What we’re drinking: The Laddie Rye
Where it’s from: Situated on the Hebridean island of Islay, Bruichladdich (founded in 1881, revived in 2001) was the first Scotch whisky company in the world to achieve B Corp certification. Now owned by Remy Cointreau, the distillery is home to three well-known single malt brands: the unpeated Bruichladdich and the heavily peated Port Charlotte and Octomore.
Why we’re drinking this: Since the distillery’s 2001 relaunch, Bruichladdich has focused heavily on terroir and keeping their production as locally on Islay as possible. According to the brand, all of their single malts are conceived, distilled, matured and bottled solely on the island, only one of two distilleries that can make that claim.
But a Scottish rye? They’ve done it before but not to this (modest) scale.
Bruichladdich Just Launched Islay’s First Rye Whisky
The new spirit has do-good environmental initiatives at its coreThe Laddie Rye was distilled using a combination of locally-grown Islay rye and malting barley. Rye is a regenerative grain, so its use on the local farms isn’t a surprise. But utilizing rye as the primary grain in a whisky isn’t that usual in Scotland (that said, the early rye results in Ireland have been extremely promising).
“Rye will sequester nutrients back into the soil after another grain has been grown and extracted those nutrients,” explains Rab McEachern, the head of brand education at Bruichladdich. “It aerates the soil, aids draining and it stops pooling of water in the top of the soil. So that means when you go to plant the next cereal, you’ve effectively got almost a pre-plowed field.”
“This is not an American rye whiskey, and it’s not a Scotch thing. It’s something in-between.”
Rab McEachern (BRUICHLADDICH)
That said, it wasn’t an easy process. “Trying to make rye whiskey in a 19th-century facility built for barley is tough,” McEachern adds. “About 16 hours into the eight-hour shift, we were wondering why we had done this.”
Another difference from other Bruichladdich releases? The maturing of the product in a combination of first-fill bourbon barrels but also first-fill virgin American oak casks, the latter of which have been toasted rather than charred. “The American virgin oak casks were manufactured in Spain using this amazing technique called Crianza toasting, where you slowly and gently toast the barrel as opposed to charring it,” McEachern says. “It secretes sugars that caramelize, and it sort of calms the cask down a little bit and aids gentle maturation.”
How it tastes: Aged for seven years and bottled at 50% ABV, The Laddie Rye is classified as an Islay Single Grain Scotch Whisky. I’m getting pepper, pear and malt on the nose, with butterscotch, rye spice and citrus on the palate, along with a lovely, oily mouthfeel
“This is not an American rye whiskey, and it’s not a Scotch thing at all,” McEachern says. “It’s something in-between. To be honest, I’m still trying to work out exactly what it is and where it sits. But it’s this amazing spirit that offers something completely different.” And I agree — it’s unique and worth some further contemplation.
Fun fact: There have been a few attempts at a Scottish rye before. Arbikie launched a Highland Rye in 2018, and InchDairnie debuted RyeLaw in 2023. Bruichladdich is the only distillery on Islay currently distilling rye.
Where to buy: The Laddie Rye is available only in the United States in limited quantities for $60.
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