The Royal National MOD 2011

Chris and I are just back from a week in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, filming the Royal National MOD for An Comunn Gaighealach. This was the third year we have filmed this event, and although the weather was absolutely awful, we had a superb week.

Some of the fringe events planned for this year that we wanted to film were Historic Walks, Spinning Sessions and Art and Archaeology at Calanais Stones, but due to the weather these events didn’t happen, however there were plenty of Ceilidhs at night in the pubs and hotels.

The torrential rain didn’t quite ruin my favourite event of the week, the final Saturday morning Choir and Pipe Band March through Stornoway. The March was cancelled but the choir members did gather in the Nicholson Institute Hall for their traditional end of the MOD sing-a-long. 

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We visited Abhainn Dearg Distillery near Uig, to sample a brand new, three-year-old single malt whisky, and the first legal whisky from the Western Isles! Our host Marko (Mark Tayburn) and Daniel his apprentice were fantastically entertaining, warm and welcoming.  Marko explained that when he learned that the MOD would be in Stornoway in 2011, that spurred him to lay down the first batch of whisky in time to launch Abhainn Dearg, which means Red River, to coincide with Royal National MOD week.

My comments on Abhainn Dearg three year old single malt are: it has a pleasant light straw colour, and was nicely thick in the mouth, but had a very young immature taste. (I did think it tasted just like straw, which could be the cask wood I tasted.) I can happily wait another seven years to try Marko’s malt again, because I think at 10 years, it will be fabulous.