Bruichladdich is known for its sweet, honeyed, and floral character, accented with a lemon-butter note and a distinct freshness. Since 2000, the distillery has introduced other expressions, including the medium-peated Port Charlotte and the heavily-peated Octomore. Despite their intense smokiness, with rich, bonfire-like aromas, these variants maintain the core freshness and acidity of Bruichladdich’s style.
The distillery has also been experimenting with different barley varieties, such as the ancient Bere. A significant long-term project is underway to revive local barley farming on Islay for the first time since the early 20th century, with more than 40% of Bruichladdich’s malting barley now grown on the island.
Additionally, an old Lomond still has been brought back into service to produce The Botanist gin, featuring a botanical mix of local Islay herbs and plants. Although once described as “a working distillery museum,” Bruichladdich was among the most modern distilleries of its time when it was built in 1881 by the Harvey brothers, who also owned the Dundashill and Yoker grain distilleries in Glasgow. Like many Victorian-era plants, its success was closely tied to the blending industry.
In 1937, eccentric owner Joseph Hobbs (of Ben Nevis fame) acquired the distillery, but by 1954, it was sold to DCL, which quickly offloaded it to AB Grant. In 1968, it was acquired by Invergordon, a company focused on bulk whisky supplies. After a downturn in production in the 1980s, Bruichladdich became part of Whyte & Mackay’s portfolio through a merger in 1993, but was deemed unnecessary and closed in 1995.
The distillery remained silent until 2001, when a group of Islay landowners and a London-based wine merchant purchased it for £6 million. Under new ownership, Bruichladdich underwent a transformation. Previous owners had never modernized the equipment, but the new team couldn’t afford a major overhaul, so they carefully revived the distillery with the resources available. The focus shifted from bulk production to quality, necessitating the re-racking of some casks into fresh wood, including ex-wine and fortified wine casks. The team also invested in building an on-site bottling line, creating jobs for locals.
Innovation flourished, with experiments in multiple distillates, gin production, finishing processes, and the use of local barley. In 2012, Rémy Cointreau acquired Bruichladdich for £58 million, enabling further investment in new plant and machinery. Additional warehousing has since been built on Islay to support production.
In April 2019, the distillery announced plans to establish its own maltings, as its locally grown barley is currently sent to Inverness for processing. Bruichladdich has also purchased 30 acres of nearby farmland to conduct barley trials and explore sustainable farming practices.
