38 Whisky Magazine | Issue 167
Distillery Focus Bunnahabhain
B
unnahabhain is one of
the trickiest Scottish
distillery names to spell and
pronounce (Boo-na-HAV-
uhn) and its name translates
from the Gaelic as ‘the mouth of the
river.’ The distillery was established in
the same year as fellow Islay distillery
Bruichladdich, with production
commencing two years later, in 1883.
Although all of Islay’s distilleries,
with the exception of Bowmore, are
comparatively isolated in location,
Bunnahabhain takes remoteness to a
whole new level, being situated at the
Ǧǡ
β
road, just outside the island’s northern
ferry terminal of Port Askaig.
The distillery’s spectacular site was
chosen by founders William and James
Greenlees and William Robertson for
the local availability of pure water
and high-quality peat, along with its
sheltered coastal location, which was
important in the days when Islay’s
distilleries were served directly by
sea. The remote site necessitated the
construction of houses for distillery
workers, a lengthy section of road, and a
pier to accommodate vessels supplying
the site. The total cost was £30,000, the
equivalent of £2.6 million today.
After distillery chronicler Alfred
Barnard visited Bunnahabhain in 1886,
he wrote that, “Ten years ago there
were but few distilleries in Islay, but the
encouraging demand for this valuable
make of whisky for blending purposes
encouraged further enterprise in the
extension of existing distilleries and the
erection of new ones. One of the most
successful of these new ventures being
the subject of our sketch.”
Noting that the distillery had an
annual capacity just short of 100,000
litres, Barnard added that, “The works
have a frontage towards the bay, and
β
shore, and the celebrated ‘Paps of Jura.”
The year after Barnard toured
Bunnahabhain, the distillery became
part of the newly-formed Highland
Distilleries Company Ltd, and remained
so until 1999, when The Edrington
Group took over Highland Distillers.
The increasing popularity of blended
Scotch, especially in the USA, during
WORDS GAVIN D. SMITH
Our man heads to one of Islay’s
most remote distilleries
WESTERING
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PICTURES THIS FEATURE BY CHRISTOPHER COATES AND BUNNAHABHAIN
038 - 042 - Bunnahabhain-WM 167 .indd 38 09 / 04 / 2020 09 : 58