Going for growth in the most eco-friendly way
THE path to sustainability can be a rocky one, as Bruichladdich Distillery has found.
One of the distiller's key aims is a sustainable rural ecosystem, with delicious whisky made from barley either grown on Islay or in ways that are not harming the environment.
In order to find more resilient and less environmentally damaging ways of growing barley, in 2017 the business purchased a small 30 acre croft adjacent to the distillery. In a bid to research, learn and share knowledge, the following year Bruichladdich held a croft summit, with maltsters, distillers, farmers, breeders, academics and agronomists attending from all over the world.
The croft will play a crucial role in crop research and grain development, and will allow the distiller to trial new crop varieties, alternative land management practices and techniques - pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the industry. The first trial plots didn't succeed, but, as Bruichladdich CEO Douglas Taylor explained, the team now have a greater appreciation of how nuanced and comprehensive good farming needs to be.
“The notion that not everything works is one we have had to get comfortable with. But out of that trial process, we have partnered with a local farmer on Islay – who was already growing barley for us – to test and trial different varietals on his fields,” said Mr Taylor.
Rather than growing barley all the time on the same fields, depleting the soil of nutrients which then have to be replaced through agrochemicals, the farmer agreed to try crop rotation using rye – if Bruichladdich bought the rye.
At that point there was no Islay rye whisky on the market but the distiller agreed to try producing one using the farmer's harvest. Not only did the crop rotation result in a 30% reduction in agrochemicals but Bruichladdich discovered it made fantastic whisky, which is going to be released in the New Year.
The innovation follows on from the first biodynamic Scotch whisky which the distiller released on the market last year. The biodynamic process is a regenerative agricultural practice that does not use chemical pesticides or fertilisers.
Now, 52% of the distiller's barley is grown on Islay from a total of 19 farmers. This Islay barley joins Bere barley grown on Orkney, organic barley grown in the North East of Scotland, and barley grown on a biodynamic certified and carbon negative farm south of the Border, which sequesters ten times more carbon than it emits.
As well as three single malts, the distillery also makes The Botanist, the first Islay dry gin made from 22 locally foraged botanicals. The Botanist Foundation funds a number of research programmes, championing conservation and biodiversity on Islay and beyond.
In addition, the distiller has partnerships with the James Hutton Institute, the University of the Highlands and Islands, the breeding programme at Washington State University Bread Lab, supports the Global Botanic Garden Fund and partnered with fellow Scottish B Corp Brewgooder to create a whisky sour inspired beer, with proceeds providing clean drinking water for communities in developing countries.