Bruichladdich is a distillery that William, John and Robert Harvey built in 1881 on the shore of Loch Indaal, on Islay.1,2,3 It closed and reopened many times, and was mothballed from 1994 until 2001.1,4,5 It now makes unpeated Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte at 40ppm and Octomore at over 80ppm.6Rémy Cointreau has owned it since 2012.6,7,8
Very good review score, 87 out of 100Very good87/100
A well-made, characterful whisky with oily texture, orchard fruit, biscuits and chalky minerality, ending on peppery oak, salted pear and mineral notes.
Very good review score, 89 out of 100Very good89/100
An interesting whisky with creamy fruitiness, funky notes, brine and ripe fruit, earning the reviewer’s recommendation.
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black pepper
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By Ruben
Silent, 1994–2001
Producing, 2001–today
188119502000Today
Built by the Harvey brothers
The brothers came from a whisky family that had owned two Glasgow distilleries since 1770, and its spirit went into blends from the start.1,2,3 Its tall, narrow-necked stills were chosen to make a very pure spirit, unlike the older farm distilleries.6,7,8 Its open-top, cast-iron mash tun dates from 1881 and is one of the few left in the industry.8,9 After a family quarrel, William Harvey ran it, and in 1886 the firm became The Bruichladdich Distillery Co. (Islay) Ltd.4,7 Alfred Barnard's 1887 book described its own malting floors and kiln, 2 stills heated by fire, and an output of 94,000 gallons a year.10
Sources disagree: when it opened. This page uses 1881.
The Distillers Company Limited controlled the price of Islay whisky, and the firm paid only 2 dividends from 1881 to 1907.4,7,8 Distilling stopped in 1907 and did not start again until October 1919.4,7,8 Family feuds, mismanagement and a slump in sales stopped it again from 1929 to 1935.1,2,4 Sources date a fire to 1933 or 1934; afterwards the rest of the family wanted the distillery taken apart, but William Harvey and his children refused.4,7,11 Instead it restarted in 1935, once the spirit store and office were rebuilt.4
A string of owners
In 1937 Joe Hobbs is said to have persuaded the Harveys to sell it for £8,000; he at once sold it for £23,000 to Associated Scottish Distillers.4,6,11 Harvey Mutch refurbished it, and production resumed in 1938.4 Canmore says a group with American connections bought it in 1938.2,4,6 The distillery's own history places Hobbs's sale to a National Distillers of America firm after war began in 1939.2,4,6 The Second World War stopped distilling from 1940 to 1945.4,7,11 Glasgow whisky brokers Ross and Coulter bought it in 1952.
Silent
1994–2001
In 1994 the new owner mothballed it as surplus to requirements.1,4,7 It stayed silent for 7 years.1,5,7 On 19 December 2000, investors led by wine merchant Mark Reynier of Murray McDavid bought it.1,4,7 Most sources give the price as £6.5 million, paid to Jim Beam Brands, the owner of Whyte & Mackay; others say £6 million.1,4,7
Sources disagree: when it was mothballed. This page uses 1994.
Next: Silent, Back in production, Under Rémy Cointreau, How it makes its spirit
Whiskypedia says it became part of Distillers Company Limited in 1954, while the distillery's history says only that DCL bought Train & McIntyre in 1953.4,6
AB Grant bought it in 1960, and the new owners stopped malting on site, which nearly doubled capacity.1,4,12
From the 1960s it made unpeated spirit, all meant for blending, as the blending firms that owned it required.1,4,6
In 1975 the mash house and tun room, where fermentation happens, were made taller and a second pair of stills added, for 1.5 million litres of alcohol a year.2,4,6
Jim McEwan, Bowmore's distillery manager, ran production, Duncan MacGillivray returned as general manager, and the team spent 5 months restoring the Victorian equipment.1,4,5 Spirit ran again at 08:26 on 29 May 2001, and the first spirit made was heavily peated Port Charlotte.1,4,5 On 23 September 2002 it made its first run of super heavily peated spirit for Bruichladdich Octomore, peated to 80.5ppm.4,13 From 2003 it bottled all its single malt on Islay, in an old warehouse turned bottling hall.5 In 2004 farmer Raymond Stewart began growing malting barley for it on Islay.1,5,7 In 2010 it installed a Lomond still, an adjustable still recovered from the demolished Inverleven distillery, which is used to make gin.7
Sources disagree: when it reopened. This page uses 2001.
Rémy Cointreau bought it for £58 million in 2012, which made investment in new plant and machinery possible, and Simon Coughlin replaced Mark Reynier as chief executive.6,7,8 The distillery moved to full production in 2013.7 In 2015 Jim McEwan retired, Adam Hannett became head distiller and Allan Logan became production director.14,15,16 Building also began on the Coultorsay warehouses in 2015, so its whisky can keep maturing on Islay.5 Douglas Taylor became chief executive in 2017.16 In 2017 it bought Shore House Croft, 30 acres around the distillery, for farming research; one report says the land was bought for the malting operation.5,6 In April 2019 it announced plans for its own maltings, which it hoped to open by 2023, subject to planning permission.6,8,17 In November 2021 it won a £2.65 million government grant to test a hydrogen boiler in place of fuel oil for heating its stills.18 In 2025 Adam Hannett was named master blender after 10 years as head distiller.15
It has 2 wash stills for the first distillation and 2 spirit stills for the second.7,8 It also has 1 Lomond still, which is used for gin.7,8 Fermentation takes place in 6 washbacks made of Oregon pine.6,7,8 Fermentation lasts 75 to 80 hours.6 The stills are heated by steam and cooled by shell and tube condensers.6,18 As of 2019 its malt was made in Inverness, and Bairds is its malt supplier.5,6,8 It can make 1.5 million litres of alcohol a year.6,7 The distillery says it takes water from the river alongside it; other sources name a nearby reservoir, An Toran, or Bruichladdich loch.6,8,9 Its buildings are listed at Category C.12,19
