Port Charlotte

Bruichladdich distillery plans to rebuild the Port Charlotte Distillery. in the village of Port Charlotte, 2 miles from Bruichladdich. This was the site of the Lochindaal Distillery built in 1829 where it dominated the village for a hundred years before closing in 1929 due to the down turn in world markets aggravated by American Prohibition.

Mark Reynier, CEO of Bruichladdich explains the project:

"As progressive Hebridean distillers, we believe strongly in the Islay Appellation, and artisanal distilling. One set of stills was never going to be enough for us."

"This new distillery will allow us to diversify our skills, provide new options and allow further scope for our new ideas. We rather enjoy distilling."

The distilling equipment for the Port Charlotte project, already acquired, comes from another closed distillery.

"It was Jim's idea. In 2003 Inverleven Distillery was to be demolished, so why not bring it to Islay? Obvious really

The entire single malt plant was dismantled, bolt by bolt, by a team of ten of Bruichladdich's finest "engineers" (crofters) under Duncan McGillivray.

The machinery was shipped to the island on barges where it has been in storage ever since - with some parts used for spares.

The new full-sized Port Charlotte distillery, once re-erected within some of the original 1829 distillery buildings, will have a maximum capacity of 1.2m litres. This is no micro-distillery.

"We have the chance to create an entirely 'green' distillery, with a genuinely zero carbon footprint by using all the latest environmentally sustainable concepts."

"The environmental movement is strong on the theory, but weak in the practice. It will be quite an engineering challenge to see what really is possible."

In a further twist, when a new distillery is built usually a decade passes before there is anything to sell. In this case when the stills run there will already be eight years' stock in the warehouses. Port Charlotte whisky, heavily peated single malt, has been distilled since 2001.

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