About Us

First founded in 1881, Bunnahabhain relied upon the sea trade. Armed only with a small village, a pier and lots of whisky making know-how, our forefathers received supplies by boat and sent adventuring seafarers back to the mainland with casks full of whisky.

After a short closure in the 1930s, Bunnahabhain saw one of the biggest changes in its history in 1960, when a new road was built to the distillery. Supplies could now reach us much easier by land – albeit, a hilly and challenging drive.

As word of Bunnahabhain spread and demand soared, a second pair of stills were installed in 1963 to increase the production capacity. In 1979, our classic 12 year old Single Malt Scotch Whisky was introduced to the world, received to great acclaim.

1993 marked a historic moment in Bunnahabhain’s history as the last boat docked as the road was deemed the most suitable route for receiving ever increasing ingredients and supplies. In 2006, 3 years after being purchased by Burn Stewart Distillers, a major rebrand was launched, with a redesign of the 12 year old packaging, and the launch of 18 year old and 25 year old variants.

In 2010, our whiskies returned to being produced non-chillfiltered, with a natural colour at 46.3% abv. In 2014 Burn Stewart merged with Distell, which heralded more investment into both the brand and the distillery. In 2017, our packaging was further modernised, the portfolio of products was extended and in 2021 we opened our brand new Visitor Centre.

Bunnahabhain is the only distillery on the island to use pure, spring water. Drawn from the Margadale River via pipes that lead directly to the distillery, our water remains un-influenced by the abundance of peat found throughout the Islay landscape. This pure, unpeated water contributes towards the light signature character of Bunnahabhain.

We use two types of barley, depending on which whisky we are making. For our unpeated whiskies, we use unpeated concerto malted barley and for our Mòine, we use peated concerto malted barley. Both barley types are passed through our Porteus Mill, which grinds it into ‘grist’, before being transferred into our mash tun for mixing with heated spring water.

Our mash tun is one of the biggest in Scotland. It holds 12.5 tonnes and is made of stainless steel with a copper top. The grist from the Porteus Mill and the heated spring water is mixed in a mash cycle that lasts 12 hours, during which time the ‘wort’ (a sweet liquid) is produced.

Our Wort, or sweet liquid, is then drained through the perforated floor of the Mash Tun and transferred to our Wash Backs. We have 6 Oregon pine Wash Backs at Bunnahabhain, each with a capacity of 66,500 litres. It is here that the magic begins, as the yeast is added and the fermentation, which can last as long as 100 hours, is set in motion. As the cooled wort and yeast react to produce a weak alcohol solution called ‘wash’, the natural bacteria within the wood interacts with the yeast and sugars to create additional layers of flavour not achieved by more modern methods and technology.

Once fermentation is complete, we move our ‘Wash’ from the Wash Backs to our Wash Stills where it is heated to the point of evaporation. This evaporation rises to the top of the still, flows down the curved lye pipe to the condenser where it is cooled, and runs on to the low wines receiver. At this stage, the solution is still too weak and impure to be casked, so it is redistilled in a second still called a Spirit Still. With the tallest stills on Islay, which have unusually long swan necks, we are able to produce a lighter, more delicate flavour profile. The second distillation flows through the Spirit Safe, where our stillmen watch for the anticipated middle cut, rejecting the first and final parts of the run. The middle cut, or heart of the run, is stored in the spirit receiver for casking, while the rest is returned to be re-distilled. The ‘heart’ is now our New Make Spirit and has the perfect percentage of alcohol for taking to the next stage of the process. Our stills have a total annual production capacity of 2,500,000 litres.

From the Spirit Receiver, the ‘New Make’ is transferred to the Spirit Vat where water from our natural spring is added. The New Make is then decanted into the highest quality casks and laid to rest in our warehouses which sit alongside the Sound of Islay. Some of our warehousing dates back to 1881 and together have a capacity for 20,700 butts, hogsheads and barrels.