Bruichladdich Distillery – why do we love it?

When I first saw the word ‘Bruichladdich’ I didn’t know where to start with it. As a Canadian expat living in the UK, I’d gotten used to pronunciations that differed from things I’d grown up with to accents that sounded so thick I simply had to nod when listening to them – such as my friend’s Scouse flatmate who left me puzzled with every interaction. With a Welsh ancestry, strange spellings weren’t outside my domain of knowledge, whether conscious or somewhere in that subconscious part of my brain. But Bruichladdich? What on earth was I to do with that?

Bruichladdich – a whisky mystery

I’d gone into a whisky shop in London having heard about the whisky through some articles I’d read. Fairly new to whisky was I, that I didn’t want to come across as a novice to the shopkeeper. So, I did my best to get him to say the name of the whisky without me having to reveal that I was unclear on how to put the letters in it together into an understandable sound. 

Now, I do hear you asking yourself: ‘Why didn’t you just Google it? Surely someone on YouTube has a video saying the word?’

Well, my friends, you would be correct. There probably was someone who’d done that. But I hadn’t thought to check before venturing into the whisky shop and this was the time before Google on phones. It was the time of the old A to Z in your handbag that helped you navigate your way around London. Of waiting on buses at 2 am after a party, hoping a night service would show up. Of learning more about a whisky because you went into a shop rather than perused web pages on it (although…this website was running by then, dear readers, as a pioneer of the online boozy space). 

I succeeded in my mission, eventually getting the shopkeeper to pronounce the whisky’s name with a few prods and pokes from my side. BROOK-LAAD-IE. 

Brook-laad-ie? 

Well, I never!

But there you have it folks. Another whisky mystery was solved. But it wasn’t enough to know its name. Once I tried it in a few iterations, I needed to go and see what these distillers, these ‘Progressive Hebridean Distillers’, I should say, were all about.

Bruichladdich Distillery – what’s it all about?

When I eventually made it in 2014 to the sheltered corner of the southwest of Islay where Bruichladdich sits, it was with a sense of disappointment that I arrived only to find it closed up for winter refurbishments. I’d gone to the island for the first time as a solo traveller, keen to see all of Islay’s distilleries in the cooler months when there would be fewer tourists, but I’d not bargained on them being shut. ‘Just my luck,’ I thought, and I nearly headed back to my Bowmore-based hotel without a second glance. 

But luck was on my side as the late, great Carl Reavey – who I had met virtually through a Twitter tasting a few months prior to my visit – was there and able to show me around. I remember well that grey, February afternoon when, following a coffee in the staff room, the much loved former social media manager for the brand showed me around the very quiet distillery. Duncan MacGillivray – another longstanding Bruichladdich hero – happened to be on-site and happily showed me around the old Victorian kit that he’d lovingly repaired and worked with over many decades with the company.

I remember Reavey chatting to me about the joys of launching whiskies online, how he couldn’t quite believe that people were tasting whisky in groups over Twitter, and how wild the media landscape had become. Reavey sadly passed away suddenly in 2018, and Duncan retired just a few months after my visit, so the memories of that lucky afternoon mooching about the distillery site with those two unexpectedly still stay firm in my memories all these years later. 

So then, Bruichladdich. What is this distillery all about and why is it so well loved? 

Bruichladdich Distillery – why do we love it?

Well, let’s rewind to the year 1881. Brothers William IV, John and Robert Harvey were the sons of a seasoned whisky maker, who had two grain distilleries in Glasgow. When he passed away, they decided to build a third but this time make it a malt whisky distillery, naturally to be able to have another component part for blending. Deciding to set up shop on Islay, the brothers set about building a thoroughly modern distillery and it was seen as incredibly innovative in its time with a much larger size than other rivals on the island.

However, like all the best intentions when it comes to family, it didn’t make for smooth sailing. The brothers fell out, and the distillery managed to stumble through a couple of decades before being mothballed in the early 20th century. It opened and closed a number of times, staying in the same family ownership by the skin of its teeth until the 1930s when in 1937 it was sold to the eccentric Joseph Hobbs who had his hands in many pies. He flipped it quickly to make a good buck and over the rest of the 20th century moved ownership to a number of other outfits who used it at their will, mostly as whisky for blending stock. 

But Bruichladdich’s big change came at the turn of the century, when in the year 2000 it was purchased by a consortium of private investors via independent bottler Murray McDavid for £6.5 million. Headed up by a wine merchant, Mark Reynier, the distillery managed to get the legendary Jim McEwan on board. McEwan had spent his entire career at nearby Bowmore, so this was a huge win for the newly formed team. 

There was an enormous amount of work to be done. When the keys were finally handed over, the distillery had been silent for a full seven years. It hadn’t been dismantled, but it needed a lot of love to get it back up and running and reclaim it from the pigeons who’d become squatters. 

The wily Duncan MacGillivray was brought back to help get things right as rain – the former stillman, engineer and brewer had spent much of his career on and off again with Bruichladdich, and Reynier and McEwan convinced him this time would be different. 

A fresh start

Nearly a year of work went into getting the distillery back up and running, with the first run happening on a date that sticks firmly in people’s minds for other reasons: 11 September 2001. 

With the purchase of Bruichladdich, the consortium had also acquired a substantial amount of old whisky stock dating back to the 1980s. As Bruichladdich hadn’t really made a name for itself as a single malt, here was the opportunity for the new owners to create a brand and stamp it with exciting releases to an eagerly awaiting crowd. The sales all helped to get the new distillery up and running and ensure stocks were continuing to be laid down for a new future. A bottling line employing locals on the island was also commissioned and put to work in 2003 to ensure everything is bottled on Islay. 

The distillery made a real name for itself with its exciting packaging that stood out from the rest of the Scotch world in the early 2000s. Whilst the team had inherited a lot of stock, it wasn’t necessarily kept in the best casks due to having mostly been used for blending purposes over the decades. Reynier’s love of wine casks – thanks to his background in wine – meant that many interesting wine and fortified wine casks were purchased to re-rack the old whisky in and give it a new lease of life. 

It also branched out on its historically unpeated character by introducing two new variants: Port Charlotte, which is a medium-peated whisky, and Octomore, a heavily-peated one. While Bruichladdich was always known as a soft and gently fruity Islay malt, these new distilling styles allowed the distillery team to open up the flavour profile into new realms. Alongside this, came experiments in various types of barley, such as Organic Barley and Islay Barley, encouraging local farmers to begin growing greater stocks for whisky rather than feed. Bere Barley was planted alongside research from the University of the Highlands and Islands Agronomy Institute to bring back this ancient and specialised grain. 

The beauty of the Bruichladdich way

The work paid off – just 12 years after the initial purchase, Remy Cointreau came knocking and in 2012 it acquired the distillery for £58 million – a huge increase on the sum paid initially. The main request from the new owners was that Bruichladdich just keep doing what it was doing, which meant continued freedom for those working for and making whisky on its premises. 

Since that change of ownership, Bruichladdich has gone on to win countless awards for its various whiskies and continues to develop projects which support the nature and the environment of Islay – from planting thousands of trees with the Woodland Trust to the establishment of its Botanist Foundation (named after its gin of the same name) which works with the RSPB on Islay to protect the island’s flora and fauna, and other projects in Scotland and globally. In 2020, it became the first whisky and gin distillery in Europe to be certified as a B Corporation, showcasing its commitment to balancing profit and purpose.  

Over the last 24 years, the distillery has made waves across the industry for its commitment to sustainability through lighter packaging and the use of locally grown barley, and become one of the most loved distilleries on Islay. 

In the decade since I visited, the team has also grown substantially to now employ over 100 people across Islay and its Glasgow offices. It’s been an incredible journey for a distillery that nearly faded away into the annals of history with all of its closures over the years, but it clearly shows that even the littlest distillery can grow to make a major difference. 

Three Bruichladdich whiskies to try

Bruichladdich 14 Year Old 2009 (cask 2222) – Micro-Provenance Series (Master of Malt Exclusive) Whisky 70cl

A limited edition whisky exclusive to Master of Malt, this is one you want to get your hands on. Just look at that sexy repetitive cask number – it must be good! Distilled from the Optic strain of barley, this whisky was distilled on the 26th June 2009, before ageing for 14 years in a first-fill bourbon barrel. Bottled to celebrate the company’s crowning as Master of Malt Whisky Champions for 2023. There are only 222 bottles released of this so get in quick! 

Bruichladdich: Classic Laddie

Classic for a reason, this is a favourite introduction to Bruichladdich in my books. It’s got the punchiness of 50% ABV, which works brilliantly with the fruity, malty characteristic of this flagship release. Have it neat, on a rock of ice, in a cocktail – the world’s your (Islay) oyster. Heck, have it with oysters! So much possibility here!

Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2013

Hello, whisky geekery! Bruichladdich loves experimenting with weird old strains of barley that have pretty much died out elsewhere and its Bere Barley is a fantastic example of this. Grown in partnership with the Agronomy Institute of Orkney College and several Islay farms, the whisky was matured in a combination of first-fill bourbon barrels and Pauillac wine casks. There’s warm cereal notes, alongside soft orchard fruits, fragrant flowers and candied citrus, making it a wonderful slow sipper. 

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