The Auld Alliance

 Islay

The traditional non-peaty Bruichladdich is light to medium-bodied, with a fruity and salty character.

Pronounced "brook-laddie," Bruichladdich sits close to Port Charlotte on Islay. Apart from a break in the 1920's and 1930's whisky has been produced steadily until 1983 when production ceased briefly. In 1985, the future looked bleak when the distillery's owners, Invergordon, were taken over by Whyte and Mackay who chose to focus efforts on their flagship single malts, Dalmore and Isle of Jura at the expense of Bruichladdich.

Thankfully the distillery's future is brighter since its purchase by the whisky independent Murray McDavid in December 2000. Jim McEwan and his team have breathed life back into the place, with Islay's first bottling hall also now installed. The whisky produced by Bruichladdich was traditionally one of the least peaty of the Islay malts, although ironically it is rated as the islanders' favourite. In the future we will see different whiskies from these stills: the traditional unpeated, the 40ppm Port Charlotte, the monstrous 82ppm Octomore, a triple- and even quadruple-distilled spirit, an organic spirit...the list goes on.

Apart from bottling on the island using Islay water, the Laddie team are also active finishers of whisky, choosing to transfer spirit into casks that have been freshly empited of various wines and fortified wines. They term this Additional Cask Enhancement.