WHAT’S IN YOUR WHISKY?
Bruichladdich Distillery knows the answer, as the origins of its ingredients are crucial to its complex flavour
In the past, we might have been able to plead ignorance about the DNA of our clothing, food and tipple of choice. But with the gift/curse of the internet bringing to light the unethical manufacturing methods (pesticides, excessive use of plastic, cheap labour et al) of some of our favourite staples, it’s no longer so easy to hide beneath our collective rock.
One brand you can enjoy with peace of mind is Bruichladdich (Gaelic for ‘brae by the shore’) whisky. This small-scale distillery, located on the Isle of Islay, has disrupted the whisky industry by revealing all to aficionados. Its distilling ethos can easily be summed up in three words: provenance, traceability and transparency — a holy trinity that’s reached its peak with the brand’s flagship unpeated whisky with smooth, floral notes: The Classic Laddie.
Each turquoise bottle (a statement colour that symbolises the sun shining on the Islay sea) features a code that can be entered online to reveal its unique recipe. It includes the type of premium cask used to age the single malt, where the barley is from and the year of bottling.
“But why would a business give away its secrets like this?” your mistrustful, capitalismtainted brain may rightly ask. One reason is that whisky mainly relies on just two key ingredients: barley and water, which Bruichladdich believes should be elite in quality and celebrated. Its pure water comes from An Torran, a reservoir in the hills that rise up behind the distillery; and its barley is strictly from Scotland, with 50 per cent from the rainy fields of Islay itself. Bruichladdich keeps barley from different regions separate instead of mixing them, which is an exacting task for the team but a necessary requirement for creating an authentic whisky that is distilled, matured and bottled in one place.
The other reason is a desire to balance profit with purpose — and that’s not just lip service. Bruichladdich was the first single-malt scotch whisky to be B Corp certified, meaning it has the highest standard of verified environmental performance. That’s evident not only from its makers’ emphasis on sourcing raw ingredients locally, but also from their ethical use of wastewater from the stills to heat their offices, bottling hall and visitors centre.
Although the iconic distillery still uses equipment dating back to its 1881 inception, its brand vision couldn’t be more future facing. So here’s to Bruichladdich — purpose with every pour. To discover more about the Bruichladdich philosophy, visit bruichladdich.com