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Release Notes
Clearly, we went a little Refill Sherry crazy this year, but how could we resist. We've been tasting this special cask every year since we first set foot in Signatory's wonderful warehouses and we finally felt that it had reached its true peak. Bruichladdich is probably pretty sore that they don't own this cask because it's the perfect example of the unpeated Islay Malt. It's a gem and will likely go down as one of our most re-purchased casks (those Bruichladdich fans are loyal after all).
K&L
A single barrel cask strength bottling of an Islay single malt from refill sherry butt #178. Distilled on Sept. 26th, 1990. One of only 486 bottles filled on July 31st, 2014.
Yours Truly
3rd Party Tasting Notes
his hits every note without skipping a beat (while skipping the peat). The perfect amount of ripe round malty spice mixed with zesty citrus fruit. An ever so subtle oceany brine. The subtle nutty oxidative quality of the second fill sherry maturation.
K&L
The Bottler: Signatory Vintage
| Established: 1988 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Edradour Distillery, Pitlochry, Perthshire & Kinross, PH16 5JP, Scotland |
Signatory owns the smallest distillery from Scotland, Edradour since 22 july 2002
In April 1992, as the company began to grow, they moved to much larger premises. Here, they were granted a licence to bottle their own products on site. They set-up a small line bottling system, primarily geared towards the bottling of single casks. Although the actual bottling of whisky is semi-automated, the emphasis is very much a hands-on operation, with hand labeling and packing of products. To add to the exclusivity of their bottlings, they often declare the cask number, date of distillation,and date of bottling on our labels. In addition,each bottle is individually hand numbered.
It is their aim, as an independent bottler to offer a range of whiskies, some of which are not bottled by the proprietor of a particular distillery, and some at different ages/strengths to those offered as distillery bottlings. The majority of their bottlings are the product of single casks, with the malt whisky enthusiast being given the opportunity to sample the subtle differences which occur with each different cask.
The name of Signatory derived from the fact that their initial intention was to find someone famous to sign the labels for bottles produced from one single cask. The first cask we purchased was a cask of 1968 Glenlivet, which was sold long before we could find a famous person.
Until April 1992, when they moved to their current premises in Newhaven (Edinburgh), they operated from a bonded warehouse in Leith. Leith was once a well known port for importing wine from France. As this industry declined, many of the whisky companies began to occupy the old warehouses for cask storage purposes. In recent years, this has also declined, with the larger companies moving to the west of Edinburgh, where transport links are better.
The company was founded in 1988. It is a family owned and managed company, being one of only three true independent bottlers. They always like to draw a distinction between the independent companies who bottle their own products, and the independent companies whose products are bottled under contract. The other fully independent bottlers are: Gordon & MacPhail and Wm. Cadenhead.
from Whisky-Distilleries.info
The Distillery: Bruichladdich
| Established: 1881 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Bruichladdich, Islay, Argyll, PA49 7UNI, UK |
| → website |
In the new Millenium
The Bruichladdich distillery lies on the north shore of Lochindaal (directly opposite Bowmore), which made it the westernmost distillery in Scotland until Kilchoman was officially opened in 2005.
The overwhelming succes that Mark and Jim have had with the bottlings they released from these old stocks is a perfect illustration of the crucial role of careful cask selection; Bruichladdich was transformed from an ugly duckling into a swan. Well, I"m sure clever marketing also helped.
Apart from the traditionally lightly peated spirit that is still produced under the name Bruichladdich, two more heavily peated malts are being produced at the distillery. A heavily peated (40 PPM) malt under the name "Port Charlotte" (the name of the village two miles south of the distillery) is being produced since October 2002 and they also have an even more heavily peated (80.5 PPM) malt with the name "Octomore". This is the name of another silent Islay distillery in the area, situated in a farm next to the warehouses of the old Lochindaal distillery. The original Octomore distillery was closed in 1852, three decades before Bruichladdich was built. However, a link with the past remains; Bruichladdich uses spring water from Octomore farm.
The Bruichladdich distillery was mothballed again in January 1995 and sold in 2000 to a consortium of twenty five different shareholders that operated under the name "Bruichladdich Distillery Co. Ltd.".
Driving force behind the purchase was Murray McDavid"s Mark Reynier. Together with other seasoned professionals like Jim McEwan (formerly of Bowmore) they managed to get the production started again in May 2001. Although that new spirit probably won"t be widely available until well after 2010, the new owners also acquired a lot of maturing stocks that were laid down by Invergordon and JBB / Whyte & Mackay.
Bruichladdich was constructed in 1881 by Robert, William and John Gourlay Harvey. Members of the Harvey family remained owners and shareholders until 1929 when the Bruichladdich distillery was mothballed.
In 1938 Bruichladdich (also known as Bruichladdie) was sold to Hatim Attari, Joheph W.Hobbs and Alexander W.Tolmie. And the distillery kept changing hands like a hot potato. In 1952 it was sold to Ross & Coulter Ltd, who in turn sold it to A.B. Grant in 1960. Invergordon Distillers acquired Bruichladdich in 1968 and expanded the number of stills from two to four in 1975, before selling it on to JBB / Whyte & Mackay.
Until recently Associated Scottish Distillers also offered a so-called "bastard" bottling of Bruichladdich under the name Loch Indaal or Lochindaal. This bottle was named after the old Lochindaal distillery located East of the village of Port Charlotte, which used to have its own distilleries. Lochindaal operated until 1929 when it was dismantled. Its warehouses are now used to store the Port Charlotte malt. Until recently Bruichladdich was the only surviving distillery on the Western peninsula, but since the new Kilchoman distillery was opened in 2005 by proprietor Anthony Willis the number of western Islay distilleries doubled.
And the future looks bright for the friendly people of Bruichladdich. With the new bottling plant that was opened in 2003, Bruichladdich can now bottle its own malts on site, providing some much needed employment opportunities on this relatively remote part of Islay in the process. It"s much more convenient for Bruichladdich as well; before they opened the bottling plant they shipped tankers full of spring water from James Brown"s farm at Octomore to the mainland to dilute the whisky from the casks to 46%.
2000 - At the start of the new millennium the Bruichladdich distillery is bought by bottler Murray McDavid. Reports say that the price of the distillery was 6,500,000 GBP at the time - including maturing stocks.
2001 - The driving force behind the purchase of the distillery was Murray McDavid"s Mark Reynier. Shortly after the distillery was obtained by the new owners, Bowmore"s Jim McEwan was called in as production director.
2006 - The first bottling of Port Charlotte is released; a more heavily peated brand of the Bruichladdich.
2012 - On September 3rd the distillery is sold to Rémy Cointreau.
Trivia:
- For their first new bottlings the new owners used extremely lightly peated barley of 2 PPM.
- William Harvey (the father of the Harvey brothers that built Bruichladdich in 1881) was the owner of two other distilleries; Yoker and Dundashill.
- Bruichladdich distillery is open to visitors all year, Monday to Friday. Tours are available at 10.30am 11.30am and 2.30am (and at 10.30am on Summer Saturdays).
- Bruichladdich is one of almost two dozen malt whisky distilleries that were founded over a century ago during the "whisky boom" of the late 19th century and which have managed to survive until this day. The other survivors include Aberfeldy, Ardmore, Aultmore, Balvenie, Benriach, Benromach, Bunnahabhain, Craigellachie, Dalwhinnie, Dufftown, Glendullan, Glenfiddich, Glenrothes, Glentauchers, Knockandu, Knockdhu, Longmorn, Tamdhu and Tomatin.
from Malt Maniacs
The Owner: Rémy Cointreau
| Established: 1724 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Avenue de Gimeux |
| → website |
Rémy Martin, a wine maker from the Cognac region founded the business in 1724. It was acquired by Andre Renaud in 1924. Through various acquisitions the company took ownership of champagne brands such as Charles Heidsieck and Piper Heidsieck, Mount Gay Rum. In 1991 the company changed name to Rémy Cointreau. Since then the group as acquired the Bols and Metaxa brands. On September 3rd the group acquires Bruichladdich distillery on Islay.
from Various