It's been no secret that Islay's Bruichladdich has long been working on reviving Islay grown rye - this was featured as part of the Scotch distillery experimental The Regeneration Project, which became the first ever Islay Rye Whisky, and also the first Islay single grain Scotch.

Best known for its smoky and peaty whiskies, Islay heavily relies on the use of its local peat in kilning its malted barley in order to achieve that signature briny and medicinal flavour profile - and yet, the continuous harvesting of peat can in turn become detrimental to the local environment. As such, the already B Corp sustainability certified Bruichladdich has long sought to incorporate greater sustainability practices into its whiskymaking.

It was thus a conversation with farming partner Andrew Jones that gave spark to what would become a years long effort to create Islay's first rye whisky. Jones had told Bruichladdich that he was beginning to add rye to his crop rotation at his Coull Farm, so as to avoid monoculture and also to improve soil health. Islay had never been historically home to rye crop up till that point, and thus with the support of Bruichladdich who had agreed to buy the entire rye harvest and produce whisky with it, Jones was able to pursue his sustainability efforts.

The earliest results of this came in the form of the Regeneration Project which saw the use of unpeated grain, with a mashbill of 55% Islay grown rye and 45% Islay grown malted barley. The momentous expression was released in 2023.

And now in 2025, Bruichladdich looks set to be releasing what appears to be a flagship Rye-based Single Grain expression - The Laddie Rye.

Similar to the Regeneration Project, the new Laddie Rye expression makes use of both Islay grown rye and malt barley. Bottled at 50% ABV, the expression is aged for 7 years in American Oak.

"The Laddie Rye is a shared vision between distiller and farmer, challenging monocropping and its impact. Rye is a crop which improves soil health without the need for artificial input. With our farming partners, we share in the risk and reward to champion agriculture and explore flavour. With rye and barley farmed on Islay, along with distillation, full maturation and bottling, the laddie rye embodies our commitment to land, community and whisky.

Batch-distilled from our 2017 rye harvest, the Laddie Rye is matured in American oak for 7 years. Our north Atlantic island location means our casks are enveloped in cool, sea-salt air, imparting a subtle maritime quality to our whisky alongside sweet notes of coconut, vanilla and chocolate with a balance of pepper from the rye and fresh green fruit from the barley.

Un-chill filtered, no colour added and using Islay spring water."