Today sees the end of the oldest washback we have at Bruichladdich.

The 105 year old wash back was originally built by John Campbell, the great uncle of Duncan McGillivray, our distillery manager. It had not been used for some time, as since we reopened the distillery, the wood has been too weak and rotten and the metal bands too thin - It was beyond repair. 

A brand new washback will be put in place later in the week by Joseph Brown and sons of Dufftown, the last wooden vat maker in Scotland. It will be a similar capacity to the other wash backs at 40,000 litres, made this time from Douglas Fir (those trees are  tall enough to produce staves that are knot-free). The extra capacity is now very much needed as we seek to increase production towards 1,000,000 litres over the next couple of years.

A web camera has been put in position so you can see the extraordinarily skilled work in progress. www.bruichladdich.com/webcamstillimages/mashhouse_popup.htm

Health & Safety Update:

1. a)A full risk assessment was undertaken prior to work beginning.
   

2. b)A CO2 test was performed.
   

3. c)There is a permanent steel railing cordoning off the area.
   

4. d)Duncan was wearing a hard hat during this work but took it off for the photos - as could have been seen on the live webcam.