Friday night at the Ballygrant Inn can be a big night here on Islay. I recently stepped out to join the locals at a fun “Quiz Night” trivia contest, thanks to the invitation of Adam and Grant from the Bruichladdich Distillery warehouse. Joined by Joann who handles the data side of the warehouse operations and by Grant’s girlfriend, we were one of 14 teams who settled in for nearly four hours of trivia time.
Now, a pub trivia contest is in no way like Jeopardy or Eggheads. Each round was separated by people going to the bar for more rounds of drinks. A halfway point break included trays of sandwiches being passed out among players. As a bonus, there was a raffle which raised money for a local organization while parceling out some great prizes.
I cleaned up on the raffle, with two of my five tickets winning me a box of candy and a bottle of Bowmore 12.
As for our team, we finished a highly respectable second place, just two points out of first. I was able to add some strength to questions about American actors and such, but was rendered mute when it came to U.K. advertising slogans. Adam and Grant took charge of the football jersey identification round. Joann rocked the cryptic rock band questions. And we all chipped in to do extremely well in the James Bond theme song category.
As a team, we won more candy, wine and whisky. Between these spoils and other bottled items I’ve collected since arriving on Islay in January, I think I’ll have to leave all my clothes behind when I depart in order to make room for the beverages in my backpack.