Bruichladdich Distillery in pictures
Last week, spirits journalists from across the UK were whisked to the idyllic Hebridean Scottish island of Islay to spend a few days with the team at Bruichladdich Distillery.
Staying at the Port Charlotte Hotel overlooking the picturesque Port Charlotte coast, we were hosted by Christy McFarlane, press and PR at Bruichladdich, and Carl Reavey, head of media at Bruichladdich.
First on the agenda was a hilly hike up to an abandoned village overlooking the island. It is thought the former village – of which only stone ruins of buildings remain – was abandoned during the early 18th century, though no records of the site exist.
After a swift dram before descending down the hillside, it was on to Portnahaven where we stopped to refuel with lunch at the local An Tigh Seinnse pub and a chance to embrace the ‘off-kilter’ sunny Islay weather. As the sun danced on sparkling blue seas, we were lucky enough to spot a harem of seals basking in its rays.
Bruichladdich Distillery makes no secret of its passion for experimentation, and from this thirst came the firm’s “über-peated” series Octomore. So it was with excitement the group headed to Octomore Farm – located just a few miles from the Bruichladdich Distillery – to meet owner James Brown, who grows the barley used for the Octomore expressions. Brown gave the group a taste of Octomore farm life, including feeding his highland cows, drinking Octomore 7.3 and a performance on the bagpipes.
Following another (mega)-dram, it was back to Port Charlotte Hotel for a comparative tasting of three new make spirits, each produced from the same strain of barley grown in different locations: The Black Isle, Aberdeenshire and Lothian. Subtle differences between each variant was evident, as were the cask samples we also tasted after each spirit had been aged in first-fill Bourbon casks for one year.
After being immersed in Islay culture and the brand’s surroundings, our last day on the island took us to the Bruichladdich Distillery. Allan Logan, who first joined the distillery in 2001 as a mashman and has progressed through the company to become distillery manager, was our tour guide for the morning.
Bruichladdich Distillery has, as much as possible, stayed true to its heritage and most of the original machinery designed by the Harvey brothers when it was built in 1881 is still used today.
Bruichladdich Distillery also houses ‘Ugly Betty’ – the still used to create Islay’s only gin, The Botanist. The gin is made using 22 foraged botanicals found on the island, which are all handpicked locally and in sustainable numbers and include apple mint, downy birch, gorse flower, lemon balm and spearmint. As such, distillation of The Botanist only takes place four times a year, but each distillation is able to produce an impressive 250,000 bottles.
Once the tour of the distillery was over, it was onto the warehouses to meet Adam Hannett, who took over as head distiller following the retirement of Jim McEwan in 2015, who was a founding member of Bruichladdich in 2000. We eagerly followed Hannett around the warehouse, where we were fortunate enough to sample numerous whiskies straight from Port, wine and Sherry casks.
