Beautiful distillery with whisky and gin. Stopped for a look and a tasting. Whiskies are named after their employees. read more

Bruichladdich Distillery - Distilleries Near Me - Argyll, SCB

See all

Wonderful staff and super delicious Scotch. Was not aware of the depth of the brand, but the staff was helpful and made it a magic stop on Scotch row. Some good mini bottles to go. read more

Bruichladdich Distillery - Distilleries Near Me - Argyll, SCB

Given how old the existing reviews are, I thought it's time to add and update! We signed up for the distillery tour. Easy parking and we met the tour guide in the tour center/shop. We lucked out with the tour guide as she is an awesome story teller - and Bruichladdich has an amazing story to share! As it was rather weekend, the distillation was off,but that allowed us to see a rare sight inside a Mash Tun. After the tour the guide took us back to the shop where the staff was pretty generous with the tastings. We landed up buying a self-fill cask strength bottle! Highly recommend. read more

Just an all around good tour and tasting. Getting to the tour start is a little tricky because you have to walk into the distillery yard and make your way to the shop. Bruichladdich has been around in various forms since 1880s. Due to Jim's involvement Bruichladdich has a new lease on life. Their unleaded range continues to stun the whisky community because it is contradictory to what Islay is famous for. Having said that, they do have prayed options such as Port Charlotte and Octomore. After the tour there is a small tasting of all but their most exclusive ranges. read more

See all

This place is amazing! Honestly, if you're out here, it's worth the trip. They offer tasters on most scotch they have (I believe the tasters must be from any bottle less than £200) without pressuring you to buy a bottle. Let's keep it real, it's a great way to help narrow down which bottle you like best. It's also worth trying their warehouse tour/tasting (cost is roughly £50 per person) and while it's not a walking tour, you get the opportunity to try some rare scotch straight from the barrels in one of the warehouses. The pours we were given was much more than I had expected and my goodness, was it worth the money! read more

See all

Fantastic tour by Fraser with lots of great information and a wonderful tasting of a variety of their whiskies.

I love all the Islay distilleries but Bruichladdich is top three. The visitors centre is welcoming, we went in twice on a recent trip to Islay and Mary (Queen Of Scotch) was there and gave us all the chat. She even helped me fill my own bottle of Port Charlotte which was a lot of fun. The shop has a lot of bottles and gift sets, glass wear and whisky paraphernalia but also really nice branded clothing. My husband bought the Bruichladdich rugby top and he's not had it off since. I liked the bunnets but settled for a bottle instead. Port Charlotte is the heavily peated but they have an unpeated whisky and they also make The Botanist Gin which is my gin of choice. They do tours and tastings all the time so you can pop in but if you want to do the gin tasting you need to book because it's super popular and it's basically a cocktail class. Personal note: My Grandpa and Great Grandpa both worked in this distillery (and I'm sure many other members of my family tree too) so it's a special whisky to me. read more

Bruichladdich Distillery - Distilleries Near Me - Argyll, SCB

Great whisky and great staff. Ive visited twice and both times were a blast. On my second jaunt, we went for "The Warehouse Experience,' which is essentially an hour of drinking super fancy, limited whisky straight out of the barrel, inside of the warehouse. 'Twas awesome. Back inside the gift shop/tasting room, they have a wide array of souvenirs and stuff but more importantly, a wide array of things to drink. They allow you free tasters of any bottle below the £200 mark, including their gin. Getting to Islay isnt always easy but youre rewarded with friendly faces and bottomless drams. read more

Ya! This was good. We have been to many distilleries, all good, some better, some best...this was FUN. Scotch is very good, not the best on Islay but very good. But what I am saying here is that this place is a LOT of FUN... lots and lots of selections, not a stuffy atmosphere, and plenty of generous pours (try the gin too! I think it was gin?). We did a few tasting and were given more to try while enjoying ourselves in the large, exciting and FUN (did I mention that) tasting room. Bruichladdich is not as popular here in the states as some of the old standbys, but it is not only up and coming, it has some of the most unique scotch that one can taste. Heavy in SMOKE, yes. Heavy in FLAVOR, yes....you want PEAT, you got it! If your on Islay, stop by...you will like it. read more

Bruichladdich Distillery - Distilleries Near Me - Argyll, SCB

If there's one thing I love about Islay more than anything else, it's whisky. Boy do they know how to make a good dram there! We visited Bruichladdich Distillery during a recent trip to the island and were not disappointed. I love everything about their whisky, down to the bottle detail with the Bruichladdich aqua. Mary and Fraser were extremely helpful during our visit, and let us try a few whiskies before we settled on hand bottling our own Port Charlotte - such a fun thing to do! I left with a Bruichladdich rugby top as well. Top job! read more

Enjoyed hanging out at this distillery . Unfortunately the tour was unavailable due to maintainence this month . However the shop was cool and staff really helpful and friendly . We got to try their Botanist gin which is made from 22 Botanicals many foraged on the Island . The gin is delicious very smooth and went down a treat . Aiden sampled several of the whiskies before deciding on the Port Charlotte . Lots of innovation here and different bottlings . They are endeavouring to reach a different audience by having a presence at local festivals etc . Definitely worth a visit. read more

See all

GOOD GOD THIS WAS AMAZING! My (now) husband and I planned to visit Scotland for our honeymoon. Starving and not drinking before the wedding, we were so eager to just to get to Scotland and have our dream vacation of eating haggis, sausage rolls, Scottish breakfasts, and drinking whisky. And more whisky! We had pre-arranged a distillery tour of a few distilleries and while I must admit that I was previously more of a fan of Ardbeg, the Bruichladdich tour completely blew my mind. It's hard to choose a favorite now because this tour was over the top perfect. It was generous, it was funny, it was unique, and it was educational. Just like their branding, it was progressive and interesting in ways I have not experienced at other distilleries. And I don't just mean ones on Islay or even in Scotland. I've taken distillery/winery tours in Brazil, Mexico, Cognac/FR, Jerez/SP, the USA, and Japan. This was hands down the best tour I've ever gotten! One: The distillery shop is at once modern and classic. The offerings are varied and you can get anything from a specially made distillery tartan article of clothing to a jacket, a printed poster, or one of hundreds of their bottlings. If you're a fan of their expressions you can really go hog wild here and basically leave with an entire new wardrobe of branded clothing. And not just that, it's actually handsome! It's not over the top ugly or overly branded so you look like a billboard - it's all smartly done. Two: The staff - these people are awesome. Every person we encountered during our 2+ hour stay was ecstatic to be here and to work for this brand. Our guide Ashley had mentioned that her sister and a cousin also work at distilleries and she'd specifically set her sights on Bruichladdich because growing up on Islay she knew it was the best team of people to work for. That felt good to hear because the sense of pride and honor that showed in her tone really conveyed that this company is doing everything right. They have happy staff, they have gorgeous marketing materials, and best of all - that happiness and that creativity lends itself to making wonderful scotch. Three: Tastings! You get to try from barrels that are never bottled. WHAT?! This was so cool! I'm a bit devastated but honored by that. One of the barrels we sampled from was a sherry aged Octomore. Now if anyone knows anything about me, it's that I love SUPER SUPER peaty scotch and I love sherry. The marriage of the two made for the absolute best scotch I've had the fortune of drinking. Four: Location. This distillery feels like it's on the edge of the earth. We hit some rain and when it cleared up the sun hit the water so perfectly that the famous teal color of the brand was shone perfectly in the water out front. Some of the best photos I've ever taken, in fact! It was so gorgeous out that I wanted to just sit there all day and marvel at the beauty of the location. Five: This review is getting long. Just come see for yourself! read more

One of the great eight distillers on Islay. Anyone who knows me knows, I love the peaty scotches and Islay is definitely the best representation of that. Bruichladdich has been resurrected after being shuttered for years now by the Murray McDavid folks. Expect them to amp them up a notch. read more

The second stop on our Islay distillery tour and by far the most fun. Most of the distillery tours are pretty much the same, with slight variations here and there. We did 4 tours of different distilleries so I pretty much had the process down by the third one. Let's be honest, the tastings are always the best part of these tours and the tasting here was bananas. Bruichladdich is like the Apple (computers) of whisky making in that they are innovators. They experiment with different casks, peating levels, and aesthetics- they have the most awesome looking bottles. In the tasting room you can pretty much try whatever your heart desires from their wide variety of whiskies to their superb gin called the Botanist. My boyfriend is obsessed with peaty whiskies so he had to try the Octomore- the peatiest whisky on the market. Most whiskies have a peating level of less than 40 parts per million. But Bruichladdich, being the daredevils that they are, made their Octomore at 167 parts per million. It will knock you on your ass. There are also some whiskies you can only taste and buy at the distillery. If you buy these "Valinch" bottles, you get to pour and label your own bottle which is pretty unique. I went home with the best souvenir from my whole trip- a bottle of 20 year Bruichladdich whisky aged in a Calvados cask that I poured mahself! The whole experience at Bruichladdich was a blast and if I ever return I will buy as many bottles as I can carry. read more

Bruichladdich Distillery - Oceanside view of the distillery - Distilleries Near Me - Argyll, SCB

See all

For my trip to Europe, I decided I HAD to go on a whiskey tour in Scotland. HAD TO. Luckily, I was pointed to Scottish Routes and their Islay tour. I thought this would be a great and easy way to expand my whiskey palate but who knew I would also found my new favourite gin? Yes, Bruichladdich has the most delicious gin. But first, the whiskey tour! Of the 7 distilleries we toured, Bruichladdich is my favourite. I think it's because the guide made the tour interactive with every step. We tasted each type of grain they use for their various whiskies; we tasted the mash (I think it's called, basically the point where whiskey tastes like beer without the hops); and we tasted the newly distilled, ridiculously high alcohol content whiskey. And when we were done, the guide was ready to give us tastes of whichever whiskies they had on hand, except perhaps one or two. I love their organic whiskey; I bought their special caste that I filled myself; I wish I had room in my bag for their Bier barley whiskey; and I bought a bottle of gin. Oh the gin. The guide told us that if we wanted, we could have a glass of gin and tonic after our whiskey tastings. I love gin so I had to have one. Wow. Just the smoothest gin I've had in a long, long while. Normally, I have to doctor my G&T with ginger ale rather than just tonic, to help smooth out the rough edges of the gin. Botanist gin didn't need any of that. Just a bit of tonic, a squeeze of lime and it was the perfect drink. I wish I could have purchased a case. I mentioned to a friend of mine that I would wait for her before I cracked open my Botanist but yeah, I don't think that's going to happen. I keep looking at it and longing for a drink. She might have to get her own. Also, Bruichladdich boasts the smokiest whiskey, maybe everywhere. I can't fully remember. I don't know how they did it but for a smoky whiskey, it was still incredibly smooth and it didn't have that lingering taste of brush fire that some of the other very smoky whiskies had. I want to go back right now! read more

Our last stop on Islay was a warehouse tasting here. After visiting the 200 year old distilleries, I wanted a sense of what the future may hold for whisky. Bruichladdich is a really interesting company. Fair to say that they are the most innovative, playful, and forward-thinking of the distilleries on the island. I'd recommend reading this New Yorker article shortly before visiting: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/02/11/spirit-guide The warehouse tour did not disappoint. You are actually sitting there, among 20 year old casks (each worth thousands of dollars) drinking spirit taken directly from a barrel. (Other distilleries have their warehouses under lock and key -- you can only view them through a gate.) We tasted experimental variations I will likely never experience again. (Apparently these rotate so I can't predict what you will taste yourself.) This was accompanied by a lively discussion with our guide, who had grown up on the island. When booking the tour I was warned several times that drivers should not be there -- you are drinking cask strength whisky, after all. So my tip is to arrange with a taxi company beforehand. I spent almost an hour on the phone trying to find a cab at the last minute. Between spotty cell service and being on hire, they are often unavailable by phone. read more

Amazing staff and available winter hours = win win! I called a few hours before their published tour time (per their website) to make sure there's still an opening for the next tour and were told to come on in. Surprisingly, we were the only ones there! We got a lovely tour and met Budgie, their infamous master distiller and had a lovely personalized tasting. The gift shop had lots of goodies (and not all booze-related). They hadn't started their gin tours yet, but I definitely hope to experience that next time we're in Islay. read more

If you're a fan of whisky then you will have heard of Bruichladdich. On a recent holiday to Islay we visited several distilleries. Bruichladdich had the most friendly and informative staff of all.. The tour is very good value for money and if you buy a bottle of whisky from the shop you get the money you paid off the purchase! The tour was very interesting, even if you have been to many distillery visits before, this one stands out from the rest. The shop itself has the largest range of whisky I had seen and they were always happy to offer a dram. Exceptional whisky, exceptionally friendly people..wonderful day out. read more

Here we did something different, rather than a tour we did cask tasting. We were escorted to the cask room where our host had three unique casks tapped that day. While our host gave us Bruichladdich's history and whiskey philosophy we sampled three unique whiskeys. Our host was very knowledgeable and we probably sat for almost an hour, sampling and talking whiskey. read more