Bruichladdich Distillery | Terroir Matters

For many whisky enthusiasts, visiting Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay is akin to a pilgrimage. Bruichladdich distillery continues to utilise Victorian-era equipment and produces phenomenal whisky suitable for every palate, from the unpeated Bruichladdich to the heavily peated Port Charlotte and the super-heavily peated Octomore. Visitors can engage in various tours and tastings, gaining insight into the meticulous craft of whisky production and the importance of local ingredients.

Situated on the southern coast of Islay, Bruichladdich stands out for its commitment to terroir, transparency, and Islay-focussed processes - Bruichladdich is one of few Islay distilleries to mature and bottle all their whisky on the island and they only use 100% Scottish-grown barley. Whether you partake in a detailed distillery tour or a relaxed tasting session, you will leave with a deeper appreciation for the craft of whisky-making and the innovative spirit that defines Bruichladdich.

How to pronounce Bruichladdich (Brook-laddy) courtesy of Brian Cox

Port Charlotte (Heavily Peated)

Named after the town of Port Charlotte, two miles south of Bruichladdich, in honour of the now-defunct Lochindaal Distillery.  The Lochindaal Distillery ruins are still visible as you enter Port Charlotte (the vacant lot on the right just after you come over the wee bridge).  Established in 1829, the Lochindaal Distillery was known for its heavily peated spirit, and production ran for 100 years until its closure in 1929. Sadly, only a few crumbling walls and the warehouses remain, though these are put to good use storing Port Charlotte (PC) whisky. At 44ppm, Port Charlotte deserves its Heavily Peated title and is a worthy tribute to a lovely town and an old distillery. Port Charlotte whisky retails at a considerably lower price point than sister-whisky Octomore, and as such, is great value alternative.

Octomore (Super Heavily Peated)

If you’re not sure whether you like peat or not, definitely don’t start here! To be classed as Octomore, the barley's peat concentration has to be over 80ppm, which leaves most ‘heavily peated’ whiskies in the dust. That said, Octomore is one of the few whiskies my dad will drink (peated or otherwise) and it has a cult following among Bruichladdich Distillery fans.

My personal favourite is the limited edition Octomore OBA: C_0.1. Octomore OBA was a 2016 Feis Ile Masterclass special – Octomore Black Art – it was never intended for release, however, at the insistence of Bruichladdich fans, head distiller Adam Hannett bowed to pressure and released this masterpiece for general (though limited) consumption.

The key to the different numbering you'll see on the bottles: 

• x.1 = distilled from 100% Scottish barley, generally matured only in ex-American oak, in varying ratios of different ex-bourbon and ex-Tennessee whiskey casks
  
• x.2= distilled from 100% Scottish barley and matured in European oak e.g. ex-Amarone, ex-Sauternes, ex-Austrian sweet wines. You'll rarely see x.2 for sale anywhere other than at the airport though, as it's a duty free exclusive release.
• x.3 = distilled from 100% Islay grown barley. Single estate, single vintage bottlings from barley grown on Octomore Farm by James Brown (who also provides the water for the Distillery). Generally x.3 Octomore is matured in ex-American and ex-European oak (a varied mix that changes with each edition).
• x.4 = partially matured in virgin oak (and usually also American oak), producing a tannic, spicey, brutish whisky. Occasionally a totally random Octomore will be released in place of a x.4, such as with the Octomore 9 series, when a 10 year old Octomore was released instead. Most Octomore is released at around 5 years to maximise the heavy peat influence.
  

Octomore is generally a limited annual release that sells out fast - the Whisky Exchange often has Octomore stock available (including some older and some independent releases) - and of course, you can always see what's available on Bruichladdich Distillery's online shop.

Bruichladdich Distillery is located in the town of Bruichladdich, on the beautiful Isle of Islay (55.7659360, -6.3619070).

Bruichladdich is one of the more accessible distilleries on the island, as the local bus stops right out the front. Note: the buses do not run on Sundays. The Islay bus itinerary can be found at http://www.travelinescotland.com

For our Bruichladdich accommodation recommendations, see our guide to Islay Accommodation: The Best Hotels, B&Bs and Holiday Cottages.

Bruichladdich Distillery History

Bruichladdich Distillery was built in 1881 by the Harvey Brothers dynasty. “Bruichladdich was to be the very antithesis of an Islay farm distillery … a cathedral-like still house that enveloped 6-metre tall stills designed to produce the purest spirit possible. Using concrete, a newly-patented building material, this was a modern, purpose-built distillery, ergonomically laid out around a central courtyard for efficiency, and on a gentle slope … a state-of-the-art Victorian distillery.“

The gentle slope exploited gravity, rather than pumps, to move much of the production liquid between stages. “..the brewing tanks being highest up, mash tuns (2) cooker (3) refrigerator (3) and underback, finally tun room. By this arrangement, the only pumpings required were from tuns (the fermenting vessels) to the wash charger in the still house and pumping the sparges from underback, back to brewing tanks. The draff house was immediately under the mash tun and was emptied from 2 long plugs in the mash tun.”

While the Harvey Brothers had great intentions, and a robust design for their distillery (the third to be owned by the family), internal conflicts between relations, coupled with tough external forces (World War One and fixed pricing), meant Bruichladdich was on unstable ground from its inception. The Harvey family sold Bruichladdich in 1936, and while refurbishment works were completed by 1938, the outbreak of WW2 meant the cessation of distilling from 1940 to 1945. The distillery was sold several times in the Post-War years, undergoing another refurbishment in 1971 (replace the spirit still) and 1975 (increase mash room capacity and add a new pair of wash and spirit stills).  Bruichladdich limped through the 80s and 90s before being closed in 1994/5.

Bruichladdich’s most recent resurrection was in December 2000 when the distillery was purchased by a group of private investors led by wine merchant Mark Reynier for £6.5m. Jim McEwan became Director of Production and spent five months restoring the Victorian machinery and buildings that had been built by the Harvey brothers. Production resumed again on May 29th, 2001.

A subsequent changing of the guard occurred though in 2012, when investors forced a sell out to Rémy Cointreau for £58 million. In 2015 Jim McEwan retired as Head Distiller, and the very capable Adam Hannett took over.

Aside from maltings their barley, Bruichladdich whisky production is 100% Islay, and still very much done ‘how it was’ back in the 1800’s. Whether it’s mashing in their Victorian-era open-top mash tun (the biggest of 3 still in use in Scotland), the saddle-leather belts that drive the 1913 Boby mill, or their use of Douglas Fir washbacks; from birth to bottle, Bruichladdich whisky is made on Islay. They’ve even been sourcing much of their barley from Islay fields in recent years, with several ‘Islay Barley’ releases available.

One of the few areas where they’ve conceded to modern technology is Bruichladdich’s state of the art bottling lines, an essential item for any distillery trying to keep up with demand.

Bruichladdich is one of few remaining Scottish (and Islay) distilleries to still store all their cask at or near the distillery. The number of warehouses is increasing, with new installations sprouting on a nearby hillside, overlooking Loch Indaal. You need a maritime environment to create a maritime dram.

Production and processing water comes from 3  sources, but the source for bottling (whisky and gin) is a natural spring on nearby Octomore farm, owned by farmer James Brown.  James initially hand-pumped the water into barrels/casks before driving it down to Bruichladdich but has since upgraded to a 10,000-litre tanker that fixes to the back of his tractor. The spring water is about as pure as it gets, having filtered down through ancient gneiss rocks, formed some 1.8 billion years ago. Octomore farm also produces some of the Islay barley for Bruichladdich.