barley would ever ripen, but fortunately, the weather improved just in time. While we usually start harvesting at the end of August, we didn’t begin until 17th September due to the later sowing and mixed weather over the summer.  Once we started combining, we had nine consecutive days of ideal conditions – the best weather we had seen all year! This allowed us to harvest the crop efficiently and without interruption, a rarity in farming.  It’s always a good sign when Islay is happy with the dusty ‘stoor’ clouds around the combine!  Stoor while we’re combing means that the barley is really dry, the combine can work more efficiently and we can cover the ground quicker – ideal conditions for better yields.

Both barley varieties, Diablo and Laurette, performed very well.  They produced a good yield and grain size despite the difficult growing conditions and the straw this year was better and longer in length than last year.

We are thrilled with the outcome of this year’s harvest, having produced 321.22 tonnes of barley under less-than-ideal conditions. This will go on to create 800 barrels of whisky, contributing to our unique Single Farm Single Malt – 100% Islay, from ‘Barley to Bottle.’

Here’s to another successful year, overcoming all the challenges the weather threw our way.  The planning for 2025 is already underway!

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