To the Gaelic Scotii tribe the Hebrides were theirs, “The Coast of the Gaels” - Oirthir Gaidheal (we know it as it is pronounced: Argyll) - and in its medieval heyday the Hebrides, and Islay specifically were the home of the Lords of the Isles – hybrid Viking/Gaelic warrior clans who ruled the west coast and islands of Scotland by sword and by longboat. This powerful mix of Gael and Viking blood – a stubborn, proud, tough, volatile, passionate and superstitious people – isolated by rough seas, eight knot currents, vicious whirlpools, hidden reefs and Atlantic storms, has determined that this island has remained a land apart.
Today, while most of the Islay and Jura distilleries are controlled from corporate management offices in London, Paris, Tokyo, New York - even Trinidad - Bruichladdich is owned by a small number of private investors – many with Islay connections - and is registered on Islay and pays UK corporation tax.
Since its creation in 1881, Bruichladdich distillery has led a chequered, almost fated life. Family feuds, recessions, industry cartels, deception, world wars and sheer bad luck all took their toll, and in many ways it’s a miracle that the distillery is still here today. In 1994 Bruichladdich was bought by Jim Beam Brands and finally closed down, its staff made redundant – on an island not noted for its employment opportunities - two men kept on to rattle the locks.
Budgie & John were the night watchmen during the closed phase. Budgie is our stillman today, while John started work in the warehouses at the distillery in 1980. He was originally a cooper, and learnt his trade alongside Davie Bell, who was himself a cooper at Bruichladdich in 1934.
Lineage, pedigree, connection, continuity.
In 1974 Duncan MacGillivray started work as stillman. He went on to become engineer, and then brewer in 1978. He left in 1984 when the Distillery went on to a one day week… was back again in 1990 until 1994. When we bought the distillery we had to persuade Duncan to give up running his garage to come back for one last time to help us out. He’s now our General Manager.
This fascinating little distillery has always been at the heart of the community on the Rhinns of Islay. Today, Bruichaddich is the biggest employer on the island after the State - 49 islanders are employed along with a hard working host of contractors, farmers and friends without whom we simply couldn’t make our whisky. We pride ourselves in creating jobs that can keep young Ileachs on the island – our Distillery Manager, Allan, is the youngest in the industry.
Chrissie, our export manager, is also a crofter, and in lambing season is known to be out in the field before dawn and then at her desk for 8.30. The inimitable James Brown – farmer, athlete, contractor, holiday house-renter, lighthouse-keeper, policeman – owns nearby Octomore farm - when it comes to bottling our whiskies, it’s from James that we get our soft spring water, and he grows Octomore barley for us – Islay barley grown on Islay for the first time since the Second World War.
Mary, our Shop Manager, is the third generation of her farming family to work here; her grandfather would unload the puffers of their barley with horse and cart.
Why does this matter? To many it doesn’t – much of the industry seems content to produce whisky by industrial process – super-efficient production lines, the cheapest litre of alcohol possible… computers in place of human eye and ear, technicians rather than still men, laboratory analysis rather than human taste and smell. And many distilleries – many here on Islay – for the sake of economy choose to mature their spirit in huge centralised industrial warehouses on the mainland – losing all connection with this unique island, its place of origin.
We believe the consolidation of the whisky industry has led to a loss of soul, identity, of character… we believe that whisky, like any artisanal, living product should speak of the place from which it comes, of the people who have created and nurtured it; of the soil, the air, the geography that influence it – of PLACE. We believe it should be a reflection of the soul of those who have laboured to produce it.
All very “Local Hero”, we appreciate. But in an age when 60% of the Scotch whisky industry is controlled by just two global corporations, surely there is room for a little innocence, a passion, a belief in time, the “specialness” of place, and a belief in people?
