Bruichladdich’s story
Bruichladdich is one of Scotland’s most westerly distilleries and is located on the western peninsula of Islay on the edge of Loch Indaal. It looks across the sea loch to the Bowmore distillery on the opposite shore. The distillery was built using stones from the local beach and was also one of the first buildings in the UK to use concrete in its construction.
Bruichladdich is translated from the local Gaelic dialect as ‘the brae (hillside) by the shore’. Despite its location on Islay, which is the home of smoky whisky, Bruichladdich has traditionally been produced as a non smoky whisky and the core range remains as such today. However, they do produce smoky whisky, which is named Port Charlotte after the village that the distillery is located in. They also distil a heavily peated spirit, which is released under the Octomore brand name.
Bruichladdich’s history
The distillery was commissioned in 1881 by Barnett Harvey, a Speyside distillery owner. His family had a rich heritage in the whisky and distilling industry. When his brother died, his three sons (William, Robert and John) decided to use the money that had been left to them to start a distillery for themselves. Each of the sons took on different responsibilities and William remained Distillery Manager until he died in 1937.
Following William’s death and a period of temporary closure, the distillery was sold to a group of Americans who planned to produce and market Scottish single malt and then send it to the USA to meet the massive demand for Scotch whisky following the abolition of Prohibition in 1933. Bruichladdich then entered a rocky period where ownership changed hands five times in the following 50 years, resulting in it being closed and mothballed in 1995.
It was not until five years later in 2000 that the distillery was brought back to life by a consortium of local businessmen and whisky lovers, headed by Jim McEwan and Mark Reynier. They restored Bruichladdich to its former glory by renovating all the old equipment, including the original stills, resulting in one of the most traditional distilleries in Scotland. Production restarted in 2001 with the first run of the smoky Port Charlotte later that year. The inaugural run of the super peaty Octomore happened a year later in 2002.
Following Bruichladdich’s rebirth the brand was put back on the whisky map by McEwan and Reynier, who explored unorthodox cask maturation and the idea of terroir within the whisky world. Following relative successes, the distillery was sold to Remy Cointreau in 2012, who have taken up the baton and run with a similar ethos. This has seen the brand go from strength to strength and challenge commonthoughts about whisky making and packaging, especially in the area of sustainability.
- How to pronounce Bruichladdich? brook-lad-dee
- Country: Scotland
- Region: Islay
- Founded: 1881
- Current owners: Remy Cointreau
- Production capacity per year: 2 million litres
- Mash tun: 7 ton cast iron
- Washbacks: 6
- Stills: 4
- Visitor centre: Yes
Bruichladdich Distillery
Port Charlotte, Islay
PA49 7UN
tel – +44(0)1496 850 190
www.bruichladdich.com
Did you know?
Bruichladdich also produces an award-winning gin – The Botanist. This was created by legendary former Master Distiller, Jim McEwan, and contains 22 botanicals found on Islay including wood sage, wild thyme, sea mint and Islay juniper.
Bruichladdich