The 17-year-old whisky in release NO.12 was distilled by the Bruchladdich distillery in 1976 and was bottled by Cadenhead as part of their Authentic Collection. This 1976 single malt whisky was distilled in a year which saw the first commercial flights by Concorde, the 1976 Summer Olympics take place in Montreal, and the famous Westminster clock Big Ben suffer mechanical damage which would result in a shutdown lasting nine months for repairs.

ABOUT THE BRUICHLADDICH DISTILLERY

Located on the shores of Loch Indaal, a sea loch on the western part of Islay, the Bruichladdich distillery was built in 1881 by the Harvey brothers a Glasgow-based family of distillers who owned the Dundashill and Yorker grain whisky distilleries. As with virtually every Scottish distillery established in the late Victorian period the Bruichladdich distillery initially existed to provide malt for blending, originally producing peated malts to satisfy the demand of Glasgow benders.

Over the years the Bruichladdich distillery’s style would shift to meet the blenders needs, and in contrast to the heavily peated Islay whiskies produced by Ardbeg, Lagavulin and Laphroaig the distillery would become renowned for its output of an unpeated Islay malt displaying a gentler fresh and mildly floral character. The Harveys operated the Bruichladdich distillery until 1929, when the distillery closed as a result of the interwar Depression. Although revived in 1936 and sold to Joseph Hobbs the owner of the Ben Nevis distillery in 1938, for the next thirty years the Bruichladdich distillery would see a succession of owners.

In 1968, the Bruichladdich distillery was bought by Invergordon Distillers, although impacted by a downturn in the whisky market the distillery would operate at reduced capacity throughout the 1980s. After Invergordon’s takeover by Whyte and Mackay Ltd in 1993 the Bruichladdich distillery was closed as surplus to requirements and allowed to fall into disrepair. Bruichladdich looked destined to become one of Scotland’s lost distilleries, but in 2001 it was acquired by a consortium of Islay landowners and London-based wine merchant for £6.5 million. Following renovation, the Bruichladdich distillery resumed production with the new owners evaluating stock of maturing spirit and casks used for maturation to release a series of limited editions, whilst the new maltings retain the distillery’s classic lighter fresh and fruity character.

ABOUT CADENHEAD BOTTLINGS

This whisky was distilled in 1976 by the Bruichladdich distillery and was aged for 17 years in an oak cask before being selected for release in 1994 by independent bottler Cadenhead as part of their Authentic Collection. Cadenhead are one of the oldest independent bottlers in Scotland. Cadenhead was founded in 1842 at 47 Netherkirkgate in Aberdeen, the site which the company would trade from for over 130 years.

First founded by George Duncan as a vintner and distilling agency, a decade later Duncan’s brother-in-law William Cadenhead joined him in the business. In 1858, Cadenhead acquired the company after Duncan’s death and renamed the business after himself, operating it until his own death in 1904. Cadenhead was succeeded by his nephew Robert Duthie who developed the company into an independent whisky bottler, creating Cadenhead’s own deluxe blended whisky ‘The Heilanman’. When Duthie died in 1931 Cadenhead passed to his two sisters who had no knowledge of the trade and appointed long-term employee Ann Oliver to run the company. Oliver would refuse to change with the times, and ultimately by the time of her retirement in 1972 Cadenhead was heavily in debt and possessed a warehouse full of spirits of unknown value. The stock was auctioned by Christies in October 1972 and was at the time the largest sale of wine and spirits held in Great Britain with a catalogue of 167 pages.

After the sale, the Cadenhead company was bought by J&A Mitchell and Co. the owners of Springbank distillery who continue to release exclusive non-chill-filtered and non-coloured single malt whiskies under the Cadenhead label. The Authentic Collection are bottlings of single cask, cask strength whiskies which are selected from operational Scottish malt distilleries. The original bottle in this release was an expression from the Bruichladdich distillery, distilled prior to the distillery’s closure and revival. This bottling offers the drinker an uncharacteristically peaty style combined with undertones of spices, pepper and stewed fruits rounded off by an oaky sweetness, a taste of this cult Islay distillery’s history.