Bruichladdich distillery is the westernmost distillery in Scotland. Driving along the Loch Indaal estuary past Coal Ila and Bunnahabhain, you come to the village of Bruichladdich, where the distillery of the same name is located. On a clear day, you can see Bowmore across the road. The name Bruichladdich comes from Gaelic and means ‘hill over the sea’. The Bruichladdich distillery was founded by Barnett Harvey in 1881 and the Bruichladdich Distillery Co. Ltd. was established in 1886. The money for this was provided by his nephew William Harvey IV. At the time, it was an unusual venture in two respects: instead of a converted farmhouse, the distillery was built completely new and, in addition, concrete was used as a building material, revolutionary at the time. After many closures and takeovers, the number of stills was doubled in 1975 and in 1981 Bruichladdich celebrated its 100th anniversary. After another closure in 1995, the distillery was bought in 2001 by independent bottler Murray McDavid. The Bruichladdich Distillers Company was now owned by 25 shareholders. Led by master distiller Jim McEwan, modern distilling and maturation is now taking place, but using traditional equipment and insights. The distillery has practically not changed since its foundation, the floor where the two wash stills and the two spirit stills are located is still made of wood. The stills are steam-heated. The six washbacks are Oregon pine and for maturation they use sherry, bourbon and also refill casks. The water used for making the whisky and also for cooling water comes from a small lake in the hills. Bruichladdich's malts are un chill-filtered and bottled exclusively at the distillery.