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Harvey of Bruichladdich

Neill Murphy of A Scot on Scotch samples a heavily peated single malt from Bruichladdich Distillery in Islay. Octomore 15.2 review coming up…

For many whisky drinkers, the story of Bruichladdich begins with the new millennium, when the slumbering distillery was revived by the team behind independent bottler, Murray McDavid. In truth, however, the story began a long, long time ago.

Bruichladdich was established in 1881 by the Harvey brothers, descendants of a successful whisky family. Back in 1770, John and Robert Harvey founded the Dundashill and Yoker distilleries in Glasgow and both premises remained in the family business until their closure in the early 20th Century.

By 1881, the Harvey’s whisky empire was in the hands of brothers, John, Robert and William. Looking to expand, the three men set their sights on the Isle of Islay, and the village of Bruichladdich. The distillery was successfully completed, and was among the most technologically advanced in its day. Sadly, however, family tensions soon threw a spanner in the works.

The brothers had a disagreement and William was left to run Bruichladdich on his own. He did his best but the early 1900s were a difficult period for the Scotch whisky industry. The downturn that became known as the Pattison Crash saw many forced out of business before the Great War engulfed Europe in bloody chaos. Then, virtually as soon as peace had been achieved, the US decided to adopt prohibition and robbed Scottish distillers of a lucrative market (many continued to export illegally but that’s another story).

William fought on, even as the other Harvey distilleries, Dundashill and Yoker wound up production in 1903. He remained at the helm of Bruichladdich until 1933 when a devastating fire took hold…

*almost half a million in today’s money.

William got the distillery back up and running again in 1935 but a year later, at the age of 87, he passed away. The responsibility for running Bruichladdich passed to his son, Kenneth but in 1937, the family decided to sell up. The distillery was acquired by speculator, Joseph Hobbs, and from there, sold to Associated Scottish Distillers.

By the 1990s, Bruichladdich was under the control of Invergordon Distillers and when they were taken over by Whyte & MacKay, the Islay distillery was deemed surplus to requirements and closed down. The site was allowed to fall into ruin and it looked like the story was drawing to a close.

One day as I was walking by the shores of Lochindaal,
I met a man with sadness in his eyes.
His story was as haunted as the lonely seabird's call, 
and he told me of the day he wept and walked away, 
as he watched the fire at Bruichladdich die.

- Robin Laing, Bruichladdich

Fortunately, that would not be the end and new life would soon breathe into the Bruichladdich stills once more. A quarter century later, the distillery has arguably never been in better health.

Octomore 15.2 Review

Tasting notes: The nose is malty and nutty with touches of lemon, green olives and white wine. There’s also almonds and peanuts, marzipan, oatcakes with smoke and ash. Chocolate, too. On the palate, there’s honey, malt and tingly wood spice with subtle lemon & lime zest. Sea salt and black pepper – and peat smoke, of course.

Thoughts: Not as peaty as you perhaps might expect. It feels like one of the lightest Octomore expressions I’ve encountered. It’s almost refined – with a delicacy to it and feels radically different to the Oloroso / Amarone concoction that was 14.2. At 108 ppm there’s less of a peaty punch than some previous batches and that adds to the overall gentler feel. The fruity touches give a summery vibe but there’s also a dustiness about it that reminded me of being in the Bruichladdich mill. It’s like a nose full of peaty flour. Love the wood spice in the finish – it mingles really well with the peat influence.

Price: £150. It isn’t my favourite Octomore. It’s almost disappointingly civilised when compared to some other .2 releases but in spite of that, I have found myself rather enjoying it. I am perhaps not totally convinced that it justifies its asking price, this time around, but it’s still a pleasant and surprisingly polite dram, all the same.

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