Bruichladdich

The employees at Bruichladdich Distillery call themselves "progressive Hebridean distillers". Founded back in 1881, the distillery skilfully combines Scottish whisky tradition with a progressive spirit. This is proven by the creative bottlings. Bruichladdich is one of the few distilleries on the famous island of Islay that also produces non-smoky single malt whisky. In Scotland, Bruichladdich is affectionately known as "Laddie", which means lad or boy. The unpeated whiskies are sold under the proper name Bruichladdich. Smoking fans should reach for Port Charlotte, a strongly smoky whisky that is also produced by Bruichladdich. With the Octomore, the Islay distillery can even boast the smokiest whisky in the world.

Don't worry, they're just kidding.

What does a time-honoured Scottish distillery have to do with modern weapons of mass destruction? Nothing really, you might think. But this story happened at Bruichladdich:

In 2003, one of the web cams used to track whisky production at Bruichladdich broke down. Distillery manager Mark Reynier then received an e-mail asking him to fix it. As for the sender of the email, the distillery initially thought it was a joke. Because it was - the US Department of Defence. As it turned out, American agents were actually watching what was happening at Bruichladdich via webcam. Why? Because, according to a Pentagon spokeswoman when asked, the ancient distillation facilities at Bruichladdich would also be suitable for the production of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). And finally, it would have to be ensured that no...

The enterprising Mark Reynier took this grotesque story with humour and had an 18-year-old malt bottled under the name "WMD" shortly afterwards. The WMD here is to be understood as "Whisky of Mass Distinction".

What does Bruichladdich mean? Translated, Bruichladdich means something like "slope on the coast". A rather accurate and dry description of such an exciting distillery. We'd rather stick with Laddie.

Where is Bruichladdich? The Bruichladdich Distillery is located in the village of the same name right on the coast on the island of Islay. It overlooks Loch Indaal, where on clear days you can see the neighbouring distillery Bowmore.

3 reasons to love Bruichladdich

1) Because Bruichladdich still exists.

2) Because the "Laddie" is the declared favourite of Islay residents.

3) Because a little fun is a must - and this whisky is no weapon.

What does Bruichladdich whisky taste like?

The single malt bottled under the distillery name Bruichladdich is a rather atypical Islay whisky. This is because it is unpeated or only very lightly peated and therefore does not have the strong smoky flavours that are typical of Islay. Nevertheless, Bruichladdich is unmistakably a coastal whisky. With its full and deep body, it shows notes of citrus flavours and strong cereal notes as well as a clear breeze of sea air. However, if you like strong smoky whisky, you don't have to miss out on Bruichladdich. On the contrary. The progressive distillery offers two heavily peated single malts. Port Charlotte is a strongly smoky Islay whisky with aromas of burnt tar and clear iodine notes. Even though Port Charlotte is an excellent single malt whisky in its own right, it is somehow usually overshadowed by the experimental whisky Octomore. What once began as a daring experiment by the distillery is now the premium standard of Peathead. They tried to see how far they could go with the ppm (phenol parts per million), i.e. the smoke content of a whisky. While other heavily peated whiskies from Islay such as Laphroaig, Ardbeg and Lagavulin have 40-50 ppm, some Octomore bottlings have already made it over the 300 ppm mark. Lovers of smoky Scotch whiskies should have tasted one of these smoke bombs at least once in their lives.

Our Bruichladdich recommendations:

As Bruichladdich produces a wide range of whiskies, many of which are limited editions, it is not easy to recommend individual bottlings. When it comes to unpeated Bruichladdich whiskies, the Bruichladdich 8 year old "The Laddie Eight" is the perfect choice. Perfect for getting to know the malty, maritime character of Bruichladdich. If you are a fan of barley and terroir, you should take a look at the Scottish Barley and Bere Barley bottlings. Among the smoky Port Charlotte bottlings, the Port Charlotte 10 year old is the perfect whisky at a hefty 50% vol. Massive ash smoke, bonfires on the beach and sweet toffee spread a lot of joy in the glass.

A little history on Bruichladdich

Bruichladdich was founded in 1881 by the brothers Robert, William and John Gourlay Harvey on the western shore of Loch Indaal. Much of the equipment used at the time is still in use today. No production took place from 1929 to 1937, after which ownership changed hands frequently - the fate of so many distilleries. In 1974 Bruichladdich received a second pair of stills and in 1994 the distillery was closed and remained so for 6 years. But then, in December 2000, a new era began for the "Laddie". Mark Reynier and his colleagues Simon Coughlin and Gordon Wright from the independent bottler "Murray McDavid" bought the distillery for £7,500,000 and set about realising big plans. The distillery was completely renovated and whisky legend Jim McEwan (formerly of Bowmore) was recruited as Master Distiller. Most of the old equipment was retained and the company later built its own bottling plant, the only one on Islay. Bruichladdich came to life, new bottlings were released and many Ileachs (inhabitants of Islay) found work here. In 2007, Mark Reynier announced plans to reopen the Loch Indaal distillery, which had been closed since 1929. This has not yet materialised. On 23 July 2012, Rémy Cointreau bought Bruichladdich for £58,000,000. Mark Reynier obviously didn't want to retire just yet, because just two years later he founded the Waterford Distillery in Ireland.

Figures & Facts about Bruichladdich

Address: Isle of Islay, Argyll, PA49 7UN

Founded: 1881 by Robert, William and John Gourlay Harvey

Region: Islay Whisky

Owner: Rémy Cointreau

Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Smoke:

Bruichladdich: Unpeated/ unpeated/ non-smoky
Port Charlotte: Heavily peated/ heavily peated/ heavily smoky
Octomore: Extremely peated/ extremely peated/ extremely smoky

Status: active

Capacity: approx. 2,000,000 litres

Burning stills: 2 wash stills (total 23,000 l), 2 spirit stills (total 23.000 l)

Washbacks: 6, Dougkas spruce

Mashtun: Open, 7 tonnes

Water: Octomore Farm source

Visitor Centre: Yes

Phone: +44 (0)1496 / 850 221

Website: www.bruichladdich.com