Try The First Truly Transparent Whisky
Above: Adam Hannett, Bruichladdich Head Distiller.
Transparency, we demand it from our bosses, politicians (fat chance!), accountants and possibly most of all, from our food manufacturers. Why? Because we want to be able to trust that what we are spending our hours on, paying our tax dollars for and actually putting into our mouths – is going to be good for us. Or at least not harm our health and well-being. So, why not demand a transparent whisky?
This not unreasonable desire has built amongst us more-or-less as a reaction to the ever-increasing rise in PR spin doctors and ‘alternative facts’ by politicians and companies with secrets to hide. Plus, it has also been driven as a result of our increased access to more informed data and research courtesy of the internet. So no longer are we willing to take anyone’s word just at face value, it needs to be backed up with facts and/or real pledges of quality as well. This powerful public unity has forced better labelling on products, manufacturers to pay more than lip service to environmental concerns and politicians to hire even trickier lawyers.
But there are exceptions. We still seem to have a few blind spots here and there where just a teeny little bit of opacity is okay. Certain products like sausages and single malt whisky – and professions like magicians – are areas where we don’t really mind playing a little dumb. If only to preserve some of the sense of mystique, wonder and awe we reserve for those things.
Until now that is. As the team at Bruichladdich Distillery are not happy with any blind spots whatsoever when it comes to their Scotch whisky. Established in 1881 on the island of Islay off Scotland, Bruichladdich have a deep-rooted culture of openness at their distillery and understand exactly how much today’s public values accountability, provenance and traceability. So, for these reasons they have decided to buck the long-established tradition of secrecy in whisky making and put it all out there for everyone to see. In doing so they hope that not only will whisky lovers admire the quality of their work, but they’ll develop an even greater appreciation of the enormous levels of effort and care that goes into making every bottle.
Bruichladdich are launching their new Know What’s In Your Whisky campaign in New Zealand, suitably enough, on May 15; World Whisky Day. Here the focus will be on their flagship The Classic Laddie and how every ingredient; individual cask and length of maturing time has subtly altered the flavours within each bottle. On their website you can enter the unique code from the back of your own bottle and find out exactly when it was bottled, where the barley came from, the cask types and the vintages that went into it – although European Union law prevents all but the youngest year from being disclosed.
The team at Bruichladdich don’t see their philosophy as lifting any skirts on distilling secrets – on the contrary, they see this as feeding whisky fans’ curiosity for knowledge. Bruichladdich CEO Douglas Taylor certainly sees it this way; “we must have open conservations about the origin of our ingredients, and about how they affect the final flavour. If you speak to any celebrated chef, they will likely highlight that it all starts with sourcing the best quality produce and translating that through to the plate in front of you. Whisky is no different”. What everyone at Bruichladdich recognises; is that Scotch can be even more enjoyable for its variations rather than its consistencies. So, the more the punters know about The Classic Laddie, the even better it will taste. Now that sounds like a challenge that needs to be taken up – perhaps even on May 15, World Whisky Day. Get to know what’s in yours!
Pick up a bottle of Bruichladdich from Glengarry now.
