Bruichladdich
www.bruichladdich.com
An entirely self-financed operation, Bruichladdich is fiercely independent and has released a staggering amount of different whiskies in the (at the time of writing) seven years since the takeover. The international success of many of these whiskies is a testament to the expertise and drive of everyone involved. Both the malts and the distillery itself have been showered with awards in recent years, and Bruichladdich remains one of the most publicised and talked about distilleries in Scotland.
History
- Pronounced ‘brook-laddie’ referring to a raised beach upon which the distillery
sits. Islay ‘eye-lah’ meaning ‘Yula’s Isle’ possibly a Viking princess.
- Located on the Rinns peninsular - once part of the Peruvian coast of
Arequipa - at 1800 million years they are the oldest rocks (Gneiss) of any
distillery in Scotland.
- Built 1881 on Loch Indaal as a state-of-the-art distillery by The Harvey
Brothers of the whisky dynasty family. It has remained unchanged ever since.
- Capacity doubled in 1960 to 1m litres (closure of own maltings), and again in
1975 (two extra stills) to 1.5m litres – but there was not enough water.
- From 1992 to 1994 rapid succession of corporate owners (Invergordon,
Whyte & MacKay, Jim Beam and Fortune Brands)
- Closed down in 1994 – ‘surplus to requirements’ apart from a brief period in
1998 it lay silent until May 2001
The Acquisition
- Buildings and stocks bought for £6.5 million on 19th December 2000 by
private investor group led by former wine merchant Mark Reynier (a convert
since 1985)
- Now a private, Scottish company with shareholder base of 45 private
individuals, including Islay landowners. Chairman: Sir John Mactaggart
- 1.4M litres of maturing stocks date back to 1964 with all stocks distilled &
matured on Islay. A further £1m worth of stock repurchased from industry
third party.
The Company Philosophy
- Authenticity, Purity and Individuality. The Malt Crusaders: fiercely
independent, non-conformist, innovative - the enfant terrible of the industry.
Islay People
- 47 Islay people are employed, including 5 disabled people. Engineer Duncan
McGillivray is Distillery Manager.
- The company is entirely operated and managed from Islay, with all company
functions based at the distillery itself.
- Jim McEwan, proud Ileach and three times winner of the Distiller of the Year
is Production Director after 37 years at Bowmore.
Top Quality Raw Ingredients
- Barley is exclusively Scottish and increasingly Organic from 12 individual
farms for greater variety, originality, and spirit characteristics.
- Islay-grown barley has been used since 2004, and for the first time Bere
Barley for 2005 – the original variety introduced by the Vikings in 8th century.
- Water is drawn from three different sources the Bruichladdich loch (mashing)
the Bruichladdich burn (condensing) the Octomore spring (bottling)
Traditional Distilling
- No Computers are used in the production of our whisky. The original Victorian
machinery, painstakingly restored over six months, is still used.
- Bruichladdich officially re-opened on Sunday May 29th 2001 - the first spirit
ran at 08.26.
- Since all spirit is retained (none being used for blending) a minimum of
700,000 litres are distilled annually, by slow trickle distillation.
- Tall, very narrow-necked stills produce ultra-refined, elegant, floral spirit – the
hallmark of the Bruichladdich style.
- Renewable Energy - wave-generated electricity used from the Limpet
platform at Portnahaven, Islay.
The Purest Spirit
- Three different peat levels are distilled: Bruichladdich 5ppm, ‘Port Charlotte’
40ppm, and ‘Octomore’ - the world’s heaviest peated whisky at over 80
ppm.
- Several versions of Bruichladdich are distilled with specific characteristics
obtained from unique barley origins (terroir) such as Kentraw, Culblair,
Culmore farms etc.
- The House Style is subtle, elegant, fruity spirit, of unique purity. A harmony
and balance that makes it The Sophisticated Islay Malt – ideal for wine
drinkers.
- Recognised as the purest whisky in Scotland in the 2005 Malt Whisky
Companion
Islay Maturation
- Cask Type: premium cask selection, various wood types: Port, Madeira,
Sherry, Rum. Undiluted cask filling @ 71% vol. into Bourbon casks from Buffalo Trace.
- Atlantic Freshness - casks are matured in our Islay warehouses and are
influenced by the ocean and the marine atmosphere.
Uniquely Islay Bottled
- The bottling hall on Islay, built in 2003, makes Bruichladdich the only Islay
bottled whisky, the true authentic Appellation Islay Controllée whisky.
- Uniquely, Islay Spring Water used for reduction from cask strength to 46%
bottling strength (15% more alcohol than usual)
- All whiskies are naturally bottled, colouring-free. 100% original colour, nothing
added to artificially sweeten, darken or standardize the whisky.
- No chill-filtration means more complex flavours, increased bouquet and
richness are obtained by leaving natural occurring aromatic proteins and oils
in the whisky.
The Flavour Profile
- The bouquet has a mind-blowing degree of complexity with multi-layers of
aromas including citrus fruit, and wave after wave of Atlantic freshness,
ozone and sea-salt.
- The texture shows a surprising breadth, depth, & length of clean, creamytextured,
purity, with enormous ‘mouth feel’ richness.
- The flavours range from citrus fruit to sun-dried raisins; wild Myrtle to
butterscotch; heather to berry fruit; ozone sea spray to vanilla.
- Bruichladdich can never be clumsy, ‘wham-bam’, heavy, medicinal, iodine,
oily, ‘dirty’ or artificially sweet malt.
The Whisky
- All bottlings are the inspiration of Master Distiller Jim McEwan, an islander
and three times winner of the Distiller of the Year, with over 40 years’
experience.
- Four different categories have been carefully created for increased variety,
specific moods, occasions or time of day. Each has its own individual
character and style.
- Mood Malts The 10 (Aperitif), 12 & Fifteen (Contemplative), XVII (Digestive),
and Twenty (Reflective)
- Vintage Malts are occasional released from time to time: 1970, 1984, 1973,
while ‘Full Strength’ a cask strength bottling is a regular vintage bottling.
- Multi-Vintage Malts are imaginatively assembled from the best attributes of
several different vintages and cask types¨‘3D’ (peaty); ‘Rocks’ , ‘Waves’ &
‘Infinity’
- Special bottlings include limited edition ‘Links’ (golf course images), ‘Legacy’
(the oldest Bruichladdich), and ‘Valinch’ (Single casks available only at
distillery)
- Murray McDavid Range: natural bottlings of other distilleries’ whisky:
Benchmark (classic bottlings); ‘Maverick’ (cask refinement); ‘Mission’ (older
bottlings); ‘Celtic Heartlands’ (the rarest)
- The Wine Drinker’s Dram, as like the finest wines it is subtle, harmonious,
and complex. If you are a wine drinker – this is the malt for you.
Bruichladdich’s Unique Selling Points
Production:
The only distillery with original Victorian machinery still in use
The only Islay distillery with open-topped mash tun
The only Scottish Distillery with belt driven mill
The tallest & narrowest-necked stills on Islay produce ultra-refined, elegant, floral
spirit.
The only distillery to use exclusively Scottish barley
No computers/microchips used in production
The only distillery in Scotland to use significant Organic barley regularly
The only Islay distillery to 100% mature their spirit on the island
The only distillery to bottle on Islay
There world’s only distillery using Islay spring water at bottling
Scotland’s only distillery to use “Terroir” - Individual farm’s barley distilled in
isolation
Personnel:
The youngest distillery company management team in the industry
The largest distillery employer on Islay
Allan Logan – the youngest stillman in Scotland
The only Islay Distillery to employ handicapped people
Scotland’s only distillery to be entirely managed, financed, run etc. on site
The only distillery in Scotland with Gaelic speaking manager
Scotland ‘s only distillery to have 3 coopers
Whisky:
The only Islay whisky not to chill-filter or colour any of its whisky
The world’s heaviest peated whisky is Bruichladdich’s Octomore
The world’s only peated whisky with no 'medicinal' flavours is Bruichladdich ‘3D’
The world’s only distillery to have individual ‘mood’ & designer Cuvées
The world’s only distillery to have bottlings created by Jim McEwan,
The only Islay distillery to produce small batch-bottlings
The only distillery to win Distillery of the Year twice in three years (2001 & 2003)
The purest whisky in Scotland – the only Scotch whisky to have zero ‘off notes’
Bruichladdich Production Statistics
The figures here may change according to specific temperature, ambient
temperature, and origin of raw ingredients etc.
General
Operating Hours: 5 days a week – January to December
Employees: 47 (7 distilling, 4 warehousing, 13 bottling, 8
Administration, 2 Academy, 8 sales, 3 shop, 2
maintenance)
Established: Purpose built in 1881 by Barnet Harvey for
nephews William, Robert and John Harvey.
Reopened in 2001.
Distillery layout: Built around central courtyard.
Capacity: 1881: 420,000 litres. 1962: 800,000 1975: 1.5
million
Current Output: 2006: 700,000 litres
Water
3 Water Sources: Bruichladdich Loch (peaty)- Mashing
Bruichladdich Burn (peaty)- Condensing
Octomore Spring (clear) – Bottling
Malt
Malt Origins: 100% Scottish barley – malted by Bairds,
Inverness. Organic Barley from Coulmore,
Tullibardine & Culblair Farms;
Islay-grown barley from Kentraw & Rockside Farm
Bere barley from Kynagarry Farm
Malt Varieties: Chalice, Optic, Golden Promise, Oxbridge, Troon
& Bere
Malt Peating levels: Bruichladdich: 3-5 PPM
Port Charlotte: 40 PPM
Octomore: 80 + PPM
Mill House
Mill: Boby – Belt Driven Four Roll “Two High” - Built
1913
Weighing: Avery - Built 1881 – 125 units of 40 kgs. Buckets
Dresser: Boby Rotary Malt Screen - Built 1881
Milling Ratio: 15% Husks, 65% Middles, 20% flour
Mash House
Grist Storage: 14 Tonnes
Mash Tun: Cast iron, open-topped, rake & plough - Built 1881
Brewing tanks: 2 – Built 1881 by Turnbull, Grant & Jack.
Mash Size: 7 tonnes
First water: 65% of mash - 16,250 litres @ 65ºC
Second water: 35% of mash - 8,750 litres @ 86ºC
Third water: @ 92.5ºC – recycled to next mash
Fourth Water: @ 92.5ºC – recycled to next mash
Tun Room
Washbacks: 6 – Oregon Pine (2 built 1881)
Washback charge: 36,000 litres
Wort Temperature: Cooled to 21ºC
Yeast: 150 kg./washback - 66% Mauri (start) 33% Kerry
Fermentation: 60 – 80 hours (105 hours over weekends)
Wash Strength: 7 % alc.
Still House
Wash Stills: 2 @ 17,275 litres capacity (Built 1881 and 1975 by
Archibald McMillan to original design)
Height: 6.10 metres tall (neck: 4 m, Pot: 2.10 m - 2.90 m.
wide)
Neck Circumference: Base: 1.4m
Middle: 1.0m
Top: 0.7m
Neck Shape: Plain
Wash Still Charge: 12,500 litres – (72% of capacity) @ 7% alc.
Low wine run: 4.5 to 5 hours
Low Wine Collection: 4600 litres @ average 22.5% alc. (56% to 0% alc.)
Spirit Stills 2 @ 12,275 litres capacity (Built 1972 & 1975 by
Archibald McMillan to original design)
Neck Shape: Plain - exceptionally tall & narrow
Height: 6.10 metres (neck: 4m; pot: 2.1m- 3.7m wide)
Neck Circumference: Base: 0.9m
Middle: 0.7m
Top: 0.5m
Spirit Still Charge: 7,200 litres (58% of capacity)
Spirit Still Charge Strength Average 27% alc - 65% low wines @ 22.5% alc. +
35% Foreshots and Feints of previous run @ 35%
alc.
Foreshots Run: 40 Mins - 1312 L (18% of charge) @ 76% - 74%
Spirit Run: 3 Hours - 1440 L. (20% of charge) @ 74/% - 64%
Feints Run: 3 Hours - 1312 L. (18% of charge) @ 64% - 0%
Spent Lees: 3168 L. (44% of charge) @ 0.1%
Condensers: 4 containing 210 copper tubes each at 1.25cm
diameter
Average spirit yield: 2006: 401 litres of alcohol per tonne
Filling Store
Cask Filling Strength: Bruichladdich 72% alc.
Port Charlotte 71% alc
Octomore 70% alc.
Cask types: 70% First fill Bourbon – Quercus Alba (White Oak)
Ex Buffelo Trace
15% Refill Sherry – Quercus Alba & Quercus
Petraea
15 % Wine casks (Various) – European Oak -
Quercus Petraea & Quercus Robur
Warehouses
Storage capacity: 35,000 casks
Storage location: 100% Islay matured on Loch Indaal in 12
warehouses (8 at Bruichladdich , 4 at Port
Charlotte)
Type of warehouse: 50% traditional dunnage
50% Racking
Bottling Hall
Bottling location: Bruichladdich Distillery, Islay. 100% distillerybottled
Constructed: 2002
Strength: 46% or natural cask strength
Dilution water: Islay Spring water
Additives: None, Caramel-free
Filtration: 100% Non chill–filtered
Major blending roles: None
Key Production Personnel
Production Director: Jim McEwan (b 1948) – 3 times Distiller of the
Year. Over 44 years of Islay distilling experience
Distillery Manager: Duncan McGillivray (b 1951) Over 34 years of
distilling experience at Bruichladdich.
Inside leg measurement: 31”
Assistant Manager: Allan Logan (b 1981) eight years experience
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