Whisky+Island=Passion: Jim McEwan of Bruichladdich Distillery
by Jay Erisman, EQ Wine and Spirits Manager
Along with being my favorite place to be shipwrecked, the Scottish island of Islay holds eight working single malt Scotch distilleries. While such smoky, peaty monsters as Lagavulin and Laphroaig are enormously popular, there is another Islay (pronounced EYE luh) distillery that has utterly captured the hearts of whisky lovers worldwide. This is Bruichladdich, the only independent distillery on Islay, owned and operated largely by natives of the island (who are Ileachs). I spent time with Bruichladdich Master Distiller Jim McEwan at several events in late October—including a smashing tasting for EQ@The Party Source—and got the low-down on Bruichladdich, and the fearlessly creative distiller at its helm.
For their mouthwatering, unfiltered whisky (it's bottled at the distillery with local spring water, no added coloring and no filtration), Bruichladdich (BROOK lahdee) has won a trunk of awards from publications around the world since their 2001 reopening. The innovation at “the Laddie” is startling. Jim is distilling seven different malt whiskies—including the most heavily peated whisky of all time—which are slowly maturing in oak casks. But the amazing thing is what kind of casks McEwan employs.
The traditional sherry cask is out, and wine barrels are in. After an unfortunate batch of rotted sherry wood, Jim says “I’ll never use sherry again…and there simply are not enough Bourbon casks to meet demand. We have access to a world of wine casks and good quality, too. Why not use it? And we save a fortune in shipping [compared to shipping Bourbon barrels from America].” Now there are a bevy of new Bruichladdich releases which, after many years in traditional whisky casks, are given a period of “additional cask evolution” ("ACEing") in barrels from some of Europe’s very best wineries, including Châteaux d’Yquem and Haut Brion, Gaja, and Guigal. The Party Source sells a rare, private edition of Bruichladdich, vintage 1989 and 16 years old, enhanced in Guigal Côte Rôtie Syrah casks. And the brand new Bruichladdich 18 is off the charts, with gorgeous new packaging, evolved in a cask that formerly held…wait for it…a Willi Opitz Zweigelt Trockenbeerenauslese, which is to say (if you can say that at all), an absolutely extraordinary Austrian late harvest red wine.
Future plans include a new distillery, two miles down the road from Bruichladdich at Port Charlotte. “Our new stills at Port Charlotte are Lomond stills [with multiple plates inside the still affording great control over the distillate]. No one’s ever used Lomond stills right. We’re going to make some lighter and heavier spirits with them.” In the hands of Jim McEwan, a Lomond still could be a real weapon. Plus, Jim quietly allowed that they would also work on some completely new items at the Charlotte stills.
Possibly the most compelling thing about meeting Jim McEwan is the passion with which he holds his native island. When a distillery closes on Islay, as Bruichladdich did for much of the 1980s and 90s, many of the workers have to find a new career. I wondered, did the Ileachs knew better than anyone the potential of Bruichladdich—and would do a better job with it? “Yeah, Bruichladdich could have been bought by any number of companies and turned into a computerized factory with three employees controllable from London. Instead, we’re the largest employer on the island.” And when their second distillery Port Charlotte opens with another round of hiring, asks Jim with passion, “Do you know what that means? On a small island?” That’s about fifty new jobs, and it makes a big difference on Islay. When you’re drinking Bruichladdich (preferably while shipwrecked on its beach) you’re drinking one of Scotland’s purest drams. You’re also supporting a way of life.
Tags: Bruichladdich.-Islay, Scoth, Scotland, single-malt-Scotch, spirits, whisky
January 8th, 2008 at 12:55 am