The Islay Whisky Festival 2025 was the ‘most successful’ to date contrary to ferry ‘fiasco’ fake news then so it must be even more successful this time?

The Islay Whisky Festival 2026 started in Friday. I’ve seen no media talk of a ferry fiasco though the 7am next Tuesday sailing has been cancelled. Surely that will cause terrible disruption for travellers going home?

In June 2025, stewartb surprised us all when he found out this:

The Islay Whisky Festival 2025 is the ‘most successful’ to date contrary to ferry ‘fiasco’ fake news

You may recall from TuS on May 22, 2025 this headline: ‘Stricken!! The Herald and local haulier conspire to hide the deep satisfaction of Islay folk with their ferry service.’ The blog post included this extract from a news article in The Herald:

‘A new “fiasco” caused by a ferry breakdown has sparked a row over the delivery of vital supplies on an island on the eve of its world famous whisky festival. The key ferry for Islay, MV Finlaggan has been sidelined as problems have emerged during routine planned maintenance of main engines during an annual overhaul period.’ (my emphasis)

The Herald claimed that ‘Island’s whisky festival facing disruption due to ferry repairs’. It quoted the owner of ‘key island haulier B Mundell Ltd’: ‘Matthew Mundell, one of two brothers who run the family business responsible for what it says is the lion’s share of the freight on and off the island, said: “As soon as we hit points like that, where they can’t get drugs, they can’t get business-critical supplies to keep the things flowing… the island is not able to get basic resident needs.”

‘He says the failure to bring MV Finlaggan back online means the existing lower-capacity ferries are “massively oversubscribed” and it was indicative of a wider problem with Islay ferries that has been running for five years.’

So for perspective, what happened to the Islay Whisky Festival, to Fèis Ìle 2025?

From the Oban Times (June 5, 2025): ‘Whisky lovers’ fest’: ‘The Isle of Islay once again played host to thousands of whisky lovers and cultural enthusiasts from around the world as Fèis Ìle 2025 unfolded in grand style from May 23 to May 31.’

And: ‘Festival chairperson Florence Grey said: “It’s been a fabulous festival! We’d like to say a massive thank you to all of our visitors, the distilleries, the musicians and all of our volunteers – Islay has put on a brilliant show.“

From the Campbeltown Courier (Jun 6, 2025): ‘Festival fans flock to the Isle of Islay’.

Festival chairperson Florence Grey is quoted:: “It’s been a fabulous festival, everyone’s been so happy! We’d like to say a massive thank you to all of our visitors, the distilleries, the musicians and all of our volunteers – Islay has put on a brilliant show. Roll on next year!”

The Courier article ends with this: ‘Fèis Ìle 2025 will be remembered as one of the festival’s most successful years to date. Organisers and distilleries are already turning their attention to 2026, which will mark the 40th anniversary of the modern Fèis Ìle – promising to be a historic celebration.’

Any coverage of this ‘most successful years to date’ festival in The Herald? And is this a surprise outcome notwithstanding The Herald’s ‘fiasco’ and Mr Mundell’s ‘wider problems with Islay ferries that has been running for five years’? Candidly, no!

According to Companies House, B Mundell Ltd appears to be part of B Mundell Holdings Ltd. a private limited company incorporated in 2020. The ‘Group of Companies Accounts made up to 31 May 2023’ – the latest available online from Companies House – includes a ‘Strategic Report’. Signed off on 31 May 2024 it has this: ‘Principle risks and uncertainties: The directors consider the results for the year to be satisfactory and are not aware of any major risks or uncertainties which could affect the continued growth of the group.’ (my emphasis)

Check back on Mundell’s ‘Strategic Reports’ in annual reports (see Companies House) from previous years and you will find the same statement: ‘not aware of any major risks or uncertainties which could affect the continued growth of the group’. What happened to longstanding ferry problems for the haulier that is ‘responsible for what it says is the lion’s share of the freight on and off the island’?

What’s going on and, importantly why?

Back to 2026, what can possibly go wrong?

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7 thoughts on “The Islay Whisky Festival 2025 was the ‘most successful’ to date contrary to ferry ‘fiasco’ fake news then so it must be even more successful this time?”

  1. Dear Prof, You will be the first to agree that anecdotal evidence is not evidence but I thought you would be interested to hear a story from a recent stay in Vancouver regarding ferries! I got talking to a woman who was taking a costly short distance return air flight rather than depend on the ferry to her house which is rural and inaccessible by road to the city for a medical appointment. Her complaints were: the ferry was subject to arbitrary and frequent cancellations due to breakdowns, insufficient crew members to run it, or unspecified other reasons given on behalf of the ferry company. Previously she had to spend 3 days travelling for appointments necessitating 2 nights hotel accommodation either end of her hospital stay. She also complained about the expense of the ferry, new ferries not being built in Canada but in either Norway or China. Vancouver in British Columbia is a hugely wealthy city, but nowhere in this lady’s complaints was any mention of a local RET, or government financial assistance for mainland medical appointments necessitating overnight accommodation. The ‘Scottish’ media and opposition parties never reflect the assistance island communities receive and woe betide any mainland commentator who tries to point this out.

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      1. Hi John,

        My sister in law used to live on Islay to look after her grandchildren when they were pre nursery age. She had a medical emergency whilst staying there and was able to be flown off Islay for medical attention on the mainland with costs paid. The woman from Vancouver who I was speaking about was paying all her own transport costs. Another largely unknown benefit to islanders, which most people living on the mainland are unaware of.

        Her husband, my brother in law was the editor of the Illeach – Islay’s weekly newspaper. He said the island’s many distilleries should use their enormous profits for their own ferry. There have been several new distilleries over the last 16 years since we first visited. All building materials go across on the normal ferries plus the valuable casks. The locals didn’t campaign for this – or make the distilleries pay for improvements to the island’s roads and housing. Instead they have snapped up available housing for their managers, outpricing locals. There is a job to be done in improving the infrastructure on the islands, which a more savvy SNP would drive through- making profitable businesses like the distilleries pay more. Thank you for all your hard work. Maureen Pickering

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  2. We have family members who live on Islay. We have successfully attended the Islay Whisky Festival on a couple of occasions without any impediment to our transport arrangements by ferry. Our Islay family frequently visits the mainland for cultural activities- theatre, shows, concerts, as well as holidays on the mainland with the rest of the family. They do complain sometimes about CalMac cancelling due to weather but like most islanders they have back up and alternative plans to reschedule a day either side of their preferred dates. Our niece is particularly well organised in this regard. I don’t think they were previously aware of the RET as they are originally from Carlisle but I have since mentioned it to them. Maureen Pickering (anonymous on the previous comment regarding Vancouver)

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    1. Hi Maureen

      Good to see you here.

      Your Islay relatives might be interested in these two posts:

      https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2026/02/28/snp-government-gives-islanders-around-5-000-each-more-than-the-rest-of-us-in-grant-subsidies-but-are-they-grateful-do-they-even-know/

      https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2025/12/17/how-we-have-paid-tens-of-millions-for-fourteen-years-to-transform-the-lives-and-the-economies-of-islanders-only-to-have-a-small-entitled-business-elite-platformed-by-media-to-hide-it/

      John

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  3. My own opinion, that the “ferry fiasco” nonsense mainly from Martin Williams of the Herald was contrived stories at best, supported by mysterious “pop up” groups to try and give some notion of the hardship the islanders were suffering.

    Other “Scottish” media, including BBC Scotland were quite happy to jump in and support the said nonsense in the hope it would damage the SNP. Well the 7th May results blew that hope out of the water.

    It will be interesting to see if the Herald allows any more of its limited resources to be wasted on the supposed “ferry fiasco” stories or it tries some of that mysterious “trusted journalism” it claims to have, for a change 🙂

    Stephen McKenzie

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