From the shores of the famous whisky producing island of Islay, Bruichladdich is celebrated for producing some of the best spirit in Scotland.
Using the distillery’s tall, narrow-necked stills to produce an elegant, floral and fruity house style, the Bruichladdich distillery delivers a wide range of cask-finished whiskies, many of which are non-traditional for whisky ageing, such as casks which used to hold Cognac, Jurançon and Pinot Gris.
The distillery produces three peated single malts: Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte and Octomore, along with The Botanist gin. They mature and bottle all their spirit on the island, using only Scottish-produced barley and retaining Victorian-era equipment, including the only open-topped mash tun on Islay and the last remaining belt-driven mill in Scotland.
Originally launched in 1881, Bruichladdich’s first notable owner was one William Harvey, who assumed control not long after the distillery was built and retained ownership until his passing in the 1930s. At this time, the distillery’s spirit was used primarily for blending.
The next 60 years brought a variety of owners, including whisky brokers Ross and Coulter in the 1950s and AB Grant in the 1960s. Following this, the purchase of the site by Invergordon distillers (later to be purchased by Whyte & Mackay) brought great stability to the distillery, up until their sale of the company to Murray McDavid in 2000 for a lofty £6.5m.
The new owners, steered by Mark Reynier and master distiller Jim McEwan (a former employee of Bowmore), transformed the distillery’s personality and fortune with their unique and innovative bottlings and style of packaging, many of which have gained worldwide recognition. Indeed, such was its success that it drew the attention of Rémy Cointreau, which bought the company in 2012 for £58m on the condition that it carried on with the same approach..
The result of the recent innovations is a range of silky peated malts with notes of oak. Truly an anytime whisky for fans of rich malted drams. This is definitely one for your spirit collections.