Whisky Focus - Bruichladdich The 10 Year Struggle

WMD, the CIA, Ugly Betty, Flying Health & Safety Inspectors, Yellow Submarines and Perilous Whisky, just a few of the unusual events that befell Bruichladdich distillery over the decade since it was resurrected.

Now, against considerable odds, the first ten year old whisky distilled by the men who brought Bruichladdich Distillery back from from oblivion, has gone on sale.

A weekend of celebrations was held for a select group of shareholders, distributors, barley farmers and international guests who gathered on a gale beaten Islay for a luncheon, a presentation of the provocative new website and an emotionally charged ceremony to acknowledge the first bottles coming off the bottling line.

1000 bottles of The Laddie 10, sporting a commemorative "I was there!" back label (for this one day only) sold out in three hours to a scrum of enthusiastic islanders and whisky fans.

Sir John Mactaggart Bt., Bruichladdich chairman, revealed in an defiantly upbeat speech, that there were top whisky industry players who warned him that the project was doomed to fail. But they underestimated the ‘passion and reason’ of the Bruichladdich set up.

He went on to highlight the successes, trials and tribulations of the decade which included being spied on by the CIA looking for WMDs, liberating Ugly Betty still, fuelling race cars with X4, flying health & safety inspectors, and lost Royal Navy yellow submarines.

The coming of age is a landmark moment for the company that set out in 2001 to renovate the old Victorian distillery which had been closed down in 1994, having only operated part time for a decade before that.

Managing Director Mark Reynier, said "It’s a very proud and highly emotional moment for all of us. This is the first spirit we distilled, once we got it all going again. It’s not been easy. This is the hard-won fruit of 10 years of unrelenting blood, sweat and tears by the whole team."

The Laddie 10, a dram created by whisky legend Jim Mcewan, is designed to show off the timeless, Bruichladdich qualities of elegance, balance, purity and fruit, with that famous sea breeze tang.

The company has a reputation for the unconventional, particularly the packaging, and the Laddie 10 in its bright, aqua livery is no different.

Reynier explains: "As progressive Hebridean distillers, we have a different way of doing things to the rest of the industry - it’s why we are still here - and that includes modern packaging.

"We don’t do flags, crests, illustrations, highland glens; nor engravings, Celtic typefaces, Gaelic scrolls, or Monarch of the Glen. We do Bruichladdich."
 

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