BRUICHLADDICH RELEASE NEW VINTAGE OF SINGLE MALT DISTILLED FROM ORKNEY-GROWN ANCIENT LANDRACE,BERE BARLEY
Barley exploration has always been a mission at Bruichladdich. Since their resurrection in 2001, the distillery has pioneered the concept of “terroir” in single malt whisky. Bringing ideals of connection from the world of wine, they have focussed on re-connecting the liquid in the glass back to the ingredients; to the soil it was grown in, the climate it was exposed to, the varietal, and how it was raised by the all-important growers who gave it life.
Bere barley is one of the most fascinating grains still cultivated in the modern-day. The antecedents of this ancient, six-row barley reach back to the dawn of Scottish agriculture, around 4,500 years ago. It would have been a staple part of the Scottish diet for thousands of years and was often used by prior generations to make beer, bannocks and bread. Having never reached peak popularity with distillers due to its low yield, the grain never made it to the recommended growing list for farmers and so, sowing the seed fell out of fashion. This ancient landrace would have been all but lost if it were not for the resurrection work done by the Barony Mill in Orkney, with the helping hand of the Orkney College (University of the Highlands and Island Agronomy Institute).
Bruichladdich have been working in partnership with Orkney College since 2005. Among their multitude of ongoing barley projects, distilling Bere first set out to champion flavour over efficiency and homogeneity. Like the historical journey of Bere itself, the project would evolve over time. The early years saw farmer, agronomist and distiller work together to raise Bere on Bruichladdich’s home of Islay. It would move to Orkney in later years where it would thrive under the watchful eye of Peter Martin and John Wishart.
In recent years, Bere has played a part in trialling new grains on Bruichladdich’s 30 acres of croft land, which is dedicated to research and development. The trial plots contained a hybrid of Bere and modern varieties, reasoning that a cross would select beneficial characteristics of both varieties. While the first trials became victim to a mismanagement of weeds, future trials could help unlock favourable flavours and yields, which are important for distillers and farmers respectively.
Experiments aside, a successful crop of Bere was harvested on Orkney in 2010 by Magnus Spence, Sydney Gauld,and John & Peter at Orkney College. The labour of their hardship was distilled at Bruichladdich in 2011 and is released today at ten years old.
Available at specialist retailers and online at Bruichladdich.com, Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2011 will replace the 2010 edition currently in the distillery’s unpeated Barley Exploration series. As with the Islay Barley and Organic Barley within the range, this Bere Barley is bottled unchillfiltered and colouring free at 50% ABV.
“Wherever our barley projects take us in future, we’re thrilled to have a back catalogue of flavourful and esoteric spirits in our warehouses. There is something unique about Bere barley spirit and this 2011 vintage is no exception. It has a tremendous depth of flavour that really magnifies the DNA of Bruichladdich spirit and shows such complexity. It is another remarkable vintage and exploration of provenance and terroir that shows not all barley is equal.”-Adam Hannett, Head Distiller at Bruichladdich Distillery.
On Bruichladdich Distillery
Bruichladdich Distillery is situated on the southwestern tip of the Hebridean island of Islay.
Bruichladdich Distillery crafts four different spirits: •Bruichladdich, unpeated Islay single malt Scotch whisky •Port Charlotte, heavily peated Islay single malt Scotch whisky (40PPM) •Octomore, the world’s most heavily peated Scotch whisky series (80+PPM) •The Botanist Gin, the first Islay dry gin The distillery was first established in 1881 by the Harvey brothers. It survived through periods of closure including world wars and economic uncertainly, only to be closed for 7 years in 1994. The closure left all but two redundant.
The distillery was reopened by Mark Reynier, Simon Coughlin and Jim McEwan in 2001. The team have breathed new life into the community by keeping as much of their operations on Islay as possible. They installed a bottling hall in 2003, first grew Islay barley in 2004 (now 45% of annual production in 2020) and have since added additional warehousing to ensure all single malts are conceived, distilled, matured and bottled on the island. They are one of only two distilleries on the island (9 total) to make those claims.
The independently owned Bruichladdich was purchased by luxury spirits company Remy Cointreau in 2012. They continue to invest in the values of the business, in being Islay-based, and in the local community.
In 2020, Bruichladdich became one of the only distilleries in the world to be B Corp certified. They are the first gin and whisky distillery in Europe, and one of three globally, to be recognised for balancing profit and purpose.
On Bere Barley
Bere Barley takes its place within a catalogue of barley-forward spirits distilled at Bruichladdich. Exploration into Islaygrown and organically grown barley can be tasted alongside this new Orkney-grown Bere vintage in the Barley Exploration series. Spirits not yet released include English-grown biodynamic barley, Islay’s first rye crop, and the distillery’s Regional Trials experiment, which features the same varietal grown in the north, south and east of the Scottish Mainland.
From challenging growing conditions to an inconsistent weighted grain that plays havoc with a 19thcentury mill, Bere Barley throws up many obstacles. In 2012, Bruichladdich’s 100-year-old open top mash tun was almost irreparably damaged while mashing Bere. From the mashman’s log: “The grist set in the tun like concrete, leading to compression round the rakes in the machine and causing them to buckle and sheer when activated.” Bruichladdich adapted the mash bills to make the process easier, choosing the quality of the spirit produced over the challenges that must be overcome to produce it.