Bruichladdich distillery ( ; ) is a distillery on the Rhinns of the isle of Islay in Scotland. The distillery produces mainly single malt Scotch whisky, but has also offered artisanal gin. It is owned by Rémy Cointreau and is one of nine working distilleries on the island.
The name Bruichladdich is an anglicisation of Bruthach a' Chladaich, Scottish Gaelic for Brae of the Shore.
History
Bruichladdich was built in 1881 by the Harvey brothers—William (32), John (31) and Robert (23)—on the shore of Loch Indaal, on the Rinns of Islay, the westernmost part of the island. The Harveys were a dynastic whisky family that had owned two Glasgow distilleries since 1770. Using an inheritance, the three brothers combined their talents to build a third distillery—Bruichladdich—designed by John, engineered by Robert, and financed by William and other family members. At the time, the distillery was a state-of-the-art design unlike Islay's older distilleries, which had developed from old farm buildings. It was built from stone from the sea shore and has a very efficient layout, built around a large, spacious courtyard.
The uniquely tall and narrow-necked stills were chosen to produce a very pure and original spirit, the opposite of the styles produced by the older farm distilleries. Bruichladdich was run by William Harvey, after a quarrel with his brothers before the distillery was even completed, until a fire on 8 April 1933 and his death in 1936. It was then owned by Associated Scottish Distilleries Ltd. In 1969 it was sold by Bruichladdich Proprietors Ltd to Invergordon Distillers Ltd. It was then purchased by Whyte and Mackay and in 1994 it was shut down as being 'surplus to requirements'.
The distillery was subsequently purchased by a group of private investors led by Mark Reynier of Murray McDavid on 19 December 2000. Jim McEwan, who had worked at Bowmore Distillery since the age of 15, was hired as master distiller and production director. Between January and May 2001 the whole distillery was dismantled and reassembled, with the original Victorian décor and equipment retained. Having escaped modernisation, most of the original Harvey machinery is still in use today. No computers are used in production with all processes controlled by a pool of skilled artisans who pass on information orally and largely measure progress using dipsticks and simple flotation devices.
On 23 July 2012, it was announced that Rémy Cointreau reached an agreement with Bruichladdich to buy the distillery for a sum of £58m.
In 2023, the distillery ranked fourth in a Cask Connoisseur ranking of the most popular whisky distilleries.
Today
All the distillery's whiskies are sold as single malts, with those designated Bruichladdich being unpeated, those designated Port Charlotte being heavily peated and those designated Octomore being super-heavily peated. Octomore is considered to be 'the most heavily peated single malt whisky in the world'.
The distillery moved to full production in 2013. All barley used is exclusively Scottish, some of which has been grown on Islay since 2004. The provenance of the barley used is extremely important philosophically and this is increasingly reflected in the marketing and presentation of the product range. Individual farms, farmers and even the fields in which the grain is grown, are identified on the packaging where possible.
The distillery's commitment to Islay has resulted in the creation of an island-based management and administrative system, including the construction of the island's only commercially scaled bottling hall. The company is the largest private employer on Islay with around sixty jobs on the island.
In 2003, Bruichladdich launched its "Links Series":
1 St Andrew's - Old Course Bourbon + Refill Spanish Oak finished
2 Augusta 14-year; Bourbon
3 Royal Troon 14-year; Bourbon + Port and Pedro Ximénez Casks finished 4 Turnberry 14-year; Bourbon 5 Royal Liverpool - Hoylake 14-year; Bourbon + Riversaltes Red Grenache finished 6 K Club 14-year; Bourbon + Guigal Cote Rotie and Hermitage Rouge wine casks finished 7 Carnoustie 14-Year; Bourbon + Château Haut Brion finished 8 Torrey Pines 15-year; Bourbon + Château Latour Bordeaux Cask finished 9 Royal Birkdale 15-year; Bourbon 10 Valhalla 14-year; Bourbon + Climens Barsac finished 11 The Vancouver Club 16-year; Bourbon + Château Haut Brion finished 12 Glencoe Golf & CC (Calgary, AB) 18-year; Bourbon 50cl #1 St Andrew's - Swilcan Bridge NAS; Bourbon (Peated) 50cl #2 St Andrew's - Swilcan Burn 16-year; Bourbon (Peated)