BARLEY

Our fascination with ingredients arguably started long before we re-opened the gates of Bruichladdich at the turn of the millennium. Our principal founders, Simon Coughlin and Mark Reynier, had built up a wealth of experience in dealing with fine wine and the concept of terroir.

Having worked in the wine industry where each campaign, appellation, nuance, origin and growing condition was poured over, their entry into Scotch whisky was revelatory. The whisky world, especially at that time, was nothing like wine. It was primarily designed to mass produce blended Scotch, where full tankers could be easily swapped, and products were standardised to look and taste the same in every country for the lowest price possible.

Conforming would never have been an option for the new-age Bruichladdich. We had to dismiss the system and reinvent our approach to barley.

The conditions of barley growing on Islay are far from ideal, but our distillery offered a diversified market and brought it to our local community’s doorstep. Could this be replicated into other areas, other crops even, other than barley?

Small but fruitful experiments are also underway behind the scenes. In 2017, we announced that we had grown and distilled Islay rye in partnership with farmer Andrew Jones. The benefits are mutual. Andrew includes an extra crop in his rotation; reducing wind erosion, improving the soil structure, conserving moisture and reducing run-off. He sells it directly to us and has a guaranteed route to market. We distil a deeply flavourful spirit of unparalleled provenance.

This approach to an Islay ecosystem, with a symbiotic relationship between agriculture and distillation, must be the future of whisky in Scotland.

Connection has become a key theme throughout our exploration of barley. Connection to the raw ingredient and to a farming community has resulted in what we hope will be an optimistic future for our local ecosystem. In a dream scenario, this early prosperity would influence others within Scotland to look harder at their supply chain and spread value deeper into their own network.

Our small steps to become more responsible and sustainable have made us question the real meaning behind innovation in Scotch. If we are to continue to push ourselves and adapt to today’s challenging environmental conditions, it must be with purpose and intent - benefiting those beyond ourselves. We must develop relationships that support one another and if our small nation is to prosper, there must be an interdependency between agriculture, renewable energy and distilling.

Knowing what we know now, we are certain our barley exploration will be ongoing and infinite. More importantly, it will extend beyond the world’s most complex cereal into a more profound approach to making single malt whisky.