Still life at Bruichladdich

Have you seen a 130 year old pot still? You have now. The ever innovative Bruichladdich distillery on Islay has re-installed Scotlandʼs oldest pot still.

Commissioned in 1880 for the Harvey Brothersʼ purpose-built distillery on the island that produces some of the most legendary and individualist of all single malt whiskies – the Islay Malts – it is, according to experts, likely to be the oldest pot still in use in Scotland.

The life expectancy of most pot stills is only around forty years. Constant boiling over the years erodes the copper, which becomes too thin and likely to collapse – a sort of distilling osteoporosis.

This venerable pot still, though, riveted in the Victorian way, was made with an exceptionally thick copper bottom to endure the intensity of a coal fire underneath it.

The wash still has been renovated and tested by Forsyths of Rothes, one of only two remaining Scottish coppersmiths, and has passed with flying colours for continued use.

Duncan MacGillivray, manager and chief engineer says: ‘We are told that, at 130 years old, this is most likely to be the oldest whisky still in the world. They donʼt make them like this any more -  thereʼs plenty of life left in her and we intend to keep her going for a wee while yet.’

Bruichladdichʼs stills, designed most likely by John Harvey, the middle of the three Harvey brothers, are unusually tall and narrow-necked.

The Harveys sought a unique shape to  obtain a spirit of elegance in contrast to the heavier spirits produced from small, more compact stills on the island at that time.

To superstitious distillers, still-shape is sacrosanct. Any alteration is abhorred, fearing the slightest of changes will impact on the style of the whisky. Often accused of miserliness, this superstition is the real reason why distillers traditionally continue with the still they have rather than buy a new one.

This stillʼs unusual longevity owes a good deal to fate. Under usage between 1881 and 1945 owing to struggling finances, two depressions, US prohibition, two world wars and a fire that nearly destroyed the distillery, meant it was already in remarkably good shape by the time it was converted to more forgiving internal steam coils in the fifties.

We’ll keep you posted on its output when the time comes. We should really run a competition to guess what the inventive and fun Bruichladdich team will name it. Trouble is – no-one would win.